When conversations turn to innovation, the vocabulary is remarkably predictable. Artificial intelligence, startups, venture capital, smart cities and emerging technologies dominate the discussion, while urban innovation is often reduced to sensors, digital platforms and new infrastructure.

Yet some of the most meaningful innovations emerge without inventing anything at all.

Sometimes they begin by looking differently at what already exists.

The first edition of Night of the Churches, held in Cluj-Napoca this summer, offers a compelling example. More than 20,000 people visited eighteen places of worship belonging to six different religious denominations during a single evening.

Churches that many residents pass every day became spaces for guided tours, concerts, conversations, architectural discovery and community gatherings.

The event was widely covered as a cultural success. What received far less attention, however, was the innovation model behind it.

In a conversation following the event, Andi Daiszler, president of the Daisler Association and one of the project’s initiators, repeatedly returned to a simple idea: innovation is not necessarily about creating something new, but about recombining what already exists.

“We just took what we had here in Cluj, put it together, gave it another perspective and presented it differently.”

That sentence may be the most interesting takeaway from the entire project.

Rediscovering the invisible city

Cities accumulate assets over centuries. Historic buildings, public squares, industrial sites, inner courtyards and religious landmarks form layers of infrastructure that often become almost invisible to those who live alongside them. Familiarity breeds indifference.

Night of the Churches challenged that perception by treating religious heritage not merely as a collection of sacred buildings, but as part of the city’s cultural infrastructure.

The churches themselves were never the innovation.

The innovation was changing the relationship between citizens and places they thought they already knew.

This distinction matters because it shifts the conversation away from investment towards imagination. Rather than asking what a city should build next, the project asks a more provocative question: what existing assets are we failing to see?

Daiszler believes the same approach could extend far beyond churches.

A “Night of the Courtyards.” A “Night of the Factories.” Other overlooked places that already exist, waiting to be experienced differently.

“The potential is there,” he told me. “What is needed are the people willing to make it happen.”

Trust as civic infrastructure

If the physical infrastructure already existed, another form of infrastructure had to be built from scratch: trust.

Bringing together six religious denominations in a common initiative had never been attempted in Romania. Rather than approaching each community individually, the organisers first sought institutional legitimacy by asking the Prefect of Cluj to invite every recognised religious denomination to participate.

It was a strategic decision.

An invitation coming from a public institution carried a different weight than one coming from an NGO. The organisers recognised that credibility, in this context, was as important as creativity.

Only after that initial layer of trust was established could the real collaboration begin.

This may be one of the strongest lessons for founders, civic entrepreneurs and city makers alike. We often think of infrastructure as roads, buildings or digital networks. Yet projects involving multiple organisations frequently succeed or fail because of a less visible form of infrastructure: the ability to build confidence between partners who have never worked together before.

Innovation, in other words, is often social before it is technological.

Seeing beyond a building’s primary function

One idea from the interview stayed with me long after we finished talking.

“We look at a church only as a place for Sunday mass,” Daiszler said. “Just as we look at a car only as something that gets us from A to B.”

It is a simple observation, but it reveals a broader pattern in the way we think about cities.

Buildings become defined by a single purpose. Schools educate. Libraries lend books. Churches host religious services. Factories produce goods.

Urban innovation begins when those assumptions are challenged.

A church can also become a place for architecture, music, dialogue, exhibitions or simply curiosity. None of these new uses diminish its original purpose. Instead, they expand the ways in which citizens relate to it.

Perhaps the greatest untapped resource in many cities is not land or funding, but imagination.

Innovation without technological spectacle

One answer surprised me.

When I asked about the role of technology, Daiszler was unconvinced that the project needed more of it.

Night of the Churches, he argued, was never intended to be a showcase for digital experiences. Its value came precisely from face-to-face encounters, conversations and shared experiences inside physical spaces.

He was equally dismissive of another common assumption—that more resources automatically produce better innovation.

With unlimited funding, he suggested, the project might actually lose some of the creativity born from constraints.

It’s an uncomfortable idea in an era that often equates scale with success.

Yet many breakthrough civic initiatives begin with modest budgets and strong ideas rather than the other way around.

Communication that invited curiosity

Another understated strength of the project was the way it was communicated.

There were no grand promises or exaggerated claims. The organisers did not try to convince people to become more religious, nor did they present the event as an extraordinary spectacle.

Instead, they offered a simple invitation: come and rediscover your city.

That message attracted audiences well beyond traditional churchgoers. Curiosity—not ideology—became the common denominator.

It is a reminder that communication can shape participation as much as the programme itself does.

A broader lesson for cities

With a second edition already planned, Night of the Churches has the opportunity to evolve from a successful cultural event into a replicable model of civic innovation.

Its greatest achievement may not be the number of visitors it attracted, but the perspective it introduced: that cities do not always need new landmarks to become more vibrant. Sometimes they simply need new ways of experiencing the ones they already have.

If that idea encourages other communities to rethink their own overlooked assets—whether churches, inner courtyards, former industrial sites or public buildings—then the project’s most lasting legacy may not be the event itself, but the mindset it inspires.

The post What If Urban Innovation Isn’t About Building Something New? appeared first on Startups&TheCity.

Artificial intelligence dominated the agenda at the fifth edition of UNCHAIN Festival, which brought together more than 1,000 financial and technology leaders from over 40 countries in Oradea. Across two days, 170 international speakers debated topics ranging from agentic AI and digital identity to stablecoins, the Digital Euro, fraud prevention, and the future of banking.

But after speaking with executives from Visa, Finshape, Creatio, Tremend, AMICredit, and disruptive strategy training & consultant Andrew Taylor, along with other companies building financial technology across Central and Eastern Europe, one thing became clear: the most interesting conversations were no longer about AI itself.

No one questioned whether artificial intelligence would reshape financial services. That debate appears to be over.

Instead, discussions focused on a different set of questions. How do banks integrate AI into decades-old core systems? How do they ensure compliance with increasingly complex regulations? How can organizations deploy AI without compromising trust, security, or customer experience? And perhaps most importantly, what happens to employees as intelligent agents begin taking over an increasing share of routine work?

