Startup Spotlight: EUR 1 million in prizes for the best tech startups in Romania and the CEE region

Newsroom 25/09/2019 | 11:58

Over 200 tech startups will compete for the EUR 125,000 investment award at Startup Spotlight, the largest startup competition in the region, to take place within the How to Web Conference. The total value of prizes is EUR 1 million.

In a first for Romania, business angels and venture capital funds will unite to invest together in the “Best Startup”, offering the highest prize in a startup competition.

For the first time, several angel investors from the TechAngels network are syndicating an investment round involving venture capital funds, namely GapMinder Venture Partners and RocaX.

They will join forces within Startup Spotlight, generating the largest round of investment granted to a startup competition in the country. The winner of the big prize will benefit from a total investment of EUR 125,000.

Tech startups can apply until October 10, 2019 to win, in addition to the big prize, other prizes and benefits totaling over EUR 1 million.

In the competition organized at the How to Web conference, over 200 startups that develop tech products are expected to apply, of which 20 will be selected for the pitching session. They will have access to 1 million euro benefits through the F6S Alpha Founders program offered by F6s.

The three most promising startups, which will win the prizes for “Best Startup”, “Best Pitch” and “Best Innovation Award”, will also gain access to the TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin conference, as well as a presentation stand and the chance to compete in the Battlefield Startup competition.

The latter is one of the most important technology and entrepreneurship conferences in the world.

The registration page is available here – but keep in mind that competition is fierce for both the big prize and the other prizes, with a cumulative value of over EUR 1 million.

Participation in Startup Spotlight is free and is open to early-stage startups in Romania and Central and Eastern Europe.

Mentoring and meetings with top investors at Startup Spotlight

The application session is followed by the evaluation and selection of 20 startups which, after a pitch training session, will enter the final stage of the competition in How to Web 2019. It will take place from October 30 to October 31, 2019.

All 20 selected teams will benefit from mentoring, meetings with potential investors and media exposure. Mentors who are involved in Startup Spotlight are top entrepreneurs and businessmen, including Enis Hulli (Partner 500startups), Jag Singh (Managing Director at Techstars Berlin), April Dunford (Positioning Expert & CEO in Ambient Strategy), Dave Hogue (UX Design Lead at Google) and Andrei Pitiș (VP Product and Head of European Development Centers at Fitbit).

Competitors will also have meetings with investors such as Carmen Sebe (Partner at Gecad Ventures), Cristian Munteanu (Partner Early Game Ventures), Ondrej Bartos (Partner Credo Ventures), but also with representatives of the most active corporate accelerators in Romania such as KPMG Startup Grow Pad, Orange Fab, BCR-InnovX or Tech’n Trade by METRO SYSTEMS.

Successful companies such as TypingDNA, Omniconvert, Nifty Learning, MEDIjobs, MavenHut, Incrediblue (Greece), Attensee (Poland), Bitrise (Hungary) have participated in Startup Spotlight.

Startup Spotlight is organized in partnership with KPMG Romania and Orange Romania and with the support of the Romanian Commercial Bank, Tech’n Trade by METRO SYSTEMS, Bitdefender, DLA Piper, UniCredit Bank, Fitbit, 2Checkout, Gecad Ventures, Credo Ventures.

Who are the Startup Spotlight investors?

TechAngels Romania is the business angel network that invests in tech startups in the region and facilitates their access to investors and the expertise they need.

Gapminder Ventures is a EUR 40 million Venture Capital investment fund that invests in Romanian start-ups with global scaling ambitions. Gapminder invests in both MVP and Acceleration startups, as well as Seed or Series A series, in start-up companies or even hyper-growth incomes.

RocaX is one of the most recently established investment funds in Romania, whose mission is to support startups and innovative ideas at the beginning of the road, both through financing and know-how, as well as through market validation opportunities.

About How to Web

How to Web is one of Europe’s leading annual technology and innovation conferences, bringing together technology entrepreneurs, product developers, software developers, online marketing specialists, innovators and investors who are looking for inspiration and know-how on developing digital products and businesses.

Launched in 2010, it was among the first technology events in Central and Eastern Europe and contributed to the adoption of the startup mentality in Romania and in this part of Europe.

More information can be found on the conference website: https://www.howtoweb.co/.

BR Magazine | Latest Issue

Download PDF: Business Review Magazine March (II) 2024 Issue

The March (II) 2024 issue of Business Review Magazine is now available in digital format, featuring the main cover story titled “BAT DBS Romania Hub: A Vibrant New Office For An Employee-Centric
Newsroom | 27/03/2024 | 17:32
Advertisement Advertisement
Close ×

We use cookies for keeping our website reliable and secure, personalising content and ads, providing social media features and to analyse how our website is used.

Accept & continue