{"id":19170,"date":"2024-08-16T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-16T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/?p=19170"},"modified":"2024-08-16T05:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-16T05:00:00","slug":"romania-is-about-to-get-its-first-regional-tech-accelerator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/?p=19170","title":{"rendered":"Romania is about to get its first regional tech accelerator"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>With a focus on ideas, not track record, one of Romania&#8217;s regional development agencies has its sights set on creating tens of successful tech firms\u2014and at least one unicorn\u2014by 2027.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A unicorn from western Romania? That\u2019s what Romania\u2019s Western Regional Development Agency (ADR Vest) wants to see by the end 2027. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The agency this week began the process of selecting the manager of a new regional accelerator\u2014 Romania&#8217;s first\u2014which it wants to oversee the disbursement of more than 11 million euros in early-stage firms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The search, says ADR Vest, is international.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color has-cyan-bluish-gray-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/emerging-europe.com\/made-in-emerging-europe\/why-romania-will-be-home-to-the-worlds-first-zero-emissions-tyre-factory\/\">Why Romania will be home to the world\u2019s first zero-emissions tyre factory<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/emerging-europe.com\/voices\/how-romania-with-little-fanfare-became-a-supply-chain-star\/\">How Romania, with little fanfare, became a supply chain star<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/emerging-europe.com\/news\/in-a-small-corner-of-transylvania-the-fightback-against-mass-low-cost-tourism-has-begun\/\">In a small corner of Transylvania, the fightback against mass, low-cost tourism has begun<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color has-cyan-bluish-gray-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>The financing, from the EU\u2019s 2021-27 Regional Development Programme, will be supplemented by the eventual fund manager, which will also&nbsp;be expected to attract independent third-party investors.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Besides funding, the accelerator will support early-stage high-tech companies with mentoring and market access. Romania\u2019s West Region includes the cities of Arad and Timi\u0219oara (pictured above), and already has the second highest GDP per capita (15,500 euros in 2022) of any of Romania\u2019s eight EU regions except for the capital, Bucharest.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Overall, the EU&#8217;s Regional Development Programme is worth 1.18 billion euros to the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is a pivotal moment for the entire West Region,\u201d says Sorin Maxim, general director of ADR Vest. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOne of the key pillars of our regional development strategy in the current financial cycle is to invest in early-stage companies, particularly those with a technological component. We\u2019re focusing on well-known business accelerators that offer seed money, and on venture capital funds as well.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur goal is to cultivate a unicorn in our region by 2027\u2014essentially, a start-up that surpasses a billion-dollar valuation. We\u2019re planting the seeds now, and with time, we\u2019ll nurture them to fruition. This type of investment is crucial in supporting companies with great ideas and expertise but lacking resources. This is where we step in to help them grow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Technology and innovation<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>The programme will be implemented in three phases, of which the first is the pre-acceleration stage. The fund manager will offer training, mentorship, and support to individuals with innovative and viable business ideas, aiming to develop these ideas to at least MVP (Minimum Viable Product) stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The goal is to create a robust portfolio of SMEs ready to enter the acceleration process.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the acceleration stage, SMEs with new business ideas in technologically innovative sectors will be offered guidance, training, mentorship, and venture capital funding to help them achieve development and international exposure.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This final stage, seed financing, will target SMEs that have already received initial funding during the acceleration phase, as well as other companies with high potential for rapid market growth.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By the end of the 2021-2027 funding cycle, ADR Vest aims to support at least 100 MVPs in the pre-acceleration stage, 40 SMEs in the acceleration stage, and 10 SMEs in the seed funding stage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A focus on ideas<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a significant difference between the SME calls from previous funding cycles and what we\u2019re developing now,\u201d Maxim adds. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPreviously, funding focused on a firm\u2019s existing capabilities. Now, we\u2019re focusing on ideas\u2014their potential for market development and the technological innovation they bring. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAdditionally, companies won\u2019t just receive funding; they\u2019ll also benefit from a comprehensive mentoring package provided by the accelerator\u2019s management team. From marketing to technology and financial development, companies will receive assistance that would otherwise need to be sourced externally.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color has-cyan-bluish-gray-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Unlike many news and information platforms,&nbsp;<em>Emerging Europe<\/em>&nbsp;is free to read, and always will be.&nbsp;There is no paywall here.&nbsp;We are independent,&nbsp;not affiliated with nor representing any political party or business&nbsp;organisation.&nbsp;We want the very best for emerging Europe, nothing more, nothing less. Your support will help us continue to spread the word about this amazing region.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>You can contribute&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/emergingeurope.krtra.com\/t\/NlQnFuOA2C9c\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>. Thank you.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/emergingeurope.krtra.com\/t\/NlQnFuOA2C9c\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/emerging-europe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/copy-of-add-a-heading.png\" alt=\"emerging europe support independent journalism\" class=\"wp-image-50811\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color has-cyan-bluish-gray-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With a focus on ideas, not track record, one of Romania&#8217;s regional development agencies has its sights set on creating tens of successful tech firms\u2014and at<span class=\"excerpt-hellip\"> [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[7740,7742,7741,6633,7743,6624,6621,61,7739],"class_list":["post-19170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis","tag-adr-vest","tag-arad","tag-eu-regional-development-programme","tag-european-union","tag-sorin-maxim","tag-start-ups","tag-startups","tag-technology-innovation","tag-timisoara"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}