Although each interview explored a different corner of the financial ecosystem—from payments and lending to insurance, CRM platforms and digital strategy—the same themes surfaced repeatedly. Together, they paint a picture of an industry moving beyond experimentation and into a far more demanding phase: implementation.

AI is no longer the question. Implementation is.

Perhaps the strongest common thread across all eleven interviews was how much the conversation around AI has matured.

Only a year or two ago, discussions at financial conferences often revolved around whether banks should embrace generative AI at all. At UNCHAIN Festival 2026, that question had effectively disappeared. Executives no longer debated the technology’s potential. Instead, they discussed deployment models, governance frameworks, customer trust, integration with legacy infrastructure, and measurable business outcomes.

Catalin Cretu, General Manager of Visa for Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia, pointed to changing consumer behaviour as evidence that the market has already moved forward.

“More than 50% of online users now use AI tools to search for products and compare prices,” he explained.

For Visa, that behavioural shift is driving the development of what the company calls agentic commerce, AI-powered assistants capable of searching for products, comparing offers, and eventually completing purchases on behalf of consumers. Rather than replacing existing payment infrastructure, these AI agents rely on trusted payment networks to authenticate users, prevent fraud, and execute transactions securely. Pilot projects are already underway, with broader deployment expected over the coming year.

The discussion at Finshape reflected a similar shift, but from the perspective of traditional banking.

“Banks are no longer asking whether AI works,” said Dan Toderici, Country Manager Romania at Finshape. “They’re asking how to restructure their systems so AI can actually function.”

That distinction is significant. The competitive advantage is no longer simply adopting AI. It lies in building the organisational and technological foundations that allow AI to deliver value consistently and securely.

Anton Solodkyi, Customer Success Director at Creatio, observed the same evolution while working with banks deploying AI-driven CRM and loan origination solutions. The technical capabilities already exist, he explained. The challenge is integrating them into highly regulated environments without disrupting existing operations.

Taken together, these conversations suggest that the financial sector has entered a new phase of AI adoption. The technology itself is no longer the limiting factor. Success increasingly depends on execution—how institutions redesign processes, prepare data, train employees, and establish governance models that allow AI to operate safely at scale.

In other words, the competitive question has shifted from “Should we use AI?” to “Can our organisation actually support it?”. That challenge extends beyond technology. As Carlos Parker, Head of Arxia’s AI Acceleration Program, recently told Startups&TheCity, the future of AI inside companies may depend less on the models themselves and more on leadership, organizational culture, and change management. Through the AI Acceleration Program, Arxia focuses on helping organizations bridge exactly that gap—moving from AI experimentation to AI embedded in everyday business operations.

Legacy systems—not AI—have become the industry’s biggest bottleneck

If there was one challenge mentioned more often than any other during the interviews, it wasn’t artificial intelligence itself. It was everything that came before it.

For decades, banks and insurance companies have built technology stacks by adding new systems on top of existing ones. The result is a complex web of core banking platforms, customer databases, CRM systems and internal applications that were never designed to support AI-driven decision making.

Several interviewees described this legacy infrastructure as the single greatest obstacle to AI adoption.

Marius Scarlat, Head of Product Management CEE at Tremend, sees this challenge every day while helping banks modernize their digital services. Although AI has already been successfully deployed in projects such as customer onboarding and relationship management for major European financial institutions, including Lloyds Bank, implementation is rarely straightforward.

“Banking is one of the most regulated and traditional industries,” Scarlat explained. “Technology alone isn’t enough. You have to earn trust, understand existing processes and modernize them carefully.”

That gradual approach reflects the reality of enterprise banking. Replacing core systems is rarely an option, so most institutions are looking for ways to introduce AI without disrupting the infrastructure they already depend on.

Dan Toderici described a similar situation from Finshape’s perspective. Rather than replacing legacy platforms, the company builds a middleware layer that sits between existing banking systems and modern AI-powered applications. Its role is to organize, clean and contextualize fragmented customer data before it reaches AI models.

Without that intermediate layer, even the most advanced AI solutions struggle to produce reliable results.

Anton Solodkyi, Customer Success Director at Creatio, believes this explains why many AI initiatives fail to move beyond the proof-of-concept stage.

“Organizations often focus on the AI itself,” he said. “But the bigger challenge is understanding and documenting the business process you’re trying to automate. If the process isn’t clearly defined, an AI agent won’t fix it.”

His observation highlights a recurring misconception surrounding AI adoption. Automation doesn’t compensate for operational complexity—it amplifies it. Organizations with fragmented processes simply expose those weaknesses faster when AI enters the equation.

The same challenge extends beyond banking.

Sándor Székely, who develops embedded insurance solutions in Hungary, said that launching new AI-powered insurance products is rarely limited by the technology itself. Instead, the biggest delays occur inside insurance companies that must integrate new digital products into legacy policy administration systems built years—or even decades—ago.

The technology is ready.

The infrastructure often isn’t.

Across banking, insurance and enterprise software, the pattern was remarkably consistent: AI is exposing technical debt that many financial institutions have accumulated for years. Before organizations can become AI-first, they first need to modernize the digital foundations on which AI depends.

In the AI era, clean data has become a competitive advantage

Closely connected to legacy infrastructure is another theme that surfaced repeatedly throughout the interviews: data quality.

Every executive agreed that AI is only as good as the information it receives.

That may sound obvious, but in financial services it represents one of the industry’s biggest transformation challenges.

Banks typically operate dozens of disconnected systems built over many years. Customer information is scattered across different databases, product lines and business units, making it difficult to create the unified view that modern AI applications require.

“Banks are investing heavily in AI,” Dan Toderici explained, “but before AI can generate meaningful insights, the data has to be structured, cleaned and connected.”

Finshape addresses this challenge through a customer data platform that creates a unified customer profile across multiple banking systems. Once that foundation exists, AI can deliver personalized financial recommendations, targeted marketing campaigns and intelligent customer interactions.

