Building Innovation Bridges

Since 2016, Luxembourg’s Development Cooperation’s Business Partnership Facility (BPF) has supported 47 partnership projects between European companies and entities in 20+ developing countries.

To celebrate the BPF’s 13th call for proposals, a BPF partner company – Compellio – is sharing the goals and impact of its knowledge programme in Kosovo.

Luxembourg-based deep tech company Compellio focuses on blockchain technologies to help organisations securely transfer, verify, and monetise data. Its API enables clients to abstract away the complexity of smart contracts and easily integrate tokenisation capabilities into their existing IT systems. Compellio has supported innovative implementations with industry players, SMEs, and institutions like the European Court of Auditors and the European Commission, while it also performs cutting edge research with MIT.

“An asset could be anything that holds value or needs to be protected, from a product traced across the supply chain to a piece of information shared across IT systems” explained COO and University of Luxembourg adjunct professor Theofilos Papasternos.

During a Chamber of Commerce trade mission to Kosovo, Compellio met local entrepreneurs and witnessed Kosovo’s growing industrial base and dynamic ICT sector. Inspired by this potential, the company joined forces with Kosovo-based software firm Kutia, along with the Luxembourg Blockchain Lab and Infrachain, to craft a bold Web3 innovation programme. In 2024, with BPF co-financing, the partners launched a high-impact capacity-building programme in Kosovo—driving local innovation with a global reach!

The programme offers beginner, advanced, and business training for both technical and non-technical learners. Graduates also receive verifiable, tokenised training certificates. To scale, the partners launched an online platform and a train-the-trainer model to empower local ambassadors and ecosystem enablers. “This is crucial for establishing trust locally,” noted Theofilos.

Since its launch, 300+ mostly young people have applied for the programme. With a third cohort underway, Theofilos expects participants to reach 200 by 2026. In 2025, the partners plan to introduce an advanced technical track, equipping trainees with the skills to use the Compellio Gateway solution to create proofs of concept. The programme includes open innovation initiatives and hackathons for Web3 experimentation, project development, and industry-government collaboration.

“This is a fantastic opportunity to deploy product traceability solutions across industries in the country,” said Theofilos. “We provide a solution for creating reliable Digital Product Passports and aim to improve trainees’ employment prospects, while also generating local jobs by developing a wider range of EU-compliant solutions in Kosovo.”

He added: “The local workforce is highly educated and multilingual—an advantage for expanding into new markets in the Western Balkans. We also plan to internationalise this project to other countries in the near future.”

Theofilosstrongly recommended other companies apply for the BPF, calling it ideal for organisations looking to create impact beyond technology. He also praised its networking benefits to identify local opportunities.

Is Your Company Eligible for BPF?

The BPF supports Luxembourg and EU-based companies registered for 3+ years, with €500,000+ annual revenue (or three times the co-financing requested) and at least five employees. It offers up to €200,000 in co-financing for innovative, high-impact projects in partnership with developing-country entities (businesses, NGOs, public bodies, etc.).

Eligible projects include feasibility studies for innovations, pilot implementations in new markets, or scaling production chains. The goal: to bring “Made in Luxembourg” innovations to developing countries through mutually beneficial partnerships.

Interested? Submit your project by April 30 or join an info webinar on March 27.