Brussels Airport targets Flemish start-ups for innovative solutions

Brussels Airport has partnered with five leading innovation hubs in Flanders to provide mentoring to start-ups to enhance the competitive edge of Flemish start-ups and scale-ups.

As part of this new partnership, the group has launched its first programme, “Pitch your seat”. A six-month programme that offers 30 participants four in-depth coaching sessions, focusing on achieving product-market fit. In addition to the group sessions, the start-ups benefit from individual follow-up support.

“As an innovative hub, Brussels Airport has a preference to guide start-ups that emphasise our focus areas: smart customer-centric transport, sustainability and circularity, and vibrant community,” Karen Dams, Strategy and M&A Manager at Brussels Airport Company, told Cities Today.

Aimed at early-stage start-ups, selected candidates will need to pitch in front of a jury to secure a spot and are evaluated on a set of different criteria including innovation, team, engagement and others.

The cost for the start-ups to participate in the programme is €780. The remaining part is funded by Brussels Airport Company and Hubs4Growth, and is supported by VLAIO, The Flemish Agency for Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

While there isn’t a strict criteria or focus on artificial intelligence, Dams said: “We are open to any kind of innovative young companies that can make a difference and we support start-ups with innovative products, services, and technologies shaping a smart, sustainable and interconnected future.”

The start-ups will receive a dedicated space for a period of six months at the newly established Aviation Talent Hub, an incubator on the airport site with training, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

At the end of the six-month programme, there is the possibility for start-ups to rent a workplace in their accompanying hub and can apply for another follow-up programme.

The Belgian capital’s airport has long been involved in the country’s start-up ecosystem, making investments in various innovative companies and fostering collaborations with organisations like Jetpack, SkeyDrone, Droneport, Flanders Technology & Innovation, as well as with its own two subsidiaries: Airport Intelligence and Aviato Academy.

“Brussels Airport is a dynamic ecosystem of over 350 companies and an airport that has been dedicated to innovation for years,” she added. “We are convinced that Pitch Your Seat is a very unique and valuable programme for start-ups.”

Image: The new group includes representatives from Brussels Airport Company, Hangar K, The Beacon, Leuven MindGate, WinterCircus Ghent and Limburg Startup (c) Brussels Airport Company