One of the company’s flagship examples is its collaboration with Raiffeisen Bank Romania. What began as a digital loyalty application has evolved into an AI-powered personalization platform with more than one million active users. The system analyzes customer behavior and transaction history to deliver highly personalized offers inside the bank’s mobile application—demonstrating that AI creates value only after the underlying data has been properly organized.

Creatio faces similar challenges from the CRM side.

According to Anton Solodkyi, many organizations underestimate how much preparation is required before AI agents can automate business workflows.

“Structured information is the foundation,” he explained. “Without it, even the smartest AI agent has nothing reliable to work with.”

Tremend has reached the same conclusion internally. Beyond client projects, the company is increasingly using AI to accelerate software development and modernize legacy code through proprietary tools such as Backlog AI and Slingshot. Even there, however, human review remains essential to validate AI-generated outputs before they become production-ready.

Taken together, these conversations suggest that data has become the new competitive advantage in financial services.

The race is no longer about who has access to the latest language model. Those models are becoming widely available.

The real differentiator is who has built the cleanest data architecture—and therefore who can generate the most reliable, secure and context-aware AI experiences.

AI is changing work, not eliminating it

One of the clearest divergences between public perception and real-world deployment of AI in financial services is what actually happens inside organizations once automation is introduced.

The expectation is often substitution. The reality, across multiple interviews, is reconfiguration.

At AMICredit, the introduction of AI agents fundamentally changed how work is distributed inside the company—but not in the way many might expect. Rather than reducing headcount, the organization expanded.

Karoly Totos, CEO of AMICredit, described a system where AI handles repetitive, structured tasks such as onboarding and customer communication, while human employees shift toward higher-value operations.

“We’re hiring more people, not fewer,” he explained. “AI agents handle repetitive tasks, making the whole organization more productive.”

The impact is measurable. Onboarding workflows that previously consumed up to 40% of employee time have been largely automated. IT costs have been reduced by nearly half, while customer retention in AI-assisted flows has increased by 15–20%.

But the deeper change is not operational efficiency. It is the redefinition of what human work inside financial organizations actually is.

A similar shift is visible in broader discussions about the labor structure of financial services.

Visa’s perspective on agentic commerce highlights a future where AI systems increasingly handle discovery and comparison tasks on behalf of users. Andrew Taylor, who studies strategic disruption, frames this shift in broader terms: routine cognitive tasks are gradually moving toward machine execution, while humans transition toward supervision, validation, and system-level decision-making.

Across all interviews, a consistent pattern emerges: AI is not removing humans from the system—it is moving them up a layer in the decision hierarchy.

Human oversight remains a structural requirement, not a temporary phase

Despite rapid advances in automation, no interview suggested a future in which financial systems operate without human intervention.

Instead, a consistent governance model appears across banking, insurance, CRM systems, and payment infrastructure: AI proposes, humans decide.

At Creatio, this principle is embedded directly into CRM and workflow automation systems. AI agents assist in loan origination and customer service processes, but final decisions remain with human operators.

Anton Solodkyi described this as a design constraint rather than a limitation.

“AI generates recommendations, but humans make the final decision,” he said.

The reason is not technological weakness but regulatory and operational reality. In highly regulated industries such as banking, full autonomy introduces unacceptable levels of risk—both in terms of compliance and reputational exposure.

Tremend’s experience reinforces this view. Even in advanced implementations such as AI-driven onboarding and relationship management systems used by major European banks, human validation remains a core component of the workflow.

Visa’s experiments with AI-driven commerce also depend on human confirmation before transactions are executed, particularly in early deployment phases.

Across all cases, the same architectural principle appears: AI systems are being designed as decision-support layers, not decision-making authorities.

Regulation is no longer a barrier—it is a design constraint

If earlier phases of fintech innovation often framed regulation as friction, the interviews suggest a more mature relationship has emerged between AI systems and regulatory frameworks.

Rather than slowing adoption, regulation is increasingly shaping how AI systems are built from the ground up.

In insurance, compliance requirements were a central factor in deployment timelines. Sándor Székely noted that achieving regulatory approval for AI-driven insurance products required extensive validation processes, including data privacy assessments and alignment with national authorities.

Even when the underlying technology is ready, institutional approval cycles can extend implementation timelines to several months.

Similarly, Finshape’s work with banks across Central and Eastern Europe shows that GDPR compliance and data governance are no longer treated as external constraints but as embedded design parameters in system architecture.

Narcis Nagy highlighted a related dynamic: organizations are under pressure to demonstrate AI capability quickly, but must still align with strict European regulatory frameworks such as the EU AI Act.

This creates a structural tension between speed and compliance—but also a clear directional shift. Instead of resisting regulation, companies are increasingly designing systems that assume it from the start.

The result is a quieter but significant transformation: regulation is becoming part of the AI architecture itself.

The pressure to adopt AI is driven by competition, not strategy

While much of the discussion around AI adoption focuses on technological readiness, one of the more subtle insights from UNCHAIN 2026 is that the primary driver of adoption is not internal transformation agendas.

It is external pressure.

Organizations are not adopting AI because they have fully mapped out long-term strategies. They are adopting it because competitors already have.

Narcis Nagy, General Manager & Cofondator at RELOAD CONCEPT described this dynamic directly, noting that the pressure to implement AI often comes from the market rather than internal leadership teams.

“The pressure comes from competition,” he explained. “Not from within the company itself.”

This creates a paradox. Companies accelerate AI initiatives not necessarily because their systems are ready, but because standing still is no longer an option.

Andrew Taylor’s strategic framing adds another layer to this observation. In environments where technological change is accelerating, organizations increasingly shift from predictive planning to adaptive response. Strategy becomes less about forecasting outcomes and more about reacting to systemic shifts initiated elsewhere in the ecosystem.

Across both perspectives, the implication is clear: AI adoption is becoming less of a strategic choice and more of a competitive necessity.

Conclusion: finance is being rebuilt, not disrupted

Across the eight interviews spanning payments, banking infrastructure, insurance, CRM systems, and strategic consulting, a coherent picture emerges.

Financial services are not undergoing simple technological disruption. They are undergoing structural reconstruction.

