Luxembourg launches its first event to finance citizen projects with a local social impact

Visit House of Startupsusually dedicated to large-scale investments, hosted an event focusing on the financing local projects with a social and environmental impact. The Partners' Circle, organized on Tuesday by Boost Lokal Lëtzebuerg - a project CELL asbl, brought together forty of Luxembourg's key players, with the aim of creating a dialogue between citizen-led social initiatives and financial partners. The event facilitated the discovery of financing solutions tailored to the specific needs of local projects, thanks to speed-dating sessions between project owners and investors.

A diverse range of local projects

Twelve projects presented their ideascovering a wide range of themes, from the creation of community cafés in the fight against food waste. Citizen groups, non-profit associations (ASBL) and social impact enterprises (SIS) were all represented. What they all have in common is the goal of having a local impact, whatever their stage of development.

"I had the opportunity to present my idea, sharing the passion behind the café and its mission to create a welcoming and inclusive space for locals to connect and collaborate. What made it even more exciting was the chance to meet other social enterprises and their founders. There was such an inspiring energy in the room."shared Shainika Murthy, a member of the Community Café group created thanks to Boost Lokal Lëtzebuerg.

Various financial partners supporting the social and ecological transition

Partnershipssuch as LEADER, Duerfentwécklung, Œuvre Nationale, Interreg Grande Région, Microlux, etika, eticrowd, ORASI Advisory and Innpact participated, offering their support. 

The event enabled projects to explore financing options tailored to their specific needs, while making direct connections with committed partners from both the public and private sectors.

A great success for local transition

This inaugural event generated great enthusiasm among participants and demonstrated thegrowing interest in projects with a local impactwhile emphasizing the importance of supporting collective solutions. It was a valuable opportunity for projects to gain exposure and explore funding opportunities for their development.

Next steps

This meeting was part of the support phase of the Boost Lokal Lëtzebuergwhich recently completed its activities in western Luxembourg and is now expanding eastwards. The project will continue to organize events across the country to support local initiatives. The next event will be held in March in eastern Luxembourg, where local solutions will continue to be highlighted. As part of its mission, and in line with the overall mission of CELL, Boost Lokal will continue to bring citizens together to identify local challengesdevelop collective solutions, and enable the ecological and social transition by supporting the creation and growth of positive-impact social projects.

Photos: © Capucine Chandon / CELL