After helping to build Payconiq, Luxembourg’s first mobile payments app, Alicia Brun is now leading Up Luxembourg’s charge to digitise one of the country’s most traditional employee benefits.
Alicia Brun was on maternity leave when the opportunity arose. While caring for a newborn, she was due to return to the familiarity of Payconiq, a company she helped to become a household name since she joined it in 2016. Instead, she took a leap of faith to become the managing director of Up Luxembourg, a company digitising “chèques répas”, meal vouchers.
The deciding factor was an encounter with the CEO of Up Monizze (Belgium). A successful entrepreneur, who had already sold a company, she recalls that the two shared similar values, and that was enough. “I wanted to use my knowledge of Luxembourg, my expertise in payments, and my local network, which proved very useful at the company’s launch. I even helped create the legal entity from scratch.”
When Brun took the helm at Up, the local meal voucher market was almost monopolised by one player: Pluxee (formerly Sodexo), with Edenred as the other major provider. That didn’t deter her. “You have to believe it’s possible and not be held back by limiting beliefs,” she says. “We knew digitalisation was coming, and I knew we could bring a breath of innovation and healthy competition, for the benefit of merchants, employers, and employees.”
Within a year, Up Luxembourg had already secured 5% of the market, with a goal of 10% in sight. Luxembourg’s €470,000 meal voucher market counts around 100,000 active users who are currently served by just three providers. The total market size could triple if the public sector adopts meal vouchers in future.
Trust as a Growth Strategy
While Brun’s fintech credentials gave her a head start, she knew the real challenge in the benefits market wasn’t technology, it was trust.
“Trust doesn’t build overnight,” she says. “You can have the best solution, but if you don’t have trust, it’s very difficult. Reputation in Luxembourg takes time to build, and it can be lost very quickly.”
That understanding has shaped every part of her leadership. “From the beginning, I’ve focused on being transparent, reliable, and close to my clients and partners,” she explains. “That’s what guides us at every step.”
It’s an approach that has already paid off: major employers, including air freight company Cargolux, have entrusted Up Luxembourg with managing a portion of their employees’ salaries, no small feat in a market where invoices can reach hundreds of thousands of euros each month.
A Digital-by-Design Challenger
While many of Up’s competitors are still transitioning from paper vouchers to digital systems, Brun’s team was digital from day one. “We’ve never done paper, not in Luxembourg, not in Belgium.”
That mindset extends far beyond simple digitisation. For employers, Up offers integration with payroll and HR systems, reducing administrative headaches. For employees, they can check their balance in the app. And a partnership with Spuerkeess allows them to check their meal voucher balance directly in their banking app, a first in Luxembourg.
“We manage part of employees’ salaries,” Brun explains. “It makes sense for them to access it through their bank. Eventually, they’ll even be able to spend from that app, as they can in Belgium.”
Brun describes Up Luxembourg’s platform as a “three-in-one” solution, combining meal vouchers, gift vouchers, and perks — all within a single digital interface. “Usually companies have two or three providers for these services,” she says. “We help them centralise and simplify everything, while giving employees more purchasing power.”
A Cooperative Legacy, a Startup Soul
Up Luxembourg may be new, but it belongs to a group with deep roots. Its parent, UpCoop (formerly Groupe Chèque Déjeuner), is a 60-year-old French cooperative operating in 25 countries. Brun sees the group’s decentralised model as a strength.
“Each market is unique,” she says. “The group’s decentralised model allows flexibility and local adaptation. That’s part of what makes it strong.”
Meanwhile, Brun believes Luxembourg’s size is one of its hidden advantages. “It’s accessible: you can easily connect with banks or telcos. Collaboration here is natural.”
The main limitation, she concedes, is the market’s scale. “You have to make sure your investments are sustainable given the market’s size.”
Still, she has big ambitions. From one person in 2023, her team has grown to six, with more expansion planned as Up gains traction. “In Belgium they’re about 130,” she notes. “We’ll grow depending on our market share, especially on the customer service and account management sides.”
Leadership, Balance, and Meaning
When asked what leadership lessons the past two years have brought, Brun is reflective. “I’ve always been focused on results and impact,” she says. “But I’ve learned that teamwork is essential. What allows us to dream bigger every day is trust and respect, with partners, clients, and my team. I need to stay authentic and learn from every experience.”
And success, for her, isn’t defined by metrics alone.
“It’s not about money, status, or power,” she says. It’s about balance and meaning, between professional life, being a woman, and being a mother. “That balance is fragile, but it’s what gives everything else purpose.”
Before 2030, Brun expects Up Luxembourg to be profitable, with its brand firmly established. “The trust will no longer need to be built, just maintained,” she says, adding: “And I hope our values of innovation and experience will be recognised without us having to explain them so much.”
In just over a year, Alicia Brun has managed to turn a legacy industry on its head, and she’s done it not by moving fast and breaking things, but by building steadily and earning trust.
As she puts it, the next chapter isn’t about proving the concept, it’s about scaling it sustainably in a market poised for expansion.
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