Co-living, co-working & specialty coffee: Two young Frenchmen’s business in Bucharest

A two-week holiday in Romania was enough for Hugo Pillegand and Arthur Bergeret to fall in love with the country and its capital city. So they decided to start a business here, turning a big building in the heart of Bucharest into a co-living & co-working place for digital nomads, slow travellers or freelancers. And they completed their community experience with a specialty coffee shop. Below is their Romanian story, as told by Hugo.

Hugo (picture, right) and Arthur (picture, left) are childhood friends, both from France. Hugo was born in Paris but raised in Lyon. He studied economics in Lille and then joined the corporate world for a while, working in advertising and sales. A great professional experience overall, but not enough for Hugo, who was dreaming of opening his own business in hospitality. So one day, he decided to quit his job and take a year to travel. He went to South America, discovering countries like Ecuador and Colombia.