Felix Hemmerling (kodehyve): Driving a forward-thinking ecosystem and Luxembourg’s talent conundrum

Felix Hemmerling, co-founder, CEO and Chairman at kodehyve, shares his thoughts around his team’s mission of driving a more forward-thinking and sustainable real estate ecosystem and why Luxembourg’s ability to adapt to the challenges around the talent conundrum will define its place in the race for global technology leadership.

Can you present your company in a few words?

kodehyve is a technology venture specialised in the digital transformation of the built ecosystem and its entire value chain by providing connected operating systems and APIs. Our mission is to help the built industry de-risk new property development activities, drive collaboration and thereby enhance efficiencies, productivity, transparency and quality, as well as gain greater visibility into operations and yield higher profitability – across the entire project lifecycle. At kodehyve, we provide 2 main service categories to property developers, contractors, real estate funds, architecture and engineering offices, real estate agencies as well as Governments and municipalities: For one, we provide real estate specific platforms, such as our flagship products kodehyve OS, kodehyve sign and kodehyve comply. In this same service segment, we provide standalone modules through kodehyve SDKs enabled for API integrations. Second, our kodehyve advisory business unit focuses on business intelligence and data analysis for reporting, tech advisory and digital audits.
 
   

“By closely collaborating with the real estate industry’s leaders, we collectively work towards a more forward-thinking and sustainable ecosystem.”

    
What are the new challenges and opportunities that you identify ?

While many of the underlying issues facing the real estate industry have been known for a long time, the entire real estate ecosystem is confronted with urgent challenges that have intensified in recent years – with repercussions on an economic and societal level. The shortage of available housing, the scarcity of new real estate projects, supply chain issues and the unaffordability of housing for many have created a complex landscape. This is especially noticeable in places like Luxembourg, where the demand for (affordable) housing is urgent. At kodehyve, these challenges are equally our opportunities. By providing powerful solutions to developers and related stakeholders, we help the built ecosystem achieve operational performance and enable real estate leaders to succeed so as to contribute to solving these pressing issues. By closely collaborating with the real estate industry’s leaders, we collectively work towards a more forward-thinking and sustainable ecosystem.
    

How do you see the future of Luxembourg?

While Luxembourg must be appreciated for its diverse culture and economic prosperity, the country faces pressing challenges in building its future competitiveness. For a sustainable and thriving future, it is imperative Luxembourg addresses the talent conundrum, critical for future success, particularly in technology. For one, hiring international talent in Luxembourg is fraught with complications despite the EU’s aspirational borderless vision: Lengthy visa procedures and the non-existence of an automatic visa granting system amplify the issue. And while the government’s financial support to study globally is exemplary, combined with the government’s disproportionately high entry-level salaries, Luxembourg creates an imbalance that inadvertently discourages young talent from exploring opportunities to contribute to the nation’s backbone – SMEs. The nation’s ability to adapt to these challenges and leverage the potential of its multilingual, globally educated workforce, will define its place in the race for global technology leadership.

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