23 teams join the Innovation Labs 2021 acceleration program in Cluj and Timisoara

Last weekend marked the start of the Innovation Labs 2021 program with two online Hackathons, held in parallel – in Cluj and Timisoara. Within them, 23 teams based on technical innovations qualified for the 7-month mentoring program, organized by the Tech Lounge Association, Transylvania Institute of Technology Foundation, Calemis Association, EduHub and Cowork Timisoara with the support of BRD – Groupe Société Générale, Atos, Orange, UiPath, Elrond, Microsoft, Carrefour, with Romanian – American Foundation as strategic partner, and in collaboration with the Executive Unit for Financing Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation.

This week, on March 13 and 14, 2021, two more Hackathons will follow, which will take place simultaneously in Bucharest and Sibiu, and on March 20 and 21, the Hackathon in Iasi will be organized. Registration can be done on www.innovationlabs.ro/register until March 11 and 18, respectively.

Innovation Labs is implemented together with academic partners: POLITEHNICA University of Bucharest, University of Bucharest, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, “Babeș – Bolyai” University, Technical University of Cluj – Napoca, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy” of Cluj-Napoca, ”Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iași, “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iași,“Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu, Timisoara Polytechnic University and West University of Timisoara.

Innovation Labs continues to invite young people from all universities to join the program at the Innovation Labs closest centre to them – taking advantage of the online performance of the program.

The two Hackathons from Cluj and Timisoara gathered 75 teams, made up of over 190 young people with brave projects, which aim to have a positive impact on several business sectors through their technological solutions. The present start-ups have aligned themselves with one of the business verticals of the program: Agriculture, Blockchain, Cybersecurity, Fintech, Health & Lifestyle, Retail, Smart Cities and Smart Mobility.

The participants of the Innovation Labs 2021 Hackathons cover three categories, depending on the members’ experience: teams made up exclusively of students – who go through their first entrepreneurial experience, spin-off teams from research projects in the university environment – who will benefit from support in identifying potential sales markets and opportunities to apply the technologies developed in real business scenarios; teams of experienced students and entrepreneurs, who will go through an entrepreneurial discovery program together.

The hackathon is a dynamic process of exploration, development, finishing and product creation, which brings together young people, technology enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, industry specialists, but also well-known leaders from the Romanian entrepreneurial ecosystem. The 75 registered teams, passionate about technology and animated by a bold idea, virtually presented themselves on Saturday morning, March 6, for the first stage of admission to the Hackathon: a 1-minute flash presentation of the idea to the jury and the audience, followed by the vote of the audience vote present at the event and the jury deliberation.

Based on the options of the jury and the participating audience, the teams with the highest potential entered the development and fast mentoring stage of the Hackathon. During Saturday and the following night, the 46 teams of selected young people worked on perfecting a prototype as convincing as possible of their initial idea, under the guidance of mentors and the jury of the two Hackathons.

On Sunday, March 7, the teams presented an improved version of the product and their business strategy to the jury and the audience, through a presentation that included a technical demo and a 2-minute pitch elevator. The jury, made up of personalities from the digital innovation ecosystem in Romania, accepted the difficult challenge of selecting the most performing and promising 23 teams and prototypes, which thus entered the 7-month development and mentoring program. Qualified teams start today an intense experience of weekly interactions with mentors, users and potential investors, gradually entering the world of digital innovation and technical entrepreneurship.

This week, on March 13 and 14, 2021, two more Hackathons will follow, which will take place simultaneously in Bucharest and Sibiu, and on March 20 and 21, the Hackathon in Iasi will be organized. Registration can be done on www.innovationlabs.ro/register until March 11 and 18, respectively – teams from all university centres in the country are invited.

Over the next 7 months, the goal of the program is to accelerate ideas to the stage of MVP (Minimum Viable Product), to help teams bring their ideas in a validated and valuable form, created for real market customers, but also to go to the right financing opportunities for own start-up. At the same time, the program develops an entrepreneurial way of thinking among the participants, introducing in their vocabulary business terms and concepts. Thus, through the various activities in the program, the well-known entrepreneurs and businessmen will share their experiences with the young participants, guiding them in the knowledge and exploration of the Romanian entrepreneurial ecosystem. Last but not least, through program partners, teams benefit from access to state-of-the-art technologies for development of their products, as well as opportunities for effective market positioning.

On October 14, during the Demo Day event, the finalists of the program will present their products to partners, media representatives and potential investors, and the most convincing teams will be recognized through the Innovation Labs awards. The teams will continue to benefit from the support of the accelerator and the supporters of the program even after the end of the mentoring period, becoming part of the alumni community of Innovation Labs.