Artificial intelligence is already embedded across multiple layers of the financial system. But its integration is constrained by legacy infrastructure, fragmented data, regulatory frameworks, and institutional trust.

As a result, the dominant model emerging across the industry is not autonomous AI-driven finance, but supervised intelligence operating within tightly governed systems.

Visa’s agentic commerce, AMICredit’s AI-driven onboarding, Finshape’s data infrastructure, Tremend’s enterprise deployments, and Creatio’s CRM agents all point toward the same reality: AI is becoming embedded, but not independent.

And perhaps the most important insight from UNCHAIN 2026 is this:

The defining challenge of the next phase of financial transformation is not building more capable AI systems.

It is building financial institutions capable of absorbing them.

Read also: Riding the AI Wave: Why the Real Challenge Is Not Technology, but Change, a related interview on how organizations can navigate the shift from AI experimentation to execution.

The post Beyond the AI Hype: What Fintech Leaders Revealed About the Future of Financial Services at UNCHAIN Festival 2026 appeared first on Startups&TheCity.

Techsylvania, Eastern Europe’s flagship technology and innovation conference, is accelerating toward its June 25–26 takeover of Cluj-Napoca with a powerhouse wave of speaker announcements. Each new name signals the same thing: 2026 isn’t just bigger, it’s a step-change.

Taking the stage this year:

• Hermann Hauser – Co-Founder & Venture Partner, Amadeus Capital Partners
• Hrvoje Ćosić – CEO, Aircash
• Guido Brinkel – Policy & Partnerships Lead Germany & CEE, OpenAI
• Jeanie Fang – Director of Data & AI, Crunchbase
• Sacha Dragic – Founder & CEO, Super Technologies
• Florian Steger – General Partner, betacluster Ventures
• Praveen Ghanta – Founder & CEO, Fraction
• Vladimir Danila – Founder & CEO,  Linearity
• Lian Boerma –  Chief Product Officer, EWOR
• Oana Ruxandra – Co-Founder & CEO, PopHatch

… and more high-impact voices dropping soon.

From deep tech and AI to fintech, venture scaling, and leadership in a machine-driven world, the 2026 lineup maps the full stack of global innovation, bringing together the operators, investors, and thinkers actively engineering what’s next.

Lock in your access

Techsylvania 2026 isn’t one to watch from the sidelines. Secure your place now while regular pricing is still live.

Use code TECH26 for 25% off Builder and Premium tickets (valid until June 18).

Get your ticket: techsylvania.com/tickets/

The first draft of the Techsylvania 2026 agenda is now available for preview at techsylvania.com/agenda/. We invite our community to explore the sessions and speakers shaping this year’s programme. 

Please note that the agenda is subject to change as we continue to finalise details.

Beyond the main stage

Techsylvania extends far beyond the conference floor. In 2026, Cluj-Napoca transforms into a distributed innovation network through its Satellite Events program.

Think curated meetups, product drops, investor sessions, brand activations, and late-night gatherings, spanning cafés, rooftops, and creative hubs across the city. It’s where real connections happen, ideas get stress-tested, and collaborations kick off organically.

Explore satellite events: techsylvania.com/satellite-events/attend/

Backed by ecosystem leaders like Super Technologies, UniCredit Bank, Google, Hexagon Offices, Oracle ACE Program, 3Pillar, Aily Labs, Principal33, BMW Techworks, DataEdge, M247Global and RunPod, Techsylvania is more than a conference, it’s a high-density convergence point for builders, backers, and visionaries.

If you’re shaping products, funding innovation, writing code, or tracking where tech is headed next, this is your ground zero.

Event Date: June 24-25 2026

Location: Cluj Innovation Park, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Tickets: Get yours now at techsylvania.com/tickets/

The post OpenAI, Crunchbase and Amadeus Capital Executives Join Techsylvania 2026 appeared first on Startups&TheCity.

The historic Oradea Fortress in Romania is set to become the epicenter of European financial innovation on June 17–18, 2026, as it hosts the 5th anniversary edition of the UNCHAIN Festival. This high-level summit will bring together over 800 senior leaders and decision-makers from more than 40 countries, representing a unified front for the future of finance in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

A Distinguished Keynote and Global Participation

This year’s summit is headlined by Prof. Marek Belka, former Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Poland. A renowned economist with a career spanning the IMF and the European Parliament, Prof. Belka will provide critical insights at the intersection of economics and public policy.

He will be joined by an elite lineup of:

• Central Bank Governors from across the CEE region.
• Regulators from the European Commission and the European Banking Authority.
• Industry Giants and disruptors from Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and beyond.

Navigating the “Finance Fortress”

Moving beyond the “fintech” label, the 2026 edition adopts the theme of the “Finance Fortress,” focusing on regional resilience and the “EU Inc.” vision. The agenda is designed to tackle the most pressing challenges of the decade, including:

• The Digital Euro: Modernizing payments while preserving monetary sovereignty.
• AI Governance: Moving AI from a “blunt tool” to an internal efficiency engine in banking.
• Asset Tokenization: Leveraging DLT to enhance capital market efficiency.
• Cybersecurity: Ensuring operational resilience under the DORA framework.

Spotlight on Innovation

A dedicated segment of the festival will showcase the most dynamic ecosystems in the region, providing a platform for top disruptors from the CEE and Baltic countries. “UNCHAIN Festival was created for meaningful dialogue,” says Alexandra Pollack, Founder and CEO. “The 2026 edition marks a significant step in connecting ecosystems to accelerate innovation”.

The event will conclude by honoring excellence through the UNCHAIN Awards, recognizing the most outstanding innovators shaping the regional financial landscape.

Tickets are almost gone. Secure your spot now: unchainfestival.com/tickets.

The post CEE Finance Leaders to Gather in Oradea for Milestone 5th Edition of UNCHAIN Festival appeared first on Startups&TheCity.

The eYou platform, a Romania-based social media startup currently in pre-launch, aims to become a European alternative to traditional networks, focusing on algorithm transparency, user control over feeds, and AI-powered fact-checking. The project has raised €300,000 in pre-seed funding from Fil Rouge Capital and has already attracted over 10,000 sign-ups on its first day.

