In a country where nearly half the population is foreign-born and where career success increasingly depends on meaningful connections, Aperinetwork has become more than an afterwork gathering. Founded by Gaia Pempinello, digital marketer at an Italian company in Luxembourg, today it serves as a bridge between business, creative and expat communities.
Luxembourg’s Missing Link
When Pempinello moved from Milan to Luxembourg in 2014, she immediately felt something was missing. “There were very few afterwork events back then,” she recalls. “As Italians, especially as Neapolitans, we value human connection. My friends and I missed places where expats and professionals could meet naturally.”
What began in 2015 as a simple gathering among friends quickly escaped the boundaries of a hobby. By the end of the first year, the demand was too great to keep it informal. “I understood it needed to become a real business concept. It grew organically, but behind the scenes I had to create structure, planning, partnerships, sponsorships, consistency.”
An International Background
Pempinello’s people-driven approach is rooted in an international academic and professional journey. After completing a Master’s in Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technologies, she pivoted toward branding with an MBA in Luxury Marketing in Paris, later expanding her studies in Madrid and California. Living across countries sharpened the intuition, discipline, and global mindset she brings to her work today. Early experience in hospitality and events added the human touch and operational skills that now anchor her strategic approach to Aperinetwork.
“Networking is essential when you live abroad. When your social life works well, your professional life follows. That’s the impact I want Aperinetwork to have: making Luxembourg not just a place where you work, but a place where you build a life.”
The Aperinetwork Philosophy
That vision has turned Aperinetwork into a cross-border community, attracting participants from all over Europe, some even planning business trips around the events. People celebrate birthdays there, others meet future partners, and many find new professional opportunities. The majority of attendees return regularly, making loyalty a defining element of the platform’s success.
Pempinello summarises her vision as a mindset. “People drop their masks at Aperinetwork. When you’re relaxed, you’re more open, and you give more value to your connections. It’s not just fun; it’s a different social experience.”
Building A Recognised Brand
Success did not arrive effortlessly. “In the beginning, not many venues believed in the concept. I was young, foreign, and a woman. Some people even assumed I would be the first one drinking at my own events,” she replies, laughing.
Consistency became her greatest strength. Starting with a single beverage sponsor, she slowly built a structured sponsorship model and approached partners one by one.
Aperinetwork’s ecosystem has expanded steadily, supported by long-term annual beverage partners and a rotation of trusted venues, bars, restaurants, and clubs that host the monthly events. Entertainment partners followed, from musicians to DJs, helping define the atmosphere that regulars now consider part of the brand’s DNA.
This growth also generated a strong and entirely organic community of 14,000 Instagram followers and 14,000 Facebook group members. What began with just one sponsor has evolved into one of Luxembourg’s most recognisable social-business platforms. “In the long run, structure creates trust. Today, many partners reach out to me, but I protect the brand. Saying ‘no’ is essential to maintain identity and value.”
Two Careers, One Mission
Pempinello manages both career and entrepreneurial worlds with discipline, determination, and remarkable energy. “I’m hyperactive. I don’t spend time on gyms or movies. My time goes into learning, connecting, and being with people who lift me up.”
“Working in a big company teaches you how to present, how to plan, how to think strategically. When I meet a sponsor, I arrive with a real corporate presentation. Professionalism is fundamental.” Aperinetwork, in contrast, fuels her emotionally. “I deliver an experience. A dream. When people have a good social moment, they perform differently the next day. A single connection can influence someone’s entire life.”
Selecting Partners
Although Pempinello now relies on a small circle of freelancers and trusted friends, she still leads most of the operation herself.
“People don’t believe a woman does this alone. I have support, but the leadership is mine.” Her selection criteria for venues and brand partners remain firm: professionalism, trust, adaptability, long-term alignment, and the ability to enhance the overall experience. Some venues have even redesigned their spaces to host her events; others rely on years of mutual confidence.
Occasionally, instinct takes the lead. One night, she connected Gotham, Peacock, Tender Bar and Porta Nova into a single, flowing afterwork by literally opening the doors between them, a surprise revealed only once guests arrived. “I wanted people to discover something unexpected. It worked incredibly well thanks to the owner’s trust.”
A Structured Business Model
Behind the apparent spontaneity of each evening lies a carefully engineered financial and organisational structure. Pempinello maintains percentage-based agreements with the various venues that host her events, complemented by yearly fixed-fee sponsorship deals that support a full calendar of twelve afterworks.
Her beverage partners benefit from category exclusivity, with each collaboration integrated into an annual marketing plan designed to maximise visibility and consistency. Flexibility remains central: the model adapts to different audience segments and the specific expectations of each partner, ensuring that the experience remains both scalable and strategically coherent.
“Luxembourg has incredible potential for development. The event scene remains conservative in some ways, but the constant arrival of new expats creates ongoing demand for community, connection, and visibility.”
This continual renewal keeps Aperinetwork dynamic, attracting trainees, senior executives, creatives, entrepreneurs, and professionals of every nationality.
Behind the Scenes: The Weight of Expectation
Despite her confident leadership, Pempinello is honest about the emotional pressure behind each event. “Sometimes I think: will anyone come tonight? I book venues for 2,000 people, the pressure is real […] This feeling pushes me to give my best.”
She works with constant backup plans, from last-minute artist cancellations to diva-like demands. In one example, she moved the date of an outdoor event when bad weather threatened a major outdoor edition. “It became one of our best events ever.” Meanwhile, friends leave for weekend getaways while she spends hours calling suppliers. “When I feel alone, I’m less strong. But the community gives me strength.”
A Natural Evolution
Looking ahead, Pempinello envisions the next chapter of Aperinetwork as a natural evolution rather than a sudden expansion, a refinement of the concept she has spent a decade shaping. She speaks often about formats that would become more curated, more selective, designed for smaller groups where intimacy and meaningful exchanges become the core added value. “Some events need a different energy,” she says. “A more adult, more exclusive atmosphere, something for people who really want to connect.”
She is also considering potential collaborations with national institutions, including Luxembourg’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, to bring a more artistic and cultural dimension to networking. The idea is to merge disciplines that don’t usually coexist, art, music, lifestyle, business, and create a new category of soft-power events that reflect Luxembourg’s multicultural identity. “I believe in hybrid experiences and I would love to collaborate with our corporate Institutions,” she explains. “Something where people can feel, discover, and connect at the same time.”
What is clear is that Aperinetwork’s future will continue to blend strategy with instinct, structure with spontaneity, and that Pempinello’s vision is only just beginning to unfold.
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