Luxembourg’s most successful entrepreneurs were in the spotlight at the seventh 2025 EY Luxembourg Entrepreneur Of The Year (EOY) awards on Thursday.
Six heavyweights from industry and finance were in the running for the 2025 title, which was awarded to co-founder of Alter Domus René Beltjens.
Since joining Alter Domus in 2008 as its third co‑founder, René Beltjens has been instrumental in scaling the firm from a small Luxembourg fund‑services spin‑out into a global powerhouse. He drove landmark acquisitions, deepened its vertically integrated service model, and led its international expansion, transforming a local player into a leader with over 5,000 employees worldwide.
“It was great to be able to shape the future of that company and expand beyond the borders,” he said, adding: “What allowed us to grow was the fact that we were so different. There were many discussions and disagreements. At the same time, there was always respect for each other, and so when a decision was taken, everyone embraced it.”
Finalists were Tristan Mackie, fourth generation of family-run electrical equipment supplier YESSS Group, Advanzia Bank CEO Nishant Fafalia, founder of steel company MCM Marie-Christine Mariani, Hans Jürgen Schmitz, co‑founder and managing partner of Mangrove Capital Partners, and head of Luxembourg supermarket group Cactus, Laurent Schonckert.
Driving Economic Growth
Founded by Ernst & Young in 1986 in the US, the global EOY programme celebrates exceptional entrepreneurs who demonstrate vision, innovation, leadership, and long-term value creation. In particular it highlights people who drive economic growth, create jobs, and contribute to their communities.
Alban Aubrée, Country Manager Partner EY Luxembourg, said: “At EY, entrepreneurship is part of our DNA. Each entrepreneur tonight has a unique history. A journey of success and of failure. Their passion, engagement, and resilience are a source of inspiration for us all. This prize isn’t just an individual achievement. It shows our collective willingness to create an entrepreneurial environment that prospers. These entrepreneurs are building tomorrow.”
Force For Progress
The annual award also aims to raise awareness of entrepreneurship as a powerful force for progress. The latter is critical for Luxembourg, a country with a high cost of living and among the highest salaries in Europe. In order to diversify its economy beyond traditional finance and heavy industry, the country has positioned itself as an innovation leader, by fostering a highly specialised, technology-intensive entrepreneurship ecosystem. The country’s stability, efficiency and specific support schemes have resulted in a burgeoning startup ecosystem of more than 770 startups and rising.
Its startup ecosystem was ranked 32nd globally and 16th in Western Europe, in the StartupBlink Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2025.
Meanwhile, according to the 2024/2025 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Luxembourg, early-stage entrepreneurial activity rose from 9.7 to 9.9% from 2023 to 2024, continuing an upward trend noted the year before. Fear of failure fell to 41.4%, its lowest recorded value and a fifth of the population expressed an interest in starting a business, the highest level recorded in the country. Challenges remain, however. A shortfall in tech talent, compounded by a housing affordability crisis, continues to hamper entrepreneurship activity.
Lex Delles, Luxembourg economy minister, said during the ceremony: “People don’t realise the commitment and what it is to be an entrepreneur […] Being an entrepreneur means facing challenges and seizing opportunities […] Like all countries, Luxembourg needs entrepreneurs otherwise the system wouldn’t work.”