Founded by Jasseem Allybokus and Grégoire Vigroux, two French entrepreneurs based in Romania, eYou positions itself as a “trust-by-design” platform in contrast to global players like Facebook and X.

At the core of the product is a real-time fact-checking feature integrated directly into the user experience. With a single click, users can access AI-generated assessments of posts, based on credible and neutral sources, enabling them to verify claims without interrupting the flow of conversation.

The platform also introduces a transparent recommendation system, allowing users to view and adjust the profile built about them. This gives users direct control over the signals shaping their feed and the option to diversify content exposure beyond algorithm-driven echo chambers.

Built in Europe and aligned with strict data protection standards, eYou enters a market increasingly concerned with misinformation, platform accountability, and the dominance of non-European tech giants.

The public launch is scheduled for May 2026. Until then, users can join the waitlist and secure early access at: eyou.social.

The post eYou raises €300,000 to build a European social media alternative, surpasses 10,000 sign-ups on day one appeared first on Startups&TheCity.

Techsylvania, one of Eastern Europe’s leading tech and business conferences, announces the launch of its 2026 edition. The event will take place on June 24–25, 2026, in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, bringing together thousands of innovators, entrepreneurs, executives, and technology enthusiasts from around the world.

With every edition, Techsylvania strengthens its position as a catalyst for innovation and a powerful platform where global leaders share groundbreaking ideas, emerging startups gain visibility, and meaningful business relationships begin. The 2026 edition promises an elevated experience focused on the future of technology, product building, artificial intelligence, business growth, and the global innovation landscape.

What Awaits You at Techsylvania 2026

Attendees can expect the signature Techsylvania experience:

Visionary Perspectives: Global industry leaders will take the stage to explore the trends shaping the next decade—from AI and emerging technologies to the intersection of business, innovation, and society.

Hands-on Workshops: Expert-led practical sessions designed to help professionals sharpen their skills in areas such as engineering, AI, product strategy, leadership, and data.

Startup Alley: Startup-focused events, exclusive pitching opportunities, and curated interactions with international investors and mentors.

Premium Networking: Curated spaces including the B2B Matchmaking Area, Executive Lounge, and invite-only gatherings that foster strategic connections between leaders, founders, and top-level professionals.

Interactive Experiences: Technology showcases and installations highlighting cutting-edge products, tools, and emerging technologies.

First Confirmed Speakers Announced

Techsylvania 2026 has already confirmed its first international speakers, bringing together founders, investors, and operators shaping the future of technology and business.

Among them are Andrei Șerban, Founder & CEO of Console, an AI-native platform backed by Thrive Capital and DST Global; Sam Lipoff, Partner at Liminal, the venture studio and fund founded by Temasek Holdings; and Sheel Mohnot, Co-Founder & General Partner at Better Tomorrow Ventures, a leading seed-stage fintech fund.

These early confirmations set the tone for a high-impact lineup focused on applied technology, AI, and real-world business insights.

Strategic Partnership Announcement

Techsylvania 2026 is proud to welcome Super Technologies as the Strategic Partner for this year’s edition.

As a fast-growing company in the global technology and entertainment space, Super Technologies shares Techsylvania’s vision of driving progress through technology, entrepreneurship, and bold thinking. This partnership further strengthens the event’s mission to create meaningful connections between global leaders, innovative companies, and the next generation of community builders.

A New Chapter for Eastern Europe’s Innovation Landscape

Techsylvania 2026 marks an important moment in positioning Eastern Europe as a rising force in global technology and business. The event continues to attract a diverse audience of engineers, founders, executives, investors, corporate innovators, and community builders from more than 30 countries.

Additional speakers, partners, and special initiatives for the 2026 edition will be announced in the coming weeks.

More information and updates on techsylvania.com.

The post Techsylvania 2026 Officially Announced appeared first on Startups&TheCity.

On June 17–18, 2026, Oradea will host the fifth edition of UNCHAIN Festival, one of the leading finance and technology events in Central and Eastern Europe. The organizers expect more than 800 senior leaders from over 40 countries, including representatives from banks, fintech companies, regulators, payment networks, and technology providers.

This year’s focus is on closing execution gaps and addressing the structural risks created by legacy infrastructure and rapid AI adoption.

Over the past five years, the financial ecosystem across Central and Eastern Europe has undergone a quiet but profound transformation. What began as an urgent push for digitisation has evolved into a deeper reconfiguration of how finance is built, distributed, and experienced, from the unbundling of legacy banking infrastructure and the rise of embedded finance to the convergence of payments, credit, loyalty, and data-driven decision-making.

Insights gathered across previous editions of UNCHAIN Festival and distilled in its sector whitepapers point to a clear direction: finance in CEE is no longer defined by isolated products or institutions, but by ecosystems. Banks are navigating legacy “spaghetti” infrastructures while experimenting with parallel core systems and AI-driven internal automation. Retailers are moving beyond transactions toward experience-first models where payments, lending, and loyalty blend seamlessly into the customer journey. Meanwhile, fintechs are no longer challengers at the edges, but integral players shaping interfaces, expectations, and speed.

Against this backdrop, UNCHAIN Festival returns to Oradea on 17–18 June 2026, offering unparalleled networking opportunities, exclusive industry insights, and strategic connections for over 800 senior leaders and decision-makers from more than 40 countries. This event marks its 5th anniversary and has evolved into a comprehensive platform that connects financial institutions, regulators, technology providers, and industry leaders at a time when alignment has become a strategic necessity.

“During the first four years of the UNCHAIN Festival, we have seen a lot of international cooperation and merchant integration. Technology combines various verticals even more closely. Many non-banks are now entering the financial services market by offering embedded finance options or loyalty/crypto products to their customers. There are many challenges with regulation, but this is exactly why we’re bringing everybody to the same table – so law can keep up with innovation, and vice versa. Technology adoption, as in digital-first and customer-vertically specialized, continues to develop. Neobanks, digital brokers are getting more and more prolific,” says David Pollack, Managing Partner at UNCHAIN.

