In the first half of 2024, the Romanian startup ecosystem has already seen a flurry of impactful events and programs. To offer a comprehensive snapshot, we’ve curated a list highlighting some of the most significant ones during this time.
As part of Startup Ecosystem Radar, we curate and condense this valuable information into a digestible format and offer it as a free monthly newsletter to our partners and clients. Our goal is to provide insights about the ecosystem, empowering informed business decisions and facilitating connections with relevant stakeholders. Don’t miss out on the latest updates – subscribe to our newsletter today!
Highlights of Events & Programs in the Romanian Startup Ecosystem (2024)
1. Innovation Labs announced a long-term strategic partnership with Early Game Ventures investment fund (link) and organized the 12th edition of the national workshops and mentoring program for young tech entrepreneurs, being the main university based tech startup accelerator program in Romania (link).
2. Spherik Accelerator and its partners have launched the second edition of SynergistEIC, a 6-month acceleration program dedicated to assisting deep tech startups in the European GreenTech sector supporting them with grants of 50K euro, mentoring and connections to investors and potential clients (link).
3. Rubik Hub has organized an event with US investors and European founders in New York as part of New York Tech Week (link). Also, they have launched a new editions for Rubik Garage, an equity-free accelerator for MVP-stage & early-stage startups from the CEE Region and RubikEDU, a program that aims to support early-stage startup founders in developing and validating their business ideas, and it offers access to various resources, such as mentorship, training sessions, networking opportunities, and co-working spaces.
4. Bright Labs Incubator, a program designed by Make IT in Oradea that helps people with a business idea to turn it into reality and reach the first users of the solution, has launched its new edition (link).
5. FreshBlood, UBB HIVE Innovation Center and Activize have launched the third edition of the Hubvantage program, a personalized support program for HealthTech startups.
6. The Institute for Excellence in Entrepreneurship (IdEA) has organized the 10th startup cohort of the Venture Accel program (link).Also, they have announced the start of the eComm Accel program, intended for entrepreneurs who want to launch an online business in 2024 or those who already have an online shop but who aim to improve its results (link).
7. A new edition of the Startup Reaktor program has been launched, offering access to pre-seed investments and opportunities for internationalization in Western Europe and Scandinavia (link).
8. EIT Urban Mobility Startup Support Programme had opened its applications for this year’s edition; the focus was on providing a more personalized and impactful experience for participant startups (link). Part of this project, Spherik Accelerator, Iceberg, Federația Zonelor Metropolitane and EIT Urban Mobility have also organized the Smart City & Urban Mobility Hackathon.
9. The F&B Business Accelerator has launched its 10th cohort, looking for entrepreneurs who develop innovative food products (link).
10. The third edition of FIX Cluj, an incubator program aimed at young people between the ages of 16 and 26 who are from Cluj-Napoca, has been launched. The program provides grants of up to €50K, as well as personalized mentorship and support to help young people develop and test innovative ideas (link).
11. StepFWD team, the acceleration program that aims to help early-stage technology startups made up of diverse teams to grow their businesses, organized within the program a series of workshops dedicated to those who want to learn more about the mechanisms behind angel investment (link).
12. How to Web has launched Spotlight 2024, the competition dedicated to early-stage tech startups from Central and Eastern Europe. The conference event will take place in Bucharest, during October 2-3 (link).
13. Raiffeisen Bank and start-up.ro have organized two editions of Factory Bootcamp, a free program to support early stage entrepreneurs (link).
14. Climathon 2024, a hackathon by EIT Climate-KIC supported by Raiffeisen Bank and Impact Hub Bucharest, has been organized in 7 cities and was dedicated to climate solutions (link).
15. Laser Valley Innovation Bootcamp has organized its second edition. Researchers from National Research and Development Institutes joined technology entrepreneurs and young students to form teams in order to create innovative projects (link).
16. ING Bank Romania and Visa, in partnership with Impact Hub Bucharest, launched the She’s Next program, through which they aim to support the development of female entrepreneurship in Romania (link).
17. Digital Innovation Zone has organized the 2nd edition of the Health Innovation Zone in order for participants to validate health solutions, connect with experts, and access mentorship (link).
18. A new ROStartup event, The Future Forward – Uniting for a Thriving Startup Ecosystem, was organized in May, bringing together doers from startup enablers, the Romanian government, and European bodies (link).
Noteworthy ecosystem reports
1. Activize and PropTech Romania have released the first edition of the Romanian PropTech Report at the first Romanian PropTech Awards event. The report offers a comprehensive overview of the challenges, opportunities, and key players shaping the future of property technology in the region.
2. How to Web team has released the Venture in Eastern Europe Report, the statistics on investments in startups in Central and Eastern Europe in 2023 (link).
3. StepFWD launched the second edition of the Diversity Report in the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Romania (link).
4. Launch Romania has launched “The State of Romanian-Born Early-Stage Startups – 2024” report, which presents the results of the analysis of the data collected from the founders regarding the business models, the annual turnover figures, the status of the investment funds and other important aspects (link).
5. UK/Romania Business, in partnership with CMS, Endeavor Romania and How to Web, have launched the Technology Report: understanding and advancing the UK/Romania opportunity.
Conferences & tech events
1. Techsylvania, the annual technology conference and innovation festival held in Cluj-Napoca, will take place at the end of June.
2. Unchain Fintech Festival, the flagship fintech and blockchain event in the Central Eastern Europe region has been back this year too in Oradea.
3. start-up.ro launched the first edition of the Tigers Summit event in May, which showed the image of Romanian innovation behind the statistics (link).
4. Techcelerator hosted Investor’s Day #6, an event showcasing its portfolio of supported startups and discussing the future of tech startups in Romania (link).
5. Startup Moldova Summit 2024, an event by the Startup Moldova Foundation, has been organized in March in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova (link).
6. Ten startups pitched at the Transilvania Demo Day event organized by ROTSA, Startup Reaktor and Cluster of Education C-EDU in Cluj-Napoca (link), respectively at the Timisoara Startups Demo Day, event organized with Timisoara Startups (link).
7. This year, Startup Weekend Bucharest and Startup Weekend Oradea once again brought together individuals interested in startups, along with co-founders, mentors, and experts.
8. In March, Cluj Innovation Days 2024 was organized, focusing on digital innovations for a sustainable and secure future.
9. Bucharest Tech Week 2024 took place in June and it focused on revealing solutions and ideas for integrating artificial intelligence into various aspects of our existence (link).
10. La French Tech Bucharest organized two events. In February, they hosted their first event of the year, Cyber Security Talks, which addressed the cyber threat ecosystem (link). In March, they held their second event focused on sustainability, titled Sustainability Meets Profitability (link).
11. The second edition of the Green Start-Up Sustainability Forum & Awards took place in June. Participants have found out more about the latest news and trends in sustainability, sustainable production and consumption (link).
12. Veridion, a Romanian Big Data startup, has organized the second edition of the “Hacking Big Numbers” hackathon (link).
Closing
Despite our careful selection, the list remains quite extensive, showcasing the vibrant activity within the Romanian startup ecosystem in terms of programs and events. As we transition into the latter half of 2024, numerous exciting opportunities and initiatives continue to unfold, offering promising prospects for eager participants.
To always be up to date with the vast array of resources, insights, and updates available, we encourage you to check out our other informative products and subscribe to our newsletters down below!
📸 Photo credit: Make IT in Oradea
Sursă articol: activize.tech
