Thinking about venturing in Romania or craving info about the local startup ecosystem? Well, today’s your lucky day. inventures.eu has put together a fine selection of useful organisations, cool guys, and of the hottest events around the country. If ever our vigilant eye has missed something, hit us up!
Bucharest
Photo credit: Mina Nacheva
Coworking spaces
Partner of the How To Web’s annual conference, TechHub is a collaborative workplace for tech startups with branches in Bangalore, Berlin, Bucharest, London, Manchester, Riga and Swansea. The hub regularly plans events and workshops by and for entrepreneurs.
Address: District 2, 39-41 Nicolae Filipescu, Bucharest, Romania
The Hub Bucharest is a co-working space and a business centre focused on social entrepreneurship, and organising events to foster the startup community. The Bucharest branch is part of the Impact Hub network with members across six continents.
Strada Halelor, nr 5, etajele 2 si 3, 030118 Bucharest, Romania
Contact via email.
Organisations
The online platform Meetup Tech Bucharest was created for the local tech community to exchange ideas and to plan events, promoting a dynamic startup culture.
The ANTREMAN project, funded by the Romanian government with the European Social Fund, encourages young entrepreneurs to develop their own company through a three-semester counseling programme.
Events
Pretty dynamic in recent years, the Romanian startup scene regularly hosts events and seminars within the local and regional communities.
Presenting the latest trends in web and mobile development, the SmartWeb Conference gathers international speakers and web designers & developers, interaction specialists, UX designers, and web entrepreneurs from Eastern Europe.
Originally launched as a local event in 2008, The Interactive Central and Eastern Europe Festival a.k.a ICEEFest has now become a two-day event that brings together the Internet, digital industry and technology’s biggest players from CEE countries with a focus on digital marketing.
The 60 days challenge is an accelerator developed by Business Models Inc and The HUB Bucharest and is designed to accelerate 25 social entrepreneurs regardless of the stage their startup is in.
Conferences and forums
Venture Connect brings together entrepreneurs from early-stage startups and companies as well as investors for pitching and networking opportunities in Bucharest. This year’s edition was held earlier in November.
How to Web is a two-day conference gathering about 800 participants from the CEE tech community. In addition to hands-on talks by international speakers, the event offers entrepreneurs the opportunity to showcase their latest innovations, to enrol in accelerator programmes and to pitch their projects during the Startup Spotlight competition. Register here to attend the conference on 20- 21 November in Bucharest.
Startup Weekend Romania is part of the Startup Weekend network, a non-profit organisation setting up events for startup enthusiasts in over 100 countries and in Bucharest, Cluj, Timisoara, Brasov and Lasi. Register here to take part into the 54-hour frenzy that will rock Bucharest on 22-24 November.
Eagerly expected by most geeks from South-East Europe, Defcamp, a conference on internet security, will gather a mixed crowd of security specialists, entrepreneurs, IT enthusiasts and academic representatives on 29-30 November in Bucharest. Register here to attend the event.
Other upcoming events
Business Days is a series of Romanian events geared towards entrepreneurs and managers, tech included. The 13th edition will take place on 10-11 December in Bucharest.
Contacts
Our connections in Bucharest
Bogdan Iordache, entrepreneur, founder of How to Web, TechHub Bucharest and numerous other projects in Romania. Reach by email.
Monica Obogeanu, COO at How to Web. Reach by email.
Daniel Dragomir, co-founder of TechHub Bucharest. Reach by email.
The Hub Bucharest, co-working space and a business centre organising events to foster the startup community. Reach by email.
Timisoara
Timisoara Photo: Flickr, CameliaTWU, http://bit.ly/1eUapXm
Coworking space
Startuphub is a coworking space dedicated to creative industries, promoting entrepreneurship and supporting the ecosystem in collaboration with local business angels and investment funds.
Address: City Business Centre, D Building, Ground Floor, Str. C. Brediceanu, nr. 10, 300011 Timișoara
Contact via email.
Events
Good news for startups involved with innovative technologies and seeking funding, Startuphub will host the Romanian Innovation Commercialization Assistance Programme (RICAP) on 6 November. The Hub will also organise a series of events on 17 -21 December for local entrepreneurs and tech communities.
Cluj
Cluj Panorama Photo: Flickr, aromano, http://bit.ly/1e7tCliCoworking space
Open since 2012, Cluj Cowork has been providing flexible offices and studios for all community-minded entrepreneurs and freelancers around town.
Address: 23rd Emil Isac, Cluj-Napoca, Cluj, 400023 Romania
Cluj Hub opened in 2012, and it’s also the place where TEDxCluj is organised.
Address: 19th Pitesti Street, Cluj-Napoca
Events
Startup Live, a three-day event in English dedicated to tech and mobile projects. The event has already been in Bucharest and will visit in Cluj on 29 November.
Startup Pirates is a one-week community driven accelerator programme from 8-15 February 2014. The pirates are coming to Romania for the first time, hosted by Cluj Cowork.
Startup Weekend Cluj will take place for the third time in March 2014. Main organiser is Vlad Ciurca, with Skobbler as the main sponsor.
Contacts
Our connection in Cluj
Mircea Vadan, founder of UseTogether. Reach by email or on Twitter @mirceavadan
Other contacts
Marius Mocian – to find out more about Startup Live Cluj. Reach by email or on Twitter @mariusmocian
Robbert Visser – to learn more about Startup Pirates and Cluj Cowork
Cristi Dascalu – about Cluj Hub and Startup Transilvania
Catalina Amihaiesi – to find out more about Spherik Accelerator (coming soon!)
Cross-city initiatives
Romanian Startups is an online directory gathering over 130 internet and tech startups around Romania, and featuring news, events and resources for entrepreneurs and investors.
Contact
Mircea Goia is a web developer, blogger and writer, who built romanianstartups.com and advised several Romanian companies. Although he currently lives in the US, he remains very active on the Romanian startup scene. Contact via email.
Startups.ro offers news and insights about the local startup scene, as well as networking opportunities, resources and services to entrepreneurs.
Launched by the US Embassy to Romania, the US Commercial Service and the Polytechnic University of Bucharest in October, Gemini Solutions Foundry is an incubator designed for Romanian IT startups. The programme offers mentoring and strategic guidance, and aims to connect local entrepreneurs with investors from the Silicon Valley.
Coordinated by the Agency for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (AIPPSME) and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) since 2006, the business and technology incubators project IncubAT, consists of a network of ten incubators established around the country to support entrepreneurial culture at a very local scale.
Akcees is a project created for and by young people with entrepreneurial ambitions that offers workshops, ideas exchanges, mentoring and funding. Last summer, the organisation set up Start Me Up, an entrepreneurship school where participants learned to turn ideas into successful startups.
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