From Fintech Disruption to Financial Integration

As geopolitical uncertainty, regulatory pressure, and economic fragmentation continue to test Europe’s resilience, UNCHAIN 2026 positions itself at the intersection of these forces, fostering dialogue around regional integration, trust, and execution. The event aligns with the emerging EU Inc. vision and aims to strengthen Europe’s internal economic cohesion, making it a vital platform for stakeholders committed to regional resilience and innovation.

In its fifth year, UNCHAIN reflects the maturity of the ecosystem it serves. Fintech is no longer a vertical; it is embedded across banking, payments, retail, mobility, and public infrastructure. The 2026 agenda will cover critical topics such as programmable capital markets, embedded financial models beyond checkout, hybrid digital–human banking experiences, and the role of AI as an internal efficiency engine rather than a blunt customer-facing tool.

These discussions build directly on patterns observed over time at UNCHAIN: banks seeking clarity over ownership versus partnership, merchants pushing back against outdated loyalty and cashback mechanics, and regulators grappling with frameworks designed for a world that no longer exists.

Industry Voices on Innovation and Regulation

Erik Barna, Co-Founder of FaraGrija.ro, highlights the growing exchange between banking and insurance: “Insurance is the smallest brother of banking. Instead of borrowing from insurance, banking can inspire innovation in insurtech. Directives like PSD2 boosted fintech startups; we need something similar for insurance.”

Similarly, regulators are navigating new challenges at the intersection of data, AI, and innovation. Ivana Jolic, Director at the Croatian National Bank, explains: “Credit risk AI needs vast data, but GDPR restricts usage. We must find a balance for keeping systems safe while fostering innovation.”

Michal Vodrážka of the Czech National Bank adds: “Instant payments should be the norm without over-reliance on law. We focus on improving existing infrastructure while monitoring developments like the digital euro.”

From the merchant perspective, Ciprian Pîrv, Country Managing Director at Payten, observes: “Merchants want seamless payment methods that are stable and error-free. Innovation drives adoption when it delivers direct benefits and competitive advantage.”

Scale, Continuity, and Regional Relevance

What started as a 350-delegate gathering has grown into one of the most influential financial platforms in the region. Across its previous editions, UNCHAIN has brought together well over 2,000 participants, creating a cumulative, cross-border community of decision-makers shaping the future of finance in CEE.

With approximately 75% of attendees from the financial sector, UNCHAIN has become a reference platform for meaningful, outcome-driven conversations that can shape how finance is understood in CEE.

“The fifth anniversary represents more than just a chronological milestone; it marks a fundamental shift in our regional impact. We are moving beyond the ‘fintech’ label because the challenges of 2026 — liquidity, credit access, and risk management — require a unified ‘Finance’ front. By transitioning from the ‘Fintech Fortress’ to the Finance Fortress, we are inviting the entire spectrum of the financial industry to Oradea to ensure that CEE remains a cohesive, innovative, and resilient economic bloc within the European Union. EU Inc. will definitely be a big topic this year at UNCHAIN“, says David Pollack, Managing Partner at UNCHAIN. 

Reflecting on the momentum behind the 2026 edition, Eliad Saporta, Founder & CEO of Coriunder and long-time UNCHAIN contributor, notes: “What we are seeing across banking and payments is not a race for the next shiny feature, but a recalibration of roles. In 2026, the real competitive advantage will come from institutions that understand context, knowing when to automate, when to intervene, and how to stay visible in the moments that matter most to customers. This is exactly the type of conversation UNCHAIN.”

Mr. Saporta’s contribution at UNCHAIN 2026 will further explore how infrastructure choices, AI governance, and embedded finance models are reshaping short- and medium-term strategies across Europe’s financial institutions.

A Platform for Connection and Execution

Hosted within the historic Oradea Fortress, UNCHAIN 2026 continues to combine strategic content with a highly curated networking environment, offering brands and institutions full exposure to the CEE market in a single setting. The event brings together private-sector leaders alongside central banks, regulators, and global networks such as Visa, reinforcing its role as a bridge between policy, innovation, and real-world execution.

As Central and Eastern Europe moves from catching up to actively shaping Europe’s financial future, UNCHAIN Festival stands as the place where that future is debated, challenged, and built.

Tickets and registration are available here: unchainfestival.com/tickets/.

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With over 50 teams, 40 mentors, and 30 real-world challenges, this year’s Cluj Hackathon, held from May 24–26 2025, pushed boundaries in agentic AI — and made space for some of the brightest young minds in Romania and beyond to shine. The three-day innovation marathon, hosted by Bosch Engineering Center Cluj, drew not only hackers and developers but also investors, accelerators, and founders curious about the next wave of AI-native startups.

Organized by Adrian Vlasiu, the hackathon aimed to harness the power of artificial intelligence to address real-world societal issues. Participants were encouraged to develop AI-driven solutions across various domains, including education, healthcare, and emergency response. The event’s mission was clear: to create impactful technologies that serve the community.

Now in its third edition, Cluj Hackathon has established itself as a consecrated name in the global hackathon scene, recently recognized by the Major League Hacking as one of the top 100 hackathons in the world.

“That kind of recognition validates the quality of our teams, our mentors, and the energy we’ve been building here in Cluj,” said Adrian Vlasiu, the event’s founder and organizer.

The winners? Three radically different teams united by one trait: they built useful, human-centered products with global potential.

First Prize: AI Interior Design Assistant That Understands Your Style

Filip Csibi, a computer science student at the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, teamed up with Mark Renner, a theology high school student passionate about computer science and one of the youngest participants of the hackathon, to win first place with a product that turned heads.

Their AI-powered interior design app that helps users visualize room layouts and purchase suggested furniture in a few clicks. Using OpenAI APIs and DALL·E 3, the app generates personalized room visuals and learns user preferences over time. Ideal for people who move often or want quick, affordable design help, the app could soon evolve into a 3D and VR-based design platform.

Despite being just a duo, the team delivered a highly-polished prototype and impressed judges with both technical execution and vision. Filip said the experience reinforced the importance of teamwork — and they are already planning to expand the team for next year’s edition.

