The Automobility campus in Bissen, located north of Luxembourg City, was enriched with a new building block on 3 December 2024 with the official inauguration of the Automobility incubator. The new facility is dedicated to innovative companies (startups/scaleups and spinoffs), as well as to SMEs and international companies in the sector.
The incubator is hosted in a colourful building, built over the past two years according to the principles of the circular economy. Companies will have around 2,100 m2 of offices, meeting and conference rooms, 400 m2 of workshops/laboratories for R&D activities and a canteen. They will also have access to a multipurpose room for events, exhibitions and conferences.
Three companies have already signed a pre-contract: 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 having advanced discussions with about thirty others,” says Diego De Biasio, the CEO of the Technoport, to whom the Ministry of the Economy has entrusted the animation and management of the incubator.
This incubator should help attract innovative companies and concepts to Luxembourg
“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 Lex Delles, the Minister of the Economy, SMEs, Energy and Tourism. “This project is perfectly in line with the government’s strategy for the development of the automotive technology and smart mobility sector and complements the national innovation ecosystem.”
The State’s investment in this project is €40 million. More than half (€21 million) has been invested in the incubator, €10 million in Luxembourg’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 8 hectares for companies that wish to establish innovation activities there. IEE was the first to set up there in 2019.
On 3 December, Goodyear announced the future regrouping of some of its teams based in Luxembourg on the site of the Luxembourg Automotive Campus.
The campus is intended to become the central hub of the national automotive technology and smart mobility ecosystem, as well as an attractive business centre in the heart of Europe for international companies.
In the long term, thanks to the collaboration with public research organisations such as the University of Luxembourg and the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), the campus also intends to promote the education and training of students and PhD or post-doctoral students, ensuring that their skills meet the needs and requirements of industry. This will also help attract the best talents to Luxembourg and its neighbouring regions.
Exchanges between companies promoted by Luxinnovation
Luxinnovation, the national innovation agency, also contributes to the development of the campus and the incubator by promoting exchanges between companies and organising dedicated events. The objective is to federate the automobility community in Luxembourg and, beyond that, to promote the emergence of new cross-sectoral collaborations.
“Our mobility ecosystem is very diverse and encompasses all the essential skills required to build a car,” says Anthony Auert, Luxembourg Automobility Cluster Manager at Luxinnovation. “Over the past few decades, it has undergone considerable growth and transformation, fuelled by strategic investments and continuous skills development. In this context, innovation is a crucial pillar of this evolution. The country’s strong commitment to establishing an enabling business environment by implementing supportive policies and investing in training and infrastructure is key to attracting global players and encouraging local talent.”
Luxinnovation actively contributes to this dynamic, in particular by transforming ideas into viable collaborative projects by drawing on the expertise of companies, research institutes and the public sector. “We are one of the founding members of Autoregion, the first European cross-border automotive cluster bringing together four regions and representing dozens of companies. This network allows fertilisation across the country, resulting in world-class products and services.”