Iași, 15 January 2020 – BCR-InnovX, the technology business acceleration program, will be expanded this year in Iași based on incubation stages, in partnership with Fab Lab Iași and Școala Informală de IT (IT Informal School). Three incubation groups will be implemented during the year, and 20 entrepreneurs can participate in each of them. The best start-ups of the incubation programs will be selected for the acceleration program implemented in Bucharest.
Entrepreneurs of Moldova region can apply by 21 February 2020 for the first incubation group, named Start-ups, intended to companies with a turnover between EUR 100,000 and EUR 1 million. The official event for the launching of the BCR-InnovX incubation program in Iasi will take place on 22 January, at Fab Lab.
This year, 20 companies will be selected for each of the three categories of the BCR-InnovX program:
- Start-ups (a turnover or attracted financing between EUR 100,000 and EUR 1 million) – the 2-13 March 2020 incubation program;
- Grinders (a turnover or financing of up to EUR 100,000) – the 15-26 June 2020 incubation program;
- Scale-ups (a turnover or financing of over EUR 1 million) – the 14-24 September 2020 incubation program.
Ionuț Stanimir, BCR Marketing Manager, stated that, “The expanding of BCR-InnovX in Iași is an important growth stage of the technology business acceleration program, given the strong development of the IT sector in the Capital City of Moldova region. We want to help the most creative and visionary entrepreneurs of Moldova to think globally and to turn innovation into a highly performant and sustainable business. We have a strong local partner, which has created at Fab Lab an ecosystem recognized by the local community, and we want to contribute together to the development of innovative products and solutions made in Iași”.
Daniel Dumitrescu, InnovX Manager, stated that, “We are looking for courageous entrepreneurs, willing to expand at a European or global level, who want to know how to look good in front of investors and how to draft a proper business plan. Following the incubation stage, we will select 3 or 4 companies, which will subsequently participate in the acceleration program implemented in Bucharest and, implicitly, will have a chance to attend global conferences or to attract financing. Everything depends on how competitive they will be”.
Dan Zaharia, Founder of Fab Lab Iași, declared that, “I believe that the time has come also for us to open an acceleration program for the community of technology entrepreneurs of Iași and Moldova region. The Fab Lab Iași – Școala Informală de IT –PIN Magazine ecosystem will act as a catalyst in our partnership with Banca Comercială Română and InnovX. We hope to see as many successful companies as possible enrolled in the BCR-InnovX 2020 incubation and acceleration program, which will have afterwards the courage, ambition and qualifications required for an international expansion”.
The BCR- InnovX incubation program will include:
- Leadership workshop
- Investment workshop
- Branding workshop
- Business plan drafting course
- Mentoring program offered by experienced entrepreneurs and BCR’s management team
BCR’s InnovX Accelerator is a program intended to technology businesses that develop solutions dedicated to areas such as: cyber-security, fintech, artificial intelligence, automated learning, robotics, cloud, automation or micro-services. The accelerator has a curriculum adapted to companies having an international scaling potential and a global network of partners and mentors experienced in such programs.
The accelerator is a project implemented in partnership with UiPath, Startup Grind and with Google for Startups, Mindspace and the European Center for Services Investments and Financing (ECSIF). BCR covers the costs for all scholarships granted to entrepreneurs under this project and logistics costs.
For further details on BCR’s InnovX Accelerator, please visit: www.bcr.ro/accelerator.
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Banca Comercială Română (BCR), member of Erste Group, is one of the most important financial groups of Romania, and includes universal bank operations (retail, corporate & investment banking, treasury and capital markets), as well as specialized companies in the leasing market, private pensions and housing banks.
BCR offers a full range of financial products and services through a network of 21 business centres and 22 mobile offices dedicated to companies and 431 retail units located in most towns of the country having over 10,000 inhabitants. BCR is bank no. 1 in Romania in the bank transaction market, and its customers benefit from the largest national ATM network – 2,000 ATMs, 15,300 POSs and full Internet banking, Mobile banking, Phone-banking and E-commerce services.
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Erste Group is one of the main providers of financial services of the eastern part of the European Union. A number of 47,700 employees serve 16.2 million customers through 2,500 subsidiaries in 7 countries (Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, Croatia and Serbia). At the end of 2018, Erste Group was holding total assets of EUR 236.8 billion, recorded a net profit of EUR 1.79 billion and had a tier 1 equity common ratio (fully implemented Basel 3) of 13.5%.
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BCR – Corporate Communication
Cătălin Ioniță, e-mail:catalin.ionita@bcr.ro, phone no.: 0740.247.336
This information is available also on our website at: www.bcr.ro
For further details on BCR’s products and services, please use the following contact methods:
InfoBCR
Web: www.bcr.ro
Email: contact.center@bcr.ro
TelVerde: 0800.801.BCR (0800.801.227), which can be dialled free of charge from all national phone networks.