With the works at Royal-Hamilius, the Lux Future Lab moved, in early 2015, to 59 boulevard Royal Maison Moderne archives

With the works at Royal-Hamilius, the Lux Future Lab moved, in early 2015, to 59 boulevard Royal Maison Moderne archives

The blow is as harsh as the place is symbolic: at 59 boulevard Royal, one of the most emblematic incubators in the country, Lux Future Lab, will close its doors on 1 January, according to two Paperjam sources.

Launched in 2012 by BGL BNP Paribas, the structure founded by Karin Schintgen, at once an innovation unit within the bank and an academy, asked the entrepreneurs who are housed there to find an alternative.

It currently hosts around 30 startups, many of which have been successful. Like Food4All, winner of the first Paperjam Start-Up Stories; LuxAITetrao and Petit Bambou, to name some of the best known. None of them have been willing to respond yet, pending official notification of the closure.

The situation may be complicated for them, as they’ll have to find space in one of the other incubators, which often have very high occupancy rates or very different costs, or at another location in town.

This announcement comes after the surprise resignation on 10 July of Geoffroy Bazin, who was at the head of BGL BNP Paribas, and his replacement by Béatrice Belorgey.

This article originally appeared in French on Paperjam and has been translated and edited by Delano.