Two Romanian startup hubs listed among Europe’s best

InnovX and Techcelerator have been ranked by the Financial Times among the 125 startup hubs evaluated in 19 countries, in the 11th and 51st places. The top three in the overall ranking are UnternehmerTUM from Germany, Hexa from Belgium, and SETsquared from the UK.

InnovX stands out as the leading accelerator in Eastern Europe. Founded in 2019, it is also one of the youngest six players recognized in this list.

"At InnovX, we believe that results speak louder than words, and our track record of success is a testament to our unwavering dedication and drive. We demonstrate not only by word but also by example, as a startup ourselves, that innovators all over Europe can scale and reach their global ambitions and growth. We are incredibly humbled by this achievement and remain steadfast in our commitment to empowering the next generation of innovators and disruptors,” said InnovX.

InnovX-BCR, the technology business initiative blacked by Romania’s second-largest financial group BCR, has reached 185 accelerated startups out of 3,119 applicants, with the completion of the bootcamp dedicated to the SCALEUPS 2023 cohort, the bank announced along with its 2023 financial results.

In September 2023, the InnovX-BCR program successfully launched its cohort of Scaleups, which attracted 18 companies in the pre-accelerator phase. Of these, 10 companies were selected to advance to the acceleration phase, representing a significant success in the development of the entrepreneurial environment.

InnovX-BCR is recognized for attracting companies creating innovation in different sectors - from e-commerce, gaming, cloud, telecoms, health, deep tech, energy, and proptech - and contributing to the development of a diverse and dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Techcelerator is the accelerator founded in Romania in 2017 with the support of the European Investment Fund (EIF) in cooperation with the GapMinder VC investment fund and is aimed at startups in the acceleration and post-acceleration phase. It cooperates with most funds in Europe and Central and Eastern Europe, regional business angel clubs such as Tech Angels Romania and the crowdfunding platform Seedblink.

Since its launch, Techcelerator has successfully backed over 200 startups, and its portfolio companies have benefited from total funding of over EUR 40 million through the investment rounds attracted so far, with a portfolio value of over EUR 150 million.

The accelerator focuses in its programs on supporting verticals such as Enterprise Automation, Fintech, Cybersecurity, Data/Analytics, Cleantech, eHealth, B2B SaaS, and on helping entrepreneurs to be ready to raise Seed and Late Seed funding (investment readiness) and international expansion.