56 On 3 December, 2024, Lex Delles, the Luxembourg Minister of the Economy, SMEs, Energy and Tourism inaugurated the new Automobility Incubator building located on the Automobility Campus in Bissen, north of Luxembourg City. This new facility was built to host innovative companies (startups, scaleups, and spinoffs), as well as SMEs and international companies active in the mobility sector. The incubator is housed in a colourful building, constructed over the past two years following circular economy principles. Inauguration of Luxembourg’s Automobility Incubator By Lena Martensson, Senior Marketing & Communication Officer, Luxinnovation and Jean-Michel Gaudron, Head of Content, Luxinnovation At the heart of the Automobility Campus, located in the centre of the country, Technoport now manages an incubator dedicated to innovative companies in the booming mobility sector. Images: © Luxinnovation Companies will have access to approximately 2,100 m² of offices, meeting and conference rooms, 400 m² of workshops/laboratories for R&D activities, and a canteen. Additionally, there is a multipurpose room for events, exhibitions, and conferences. Three companies have already signed pre-contracts: California-based Pony.ai and Luxembourg firms Voltcore and Right Energy. They are expected to join the incubator in the first half of 2025. “We are in advanced discussions with about thirty others,” says Diego De Biasio, the CEO of Technoport, who has been entrusted by the Ministry of the Economy with the management of the incubator. “By offering a physical space and dedicated resources, this incubator should help attract innovative companies and concepts to Luxembourg, foster strategic partnerships, and accelerate smart and sustainable mobility solutions in a dynamic and competitive environment,” said Minister Delles. “This project aligns perfectly with the government’s strategy for developing the automotive technology and smart mobility sector and complements the national innovation ecosystem”. The Luxembourg State’s investment in this project is €40 million. More than half (€21 million) has been invested in the incubator, €10 million in the country’s first eco-circular car park, inaugurated on 24 September, and €8 million for infrastructure. “We plan to run this incubator as a product, i.e., something that unlocks the values that are really needed by a specific user, at a given time,” says Erez Arye, Head of Mobility Sector at Technoport, who will be in charge of the site. “For the startups, spinoffs, and R&D centres that we want to host and support, these necessary values are to grow and evolve in an impactful way, when it’s the right time for them”. Becoming the Hub of the national automotive technology and smart mobility ecosystem With an area of 14 hectares and a capacity to host more than 4,000 people, the Automotive Campus has still 8 hectares available for companies wishing to establish innovation activities there. The global manufacturer & supplier of advanced sensing solutions IEE established its global headquarters at this location in 2019, marking a first for the company. Also present for the incubator inauguration, Xavier Fraipont, Vice President EMEA, Commercial Product Business Unit at The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, took the opportunity to announce the future regrouping of some of the company’s teams based at the Luxembourg Automotive Campus site.
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