Second Prize: A Chatbot to Fix University Bureaucracy

Few things frustrate students more than getting information from university secretariats. Matei Botezat, Bogdan Buruian, Luca Balasoiu and Bogdan Biris, all four computer science students from Babeș-Bolyai University, created a smart fix: a university helper chatbot powered by Google Dialogflow and Cloud Functions.

Their idea? Free up secretaries’ time and reduce student stress by automating answers about scholarships, Erasmus programs, student IDs, and more. Mentorship from experts like Maria and Zoli (Fetch.ai) helped them refine the app’s business potential and prepare it for rollout.

The next step: test a prototype at their own university and explore expanding across campuses via European grants or university consortia. It’s a hyper-local solution with cross-border relevance — and a practical example of AI as administrative glue.

Third Prize: Angel AI — A Calm Voice in an Emergency

From travel panic to cultural misunderstandings, the Angel AI team tackled a universal pain point: what happens when travelers face danger in unfamiliar places? Their AI-powered assistant app aims to provide immediate, culturally aware support in high-stress situations — from medical emergencies to legal trouble or natural disasters.

Originally pitched as a dynamic travel planner, the idea pivoted mid-hackathon to focus on preventive alerts, real-time assistance, and actionable advice in moments of crisis. The team — Cristiana Constantin, Marius Manea and Bogdan Caraeane, all three students at  the University of Bucharest — received key mentorship on shaping their go-to-market strategy and decided to explore white-label partnerships with insurers, travel platforms, or even competitors.

With a rebrand in the works and small features being rolled out to collect traction and data, Angel AI is aiming to become a digital safety net for travelers worldwide.

Mentors: Cluj’s Secret Weapon

Mentors played a critical role in guiding teams toward clarity and viability. One of them, Mo Zidan, highlighted just how far the Cluj tech scene has come, not trying to replicate Silicon Valley, but growing with its own distinct identity.

He was also struck by the confidence and global mindset of young Romanian talent — like the 14-year-old who pitched fluently to a panel of international judges. For Moe, participating as a mentor was a way to “give back” and help build bridges between Cluj and other tech hubs in Eastern Europe and Asia.

“It’s not about copying Berlin or San Francisco. Cluj should link with other rising hubs — places like Prague, Budapest, Jakarta, Seoul. We have the mindset now. And the talent.”

One major evolution at this year’s event? Teams didn’t just use AI as a gimmick — they built AI agents that could act: book transport, send documents, or adapt in real time to changing user needs. Mo described this as “the biggest leap forward” he’s seen at any hackathon so far.

“This year’s AI agents weren’t just reactive chatbots,” said Mo Zidan, one of the lead mentors. “They were capable of taking action — booking taxis during emergencies or rerouting flights. That’s a massive shift.”

AI, Creativity, and the Future: A Bosch Perspective

As the host of the Cluj Hackathon 2025, Bosch Engineering Center Cluj provided not just the venue, but a fertile ground for forward-looking innovation. For Maria Barbatei, Group Leader of VR & AR Activities at Bosch, what stood out most was the breadth and relevance of the solutions.

“First of all, in this edition, the variety of solutions was extremely wide,” Maria noted. “The participants tackled problems from several industries, and especially the winners provided a solution which is relevant to all of us as it influences our daily lives and helps us to design our work environment at the office or at home as it fits us best.”

Beyond the creativity and boldness of the teams, Maria emphasized Bosch’s ongoing investment in AI-driven development and a data-first culture:

“I believe that the development of AI in the next five years will be fast-paced, and this is the reason why at Bosch we focus on data-driven development, and aim to foster a data-first culture while staying ahead with the AI advancements. We do this with the projects and activities in the data-development area as well as with building communities to expand these competencies in the organization with a rich mix of learning formats and collaborative activities.”

Bosch’s innovation programs don’t just support external events like the hackathon; they’re also fueling internal breakthroughs, with multiple invention reports being generated every year. It’s a model of how corporate R&D and grassroots innovation can work hand-in-hand — and how Cluj’s tech ecosystem is positioning itself for long-term, AI-powered growth.

What’s Next for Cluj Hackathon?

The 2025 edition marked a turning point — with agentic AI becoming not just a buzzword but a tool for building real products with real users. The energy was palpable. So was the ambition.

As the Cluj tech ecosystem continues to mature, the hackathon proves it’s not just a launchpad for code, but a catalyst for startups, mentorship, and international partnerships.

Organizer Adrian Vlasiu sees even bigger things on the horizon: an expansion across Romania and Europe, the launch of a Senior Hackathon for professionals aged 30+, and the formation of a European Hackathon League to foster a cross-border community of builders.

“We’re creating a platform where ideas meet capital, mentorship meets execution, and regional talent meets global relevance”, Adrian said.

One thing’s certain: the future of AI isn’t being built in Silicon Valley alone — it’s also coming from a theology high school student in Cluj, a chatbot for university offices, and a virtual guardian angel for tourists.

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On February 27, 2025, the LevelUP Health & Life Sciences Accelerator Demo Day took place at Hub UTCN in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, bringing together some of the most promising health tech startups. The program’s finalists pitched their innovative solutions in nutrition, psychiatry, surgery, telemedicine, and healthcare management before a jury of investors, doctors, and business experts. The event also featured a panel discussion on the collaboration between healthcare professionals and startups, as well as a networking session.

After five intense months of work, including seven workshops, 29 experts, and over 70 hours of mentorship and consultancy, the six most promising health & life sciences startups reached the grand finale of the second edition of LevelUP Health & Life Sciences Accelerator.

At the end of the Demo Day evening, Argus AI won the Best Startup, Jury’s Choice, while Neurocare was awarded the Best Startup, Public’s Choice, recognizing their outstanding contributions to health innovation.

Argus AI: Augmented Reality to Support Neurosurgeons

One of the standout startups at Demo Day was Argus AI, a company leveraging augmented reality to assist neurosurgeons in reducing surgical errors, operation times, anesthesia exposure, and post-operative complications. Their solution integrates MRI/CT scans into VR headsets, allowing surgeons to visualize critical structures such as tumors and blood vessels, helping them better prepare for complex interventions.

