The tiny nation of Luxembourg is often overshadowed by its powerhouse neighbors.
Bordered by economic giants France, Germany, and Belgium, Luxembourg is an unknown quantity to many. However, one trump card that regularly goes under the radar is the country’s thriving tech industry.
Luxembourg is starting to turn heads for its startup scene and is increasingly being seen as an attractive destination for such companies.
It has the fourth-highest number of startups per capita in Europe. So what’s behind Luxembourg’s rise to become one of the continent’s leading tech startup hubs?
A strong tech workforce
Luxembourg’s strong workforce is a major reason for its tech scene’s success. According to Eurostat, the country has the third-highest proportion of ICT specialists in the EU (6.7%), just behind Sweden (8.8%) and Finland (7.4%).
A key part of this is Luxembourg’s ability to attract foreign workers. Almost half of its population is made up of non-nationals.
Factors such as the country’s high standard of living, great work-life balance, and favorable tax regime are attractive to foreign workers.
Plus, salaries in Luxembourg are among the highest in the EU.
It’s also simpler than ever to find a tech job in Luxembourg thanks to a rise in specialist tech job websites, whether someone’s looking for a role in fields like AI, SAP, data engineering, or another field.
A flourishing economy
Luxembourg has the infrastructure to fund and support its thriving tech startup hub because of its outstanding economic performance.
The country boasts the highest GDP per capita as per IMF and is one of just nine countries with an AAA rating for its creditworthiness.
This is the highest a nation can have and is something that makes it particularly attractive to outside investors.
The main contributor to Luxembourg’s economic stature is its world-class financial industry, which is ranked the tenth most competitive in Europe.
From creating Europe’s leading international fund distribution platform to listing the world’s first Green Bond, Luxembourg has been a financial trailblazer for some decades now.
It is home to the European Investment Bank (the EU’s financial institution), as well as finance behemoths like BGL BNP Paribas, Alter Domus, and Banque Internationale à Luxembourg.
Data galore
More specifically to tech, Luxembourg’s rich trove of data makes it much easier for startups in the sector to succeed, with the country home to the largest number of tier four data centers — the highest level for data facilities — in Europe.
Furthermore, the Luxembourg government has recently launched Meluxina, an HPC (high-performance computing) supercomputer facility, and made 65% of its capacity available to businesses.
This enterprise-first is in stark contrast to other countries in Europe, which mainly use their supercomputers for research activities instead.
Such computers can be game changers for businesses, helping them run highly complex data processing at a fraction of the time of ordinary systems.
Speaking about the decision, Mario Grotz, Director General for Industry, New Technologies and Research at the Ministry of the Economy, stated: “Our goal is to make supercomputing accessible to all”, pointing out that the government has also set up a national HPC competence center to provide operational support and training for users.
