His Royal Highness Crown Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg and Minister of the Economy visit the DMZ at Toronto Metropolitan University
Luxembourg and Canada look to build bridges to accelerate startup ecosystems on an international scale
TORONTO, June 21, 2022 – During an economic mission to Canada, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg and His Excellency Franz Fayot, Minister of the Economy, visited the DMZ to tour the world-leading tech incubator based at Toronto Metropolitan University.
Organized by the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce in close collaboration with the Luxembourg Ministry of the Economy and Startup Luxembourg, the visit was part of a larger official economic mission to delve into both countries’ dynamic economies and explore untapped entrepreneurial opportunities.
Designed to highlight Canada’s and Luxembourg’s innovation landscapes, the official visit provided an opportunity to showcase the respective countries’ commitments to creating strong environments for entrepreneurs to grow and scale their businesses to explore how the two countries can collaborate to encourage startup founders to consider global expansion.
Accompanied by a delegation of over 70 guests from various Luxembourg-based companies, His Royal Highness and the Minister of the Economy heard from the following DMZ startups:
- Baoba: Baoba is a global travel insurtech that provides a B2B marketplace for travel sector organizations looking to add innovative solutions for their customer base including online travel agents, travel insurance companies and airlines.
- Softdrive: Softdrive is putting the personal computer into the cloud by helping businesses run their demanding high-end software simply and smoothly on any device.
- MyLaminin: MyLaminin offers a blockchain-enabled document sharing and verification service, putting people in complete control of their credentials and respecting their personal data privacy.
And from the following Luxembourg startups:
- A352: A352 is a powerful software solution enhancing the decision-relevant financial data for mid-caps and large SMEs.
- Passbolt: Passbolt is an open source password management platform for agile and devOps teams.
- No Big Deal: No Big Deal is a health rewards app providing exclusive promotions as rewards for walking, running, and other feel-good activities.
“Luxembourg and Canada have a longstanding friendship and both recognize that the key to creating a strong innovation ecosystem that allows entrepreneurs to flourish is global collaboration,” said Abdullah Snobar, the Executive Director of the DMZ. “We were thrilled to host His Royal Highness, the Minister of the Economy and the entire delegation and look forward to exploring how we can work together to help startups thrive and explore new markets.”
“Toronto Metropolitan University was honoured to open its doors for His Royal Highness Crown Prince Guillaume and the Minister of the Economy Franz Fayot to let them experience firsthand the innovation and cutting-edge work that’s taking place right here at TMU,” said Mohamed Lachemi, President and Vice-Chancellor of Toronto Metropolitan University. “Our commitment to supporting the Canadian startup and innovation ecosystem runs deep and we’re always eager to explore and pursue new global opportunities.”
“Toronto has a vibrant tech sector and has become a global hub for new technologies. Our visit provided a pinnacle opportunity for us to show Toronto what our startup ecosystem consists of and gave us a great glimpse into how we can work together,” said His Royal Highness Crown Prince Guillaume. “In an increasingly complex world, Canada and Luxembourg share the same values of democracy and inclusiveness — we are both strongly committed to stimulating innovation and to business development, which creates a strong foundation for global collaboration.”
“Luxembourg is the perfect gateway to Europe for innovative startups as well as for established companies wishing to expand their activities. Ideally located, The Grand-Duchy offers an internationally recognized business environment, with close ties to government officials and decision takers,” said the Minister of the Economy of Luxembourg, Franz Fayot. “Today’s startup event organized by the DMZ together with Startup Luxembourg is an exceptional opportunity for our startup ecosystems to get to know each other better and to explore ways we can collaborate to support the transatlantic expansion of our startups.”
For more information on the DMZ’s global offices, please visit dmz.to/global.
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Media contact
Luvy Hardy, The DMZ
luvy.hardy@torontomu.ca
About the DMZ:
The DMZ is a world-leading startup incubator equipping the next generation of tech entrepreneurs with the tools needed to build, launch, and scale highly impactful startups. By providing connections to customers, coaching, capital, and a community, the DMZ’s customized approach helps innovators reach the next milestone in their entrepreneurial journey – whatever that might be. Through its award-winning programming, the DMZ has helped more than 720 startups raise $1.75 billion in capital and create 4,600+ jobs. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada with globally-accessible programming, the DMZ has a widely-recognized international presence with offices in Vietnam and India, and partnerships across North America, Latin America, Africa and Asia.
About Toronto Metropolitan University:
Toronto Metropolitan University, formerly known as Toronto Metropolitan University, is Canada’s leader in innovative, career-oriented education. Urban, culturally diverse and inclusive, the University is home to more than 46,000 students, including 2,900 Master’s and PhD students, 4,000 faculty and staff, and 225,000 alumni worldwide. For more information, visit torontomu.ca.
About Startup Luxembourg:
Startup Luxembourg is a public initiative financed by the Ministry of the Economy, managed by Luxinnovation, Luxembourg’s national innovation agency, and supported by the national startup ecosystem. The aim of Startup Luxembourg is to reflect the dynamism of our business environment, ideal for startups to settle and grow from the heart of Europe. Startup Luxembourg represents and unifies all the players of the ecosystem that support entrepreneurship and foster innovation.
