At its 9th edition and spring session, VentureConnect’s main purpose is to promote networking, transfer of knowledge and investment opportunities within the IT industry in the CEE region.
With a large number of angels and tech tycoons attending the event, the ten shortlisted companies requesting a total of six million euros had a great chance of investment opportunities and possibilities to receive fundings.
It seems no surprise that the Romanian startup scene has increased significantly in the past few years. And with good reason, according to Alexandra Dumitru, Project Manager at VentureConnect, as the “ecosystem in the region is growing, we’ve noticed a higher quality in the submitted projects making it easier for entrepreneurs to have a better view of their business opportunities.”
“Following the tradition started last year, each event is divided into two stages: mature companies that have the experience but require a substantial investment and early stage startups with a viable product to showcase during the presentation” said Dumitru.
Out of 45 projects that applied this year six were chosen for the early stage category, four made it in the list of the mature category. What these have incommon is experience, clientele and an established position on the market, with a vision to expand.
The mature shortlisted startups are…
Mondo Taxi
This taxi app is getting rid of the old habits of calling and waving at cabs by introducing a faster, safer and easier way to request a taxi. US based company Mondo Taxi is an Android/iOS app that is currently available in Melbourne (Australia), Stockholm (Sweden) and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) and require 2 million euros to expand to Spain, Italy, Mexico, USA and Middle East.
Cinema Scheduler
It can be hard to imagine that in the 21st century, a lot of cinema schedules are still created in an excel sheet. Share Dimension created a software based on complex algorithms that can provide fully automated schedules and may even increase the cinema attendance. 1.2 million euros is needed for entering the US market.
Smart Bill
A B2B software development company with its headquarters in Romania, serves 23,000 customers and manages invoices over 1 billion euros per year. They wish to expand and require between 500.000 and 1 million euros from the angels.
White Image
Are you in need of an agency that specialises in marketing/ social media promotion? Search no more as White Image is a full-service agency founded in 2003 that is now looking to expand and pitched their business for 500.000 euros.
The early-stage startups are…
Rewordly
“If LinkedIn is what you do, Rewordly is what you know” is their motto and they focus on content driven branding and business.
Pocketo
You get a hardware platform, a smartphone app and voila, you can create your prototype faster.
Clepsisoft
Romanian startup focuses on helping customers against cyber-attacks with their computer security testing software.
Fitter
A mobile app used by fitness studios to offer their clients specialised guidance, best-practices and training plans.
Time in
Intended primarily for smartphones, this is an online platform that allows users to share their schedules and receive suggestions from their friends.
Safe Drive
Even though it’s illegal to text and drive, a lot of people still do it. This app scheduled for September, will offer users several discounts and bonus points for not using their phones in traffic.
According to Dumitru, no investments have been made yet. “It takes weeks, months…not a day”. However, there are “very serious discussions taking place with some of the companies that were present at this edition “.
