The start-ups must be active in the following areas:

• digital; or
• health technologies; or
• space; or
• as referred to in the Fit 4 Start call.

Several eligibility requirements must be met, such as:

• applicants must be active in the focus area(s) referenced in the Fit 4 Start call;
• there is no prerequisite for applicants to have incorporated a company at the application stage;
• if an applicant has already started a company, it should be no older than 5 years at the opening date of the respective Fit 4 Start call – the assessment is performed at the applicant group level;
• if an applicant has already started a company, it must meet the small enterprise criteria as stipulated in Annex I to Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union as amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No 2023/1315 of 23 June 2023.
• The applicant team must be composed of a minimum of 2 people, with at least one person working full time on the realisation of the project, attending all coaching sessions and steering committees during the coaching phase of the programme and being responsible for developing the start-up’s substance & operations in Luxembourg. Participants must be at least 18 years of age or older as of the starting date of the programme;
• any early-stage and/or more advanced start-up or project can apply. Although it is not necessary to have a minimum viable product (‘MVP’) at the application stage, for the HealthTech domain, products or services in preclinical proof of concept or MVP will be preferred.

The Fit 4 Start programme targets for-profit start-ups/projects only.

Application and selection process for the programme

Applicants need to submit their complete application via the online registration platform: www.fit4start.com before the official entry submission deadline as referenced in the Fit 4 Start call.

All applications are carefully reviewed by the pre-selection committee which shortlists the applicants for the hearings and pitching sessions.

At the end of the pitching sessions, an independent jury will select the start-ups that will be admitted for participation in the programme.

Programme content

The selected participants will benefit from a support and funding programme, which is structured as follows:

• the coaching phase, which is a 6-month coaching period: this is held by coaches, who are start-up experts with a high level of entrepreneurial knowledge and expertise in the domain of start-up ventures, and experts in the field, who are selected based on relevance of their expertise for the respective cohort of participants;
• free access to one of the partners’ co-working spaces for a duration of 6 months;
  
• access to a maximum of EUR 150,000 in equity-free funding from the Ministry of the Economy;
• many opportunities to raise their market profile, and opportunities to benefit from networking facilities of the whole ecosystem that supports start-ups in Luxembourg.

By the end of the coaching phase, the start-ups must be able to present a solid business plan that could convince potential partners and investors.

For additional information, please consult the Fit 4 Start Application and Programme guidelines.

Financing of the programme

Fit 4 Start supports the participants in getting started in Luxembourg by giving them access to a subsidy of up to EUR 150,000 made available by the Ministry of the Economy.

This subsidy is divided into 3 tranches (2 instalments and the final balance), which are each subject to various conditions to be achieved by the applicant company:

• 1^st instalment: EUR 50,000;
• 2^nd instalment: EUR 80,000;
• 3^rd instalment: EUR 20,000.

For additional information, please consult the Fit 4 Start Aid application guidelines.

Application for aid

The application for aid must be submitted using the online assistant available on MyGuichet.lu (See 'Online services and forms' below). This is a procedure that requires authentication using a LuxTrust product or an electronic identity card (eID).

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