Telekom Romania invests EUR 100,000 in ten local start-ups

Telekom Romania announced the winners of WeAccelerate, the programme through which the company is supporting ten Romanian start-ups through benefits for business acceleration, worth EUR 100,000 in total. A total of 121 start-ups from various business areas joined the competition, and the ten winning start-ups were designated following a thorough selection process, the company said in a press release. The ten winning start-ups are Sensix.Io (solution for measuring environmental parameters), Nifty Learning (software), Fabrica de experimente (online commerce), Emedi (online commerce e-learning), Appseed (software), Thinkout (software), Genetx (life science), Casa de idei (internet & e-commerce), The Beer Institute (retail), and Gateway VR (virtual reality). Each of the ten selected start-ups will benefit from investments worth EUR 10,000, allotted as follows: financial support worth EUR 6,000, six months of subsidized rent at WeLoveDigital hub in Bucharest, 60 hours of mentorship and advice in online promotion, as well as online promotional campaigns. Telekom Romania started the WeAccelerate programme, organized in partnership with WeLoveDigital hub, in May 2018. The programme has gone through three stages so far: the registration of the projects in the competition, the preselection stage - after which 25 semifinalists were designated, and the final selection. Between November 1-14, the 25 semifinalists presented their projects in front of a jury formed of the six mentors of the programme. The winners will move to the incubation stage, which will unfold between February-August 2019. During this stage the winning start-ups will work at the WeLoveDigital hub and will have meetings with the six mentors, during which they will discuss their business objectives and challenges. These meetings have the purpose to help the start-ups develop their businesses and build a long-term strategy. In addition, the mentors will use their experience gained as entrepreneurs in their own businesses to facilitate the connection of the start-ups with potential suppliers and business partners. Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com