Nyuko, idea challenger, is repositioning itself and has signed a partnership with Spuerkeess in order to reach out to a larger number of project holders and better support them.
FRom left to right and top to bottom: Jean-Luc Bermes (BCEE), Nobby Brausch (BCEE), Carlo Thelen (Chambre de Commerce), Tom Baumert (House of Entrepreneurship), Nicolas Fries (nyuko), Guy Koster (BCEE), Romain Wehles (BCEE), Françoise Thoma (BCEE), Robert Goeres (nyuko).
This Friday 25th January 2019, the directors of nyuko and Spuerkeess signed an exclusive partnership deal in the bank’s “19 Liberté” building. For nyuko, this deal completes a series of changes that had begun with the nomination of a new CEO to lead the association.
Last August, following Martin Guérin’s departure for the Luxembourg-City Incubator, nyuko went through a major restructuring to return to its initial vision: promoting entrepreneurship and the creation of businesses. To this end, the main missions of the nyuko team now consist of challenging future entrepreneurs’ ideas and supporting them in checking the validity and feasibility of their projects, as well as facilitating the emergence of new businesses. Nicolas Fries, CEO of nyuko, explains this repositioning: “When I accepted this post, my main concern was adapting nyuko’s strategy to recent evolutions of the Luxembourgish entrepreneurial ecosystem, which has experienced major developments in the last three years. In my opinion, we had to position ourselves as idea challengers to help business creators in Luxembourg, regardless of whether the ideas are innovative or more ‘traditional’. That is why we have decided to return to a more fundamental support.” The current principal sponsors of nyuko, the Chamber of Commerce and the Ministry of Economy support this reorientation. Carlo Thelen, director of the Chamber of Commerce, proclaims that he “is glad to see the entrepreneurial ecosystem reinforced by these new services.” He specifies: “This new direction completely fits within the vision of the Chamber of Commerce to create a cross-sectional range of services for all entrepreneurs at every step in their entrepreneurial journey, either thanks to the services organised by the Chamber of Commerce itself or thanks to projects that we support, such as nyuko asbl.”
Nyuko’s services are free of charge and open to all types of entrepreneurs. They address entrepreneurial project holders who have not yet created their business and offer them support up to the launch of their business. The association is also continuing the Impuls programme, which targets projects with a strong positive impact. All programmes include collective and co-development workshops, as well as individual coaching. The description of the programmes and the application form can be found on the nyuko website (www.nyuko.lu).
Karin Schintgen, CEO of the House of Startups, has passed the torch to nyuko’s new president Robert Goeres, who will accompany the association on this new journey. General director of Goeres Horlogerie since 2001 and elected member of the Chamber of Commerce, Robert Goeres reconfirms his engagement for the local economy. “The entrepreneurial spirit is a virtue that I esteem highly. If I can help new businesses emerge and contribute to a future economy that is stable and long-lasting, I will do so gladly!”, he declares. Robert Goeres was named president a few weeks ago, and has already begun getting involved in several projects with the members of the nyuko team.
Robert Goeres, president of nyuko
The repositioning also received the approval of the new principal partner and sponsor of the association: Spuerkeess. Already involved on several levels in the support of entrepreneurship, the Banque et Caisse d’Epargne de l’Etat of Luxembourg wants to reinforce its actions through this tight-knit collaboration. “This partnership will allow us to contribute to the development of the national economy, which is one of the bank’s missions. We are already the leader when it comes to established SMEs and we want to reinforce our position with business creators who are at the very start of their entrepreneurial journey”, explains Françoise Thoma, general director and president of the steering committee at Spuerkeess.
Apart from a financial contribution, the bank’s expertise and access to banking products and services will allow nyuko to better support young entrepreneurs. On the other hand, the bank’s advisors will be able to offer nyuko’s services as added value to their clients. “Spuerkeess will be launching in the coming weeks a range of services dedicated to newly created businesses in order to support business creators”, announces Romain Wehles, director and member of the steering committee of Spuerkeess. “Additionally, our SME advisors provide a personal support framework within our Financial Centres.”
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