Vladimir Verbulski, the founder of Argus AI, highlighted the immense value of the LevelUP Accelerator in shaping their journey. “The industry-specific mentorship and tailored sessions were exactly what we needed. The program helped us refine our approach and move towards real-world application,” he shared.

Currently, Argus AI has developed a minimum viable product (MVP) and is starting trials in collaboration with clinics and hospitals to gather feedback and refine their technology. They are also seeking €1.9 million in investment to sustain operations for the next two and a half years. “This funding will allow us to bring the product to market, validate its impact in real-world settings, and ultimately improve neurosurgical procedures,” Vladimir Verbulski explained.

Argus AI’s innovation and potential were recognized at the event, earning them the Best Startup, Jury’s Choice award.

Neurocare: Enhancing Dementia Care with Smart Wearables

Another promising startup at Demo Day, Neurocare, is revolutionizing dementia care through smart wearables and a connected platform. Their solution monitors vitals, activity, sleep patterns, and fall risks, ensuring greater safety for patients. Caregivers benefit from real-time insights and AI-powered support, while healthcare professionals gain access to data-driven patient management tools, leading to improved care coordination.

Founder Florin Leu, along with Vladimir Plotean, emphasized how the LevelUP Accelerator helped refine their strategy and accelerate growth. “The experience has been invaluable—we’re now better prepared to navigate the market and avoid past mistakes,” they shared.

The team is currently focused on finalizing their MVP by the end of Q2 and preparing for clinical trials. Their goal is to launch first in Romania, then expand across the EU. To make this happen, they are seeking a €500,000 pre-seed investment and strategic partnerships with hospitals and healthcare organizations. “We need strong endorsements to build trust and scale our solution effectively,” Florin Leu explained.

Neurocare’s efforts resonated strongly with the audience, earning them the Best Startup, Public’s Choice at Demo Day.

Other Startups That Pitched at Demo Day

Besides Argus AI and Neurocare, four other promising startups showcased their solutions at LevelUP Demo Day:

• Dr-Online – A telemedicine app that facilitates easy access to quality medical services. Through partnerships with doctors, clinics, and service providers, their platform offers virtual consultations, integrates medical devices, and enables efficient electronic medical record (EMR) management.
• Forkpie Kids – An AI-powered app that helps parents monitor their children’s nutrition. Users take a photo of their meals, and the app analyzes nutritional values while providing personalized recommendations based on Healthy Eating Plate principles. Parents receive daily and weekly reports to support healthier eating habits for their children.
• MaeveAI – An AI-powered virtual assistant designed to simplify the workload of healthcare professionals. MaeveAI automates tasks such as patient communication, appointment scheduling, and inventory management, allowing doctors to focus more on patient care.
• Smart Bites – A comprehensive nutrition solution, offering personalized meal plans, expert consultation, quick online grocery shopping, and ingredient delivery. Smart Bites simplifies the journey toward healthy eating for the entire family.

LevelUP’s Vision: Personalizing the Startup Journey

Reflecting on this edition of LevelUP, Anca Roman, Head of the Accelerator, highlighted the impressive progress made by the participating startups. “Innovation in healthcare is often a slow process, but with the right mentorship, expertise, and partnerships, we’ve seen remarkable growth,” she noted.

Looking ahead, the accelerator plans to further personalize the journey for each startup and explore a challenge-driven approach, potentially focusing on areas like oncology or green health tech. Another key priority is fostering long-term engagement through community events, bringing together alumni and experts to discuss funding opportunities and sustain momentum.

“We want to keep supporting startups even after the program ends, ensuring they have the resources and connections to scale,” Roman emphasized.

LevelUP Health & Life Sciences Accelerator

Launched in March 2023 by INNO, the North-West of Romania Regional Development Agency’s department responsible for regional innovation and attracting investors, LevelUP is the first accelerator in Romania exclusively dedicated to startups in the fields of health and life sciences. The program has been developed with assistance from EIT Health as part of their DRIVE program, further strengthening its commitment to fostering cutting-edge healthcare solutions.

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Between November 2024 and February 2025, the Cluj IT Association, in partnership with Smart Innovation Norway, carried out the project “AI-Driven Green Digital Transformation in Public Administration”.

The project pursued the development of an approach model for evaluating the degree of digitization and the level of preparation of the town halls for the adoption of modern digital tools, including artificial intelligence, taking into account at the same time the need to ensure the lowest possible level of negative impact on the environment. The mayors of Romania and Norway were primarily targeted, and the project could later be expanded to include local administrations from other countries.

Within the project, a web platform was implemented that allows evaluation processes to be carried out by going through a form in multiple steps, answering multiple-choice questions.

The set of 180 questions, grouped into 11 categories, was made by the implementation team through a process of research and analysis, aiming at the full coverage of all activities carried out within a local administration organization and specific aspects related to sustainability and reducing the negative impact on the environment.

Artificial intelligence algorithms were used to train the interpreter of the evaluation responses so that he could create a comprehensive diagnosis of the current state regarding digitization, preparation for the adoption of AI tools and ensuring sustainability, and to be able to generate actionable, personalized recommendations in this regard. For the interpretation and formulation of the results, a large language model (LLM) from the Llama family was integrated. From the beginning, the system is available in three languages, Romanian, Norwegian and English, making automatic translations through Deepl integration to ensure efficient collaboration between administration representatives and consultants from both participating countries.

The system was piloted and validated through training and work sessions with municipalities from Romania and Norway, including on the Romanian side the municipality of Bistrita, the municipality of Turda, and the city of Cugir, and on the Norwegian side the municipalities of Kongsvinger, Kristiansund, and Bamble.

The participating municipalities appreciated the relevance of the project and the result of the implementation, showing interest in using it further and recommending it to other institutions.

Following the implementation of this pilot project, the partners, the Cluj IT Association and Smart Innovation Norway intend to continue developing the system and implementing it further both in their countries, Romania and Norway, as well as in other countries.

The project is supported by a grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA grants Romania 2014-2021, in the frame of the “SME Growth Programme Romania”.

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