The CleanTech Forum Europe is an international conference that brings together start-ups and growth companies, corporations, investors and advisors as well as incubators and clusters. Taking place in a different European city each year, the 2017 Forum held in Helsinki, Finland was dedicated to future trends guided by the motto: “Early signs of the next 100 years: Charting the great, smart industrial transition”.
For the first time, Luxembourg took part in the CleanTech Forum with a delegation formed of Apateq, LIST, Encevo Group, and Luxinnovation. Not only did the delegation gain insight into the latest cleantech innovations in Finland and beyond but their collective presence also contributed to putting Luxembourg on the international map as an emerging cleantech hub.
During the workshop, the audience was introduced to the various face s of the Luxembourg cleantech ecosystem. Starting with a brief summary on Luxembourg and relevant economic data, Georges Schaaf, Head of Sector Development – Cleantech & Manufacturing Industries, stressed: “With a growth rate of 3.3% the CleanTech sector is catching up. It is one of the defined key sectors for Luxembourg’s economic development and will be a strong focus in the future.”
The Luxembourg Institute of Sciences and Technology (LIST) went on to outline their research efforts pertaining to water treatment, biogas energy and bio-based materials. “It is our objective to bridge the gap between research and business by accelerating the development of technologies, creating spin-offs and start-ups and rolling out cleantech innovations to the market. We are always looking for private partnerships when it comes to market deployment”, Dr. Christian Penny explained.
Apateq then introduced their solutions for the treatment of difficult wastewater. Dirk Martin pointed out that: “Our marine solutions for scrub water are highly pertinent for the Nordic and Baltic region and the local shipping business.” Apateq’s membrane-based solutions are an excellent example of eco-innovation made in Luxembourg that turned into an international export success story.
Finally, Encevo represented the investor side with its new Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) business that is intended to foster open innovation and digitalisation in the fields of smart grids, smart buildings, energy efficiency and smart cities. Investment Manager Nicolas Milerioux was clear about what matters most when he evaluates European start-ups: “What we need are real entrepreneurs with the ambition to disrupt the market with us.”
The CleanTech Forum and the workshop were both a great opportunity for the Luxembourg delegation to showcase the efforts underway to further strengthen the country’s Cleantech ecosystem and to gain insight into the endeavours of other countries in this field.
