The local startup ecosystem of Oradea, in North-West Romania, has been making headlines for the past two years. Besides being a beloved destination for tourists and having a high-performing public administration, Oradea has made it to the list of the most attractive and innovative startup hubs in Romania and is not stopping here. It aims for 100 product companies to be developed in Oradea, in the next 20 years.

We looked at the key milestones reached in the last two years, and spoke with David Achim, Executive Director of the Make IT in Oradea non-profit organization, Alina Silaghi, General Director of the Oradea Local Development Agency (ADLO), as well as with Cătălin Rus and Ioana Rus from Prime Dash, an innovative global FinTech startup founded locally, promising to revolutionize business decision-making processes through AI technology. Spoiler alert: public institutions can also benefit from the solution to increase their transparency and financial performance – but let’s set the scene first and dive into the details later on.

Update time: how has the local startup scene evolved in the last two years?

As we were sharing back in 2020, the public-private initiative Make IT in Oradea was launched by the Oradea City Hall and local IT companies (such as Paymo, Mobiversal, Smartware, Helion, Ro et Co), in partnership with Orange Romania. We all know the challenging context of the time, but in terms of building the startup ecosystem in Oradea, the time was ripe. The initiative offered a framework for accelerating startup ideas and developing a stronger tech community through the Bright Labs incubator program, offering comprehensive mentorship program for founders, in order to launch their products within 6 months. The City Hall finances viable startup ideas with up to €50,000, within a total annual budget €300,000. The financing is also available for startups developed outside the incubator program, with the condition to establish their headquarters or open an office in Oradea and have part of their team here.

The city has assumed a bold approach to become competitive in the market of services with high added value. David Achim, Executive Director of Make IT in Oradea, put the goal of the initiative clearly: to have 100 product companies developed in Oradea, in the next 20 years. The program also includes tax facilities for IT companies, as well as scholarships for students interested in building a career in tech.

In the past two years, Oradea was put on the map of startup communities in Romania. Just recently, when you talked about startups, Oradea would not come to your mind. The ongoing initiatives have changed this and brought visibility for the city as a startup hub.

David also made the point that while many of the startups were founded long before, it was only recently that they became known on a wider scale, as part of a well-coagulated community. At the same time, the local ecosystem celebrated important exits, such as Appointfix, an appointment scheduling app created by Mobiversal, which was acquired by a US company and Paymo, a cloud project management application that bundles task management, time tracking and invoicing. 

In terms of public investments, the city is continuing its pro-active and accelerated development. The Oradea Local Development Agency plays a key role in addressing the needs of investors and future innovators, from the management of industrial parks, to involvement in the development of major transport, educational and research infrastructure.

 “The industry is constantly adapting and changing to market requirements. Oradea is trying to adapt to the demands of companies, with projects such as the Intermodal Terminal and Cargo Terminal, new road connections, the development of public transport in the metropolitan area and science and technology parks which will provide innovation and research, as well as technology transfer to companies”, says Alina Silaghi, General Director of the Oradea Local Development Agency.

The Bright Labs incubator program, at the second edition

The results of the past two editions of the incubation program financed by the public administration are very promising. In 2021, over 30 teams participated in the selection process, and 8 ended up in the third phase of incubation. Out of these, 3 startups were granted funding, totaling €115,000.

After an exciting Pitching Day event in May, the teams moving forward into the 2022 Bright Labs incubation stage have recently been announced. The pre-selection stage took place between February and April and 20 startups went on into the validation phase. 8 teams were selected for the incubation stage and each received a prize of 5,000 euros to further develop their idea. Similar to the previous edition, the selected startups were from industries such as Smart City, Medtech and SaaS, but also web3 and NFT, applied in the tourism industry. The incubation stage begins in June and will last until the end of September.

If you are interested in joining or supporting the event next year, keep in mind that the program is open to applicants beyond the city of Oradea. This year’s edition included events organized in partnership with Cluj Startups and Cowork Timișoara, as well as a pitching event for expats, Romanians who live abroad or have recently returned. In terms of criteria, the jury will focus on your team, market size, innovative component and validation with the target audience. The Make IT in Oradea team also awarded a grade for the level of involvement of each team during the validation stage. 

Winners of the Pitching Day event 2022:

Palm Benefits – a marketplace that facilitates the communication and business relationship between property managers and property service providers;

DocsGen – a web application that generates documents based on a form;

NFTickets – a blockchain-based system that gives event organizers control over ticket sales, as well as fair prices for participants who buy them;

2 people – a fashion platform dedicated to exchanging clothes;

TreeDev Software Solutions – a solution that offers a wide range of features to help institutions function efficiently

Hygge – a mindfulness diary guided by artificial intelligence;

PackE – a platform that contributes to improving local tourism and building customer loyalty using NFTs;

MD Priority – a support system that will contribute to better health care in emergency units.

Founders corner: Meet Prime Dash

At the beginning of May, Urbanize Hub organized an event in Oradea, bringing together experts, local and national representatives and startups, which hosted the launch of the „Romanian City 4.0” book. The book offers a fresh, post-infrastructure approach to urban development, including economic strategic guidelines, major trends in technology, smart planning and governance and hot topics like designing cities for children and digital nomads. At its core, the book is about the main driving force of any city – its people, and can be found here (in Romanian).

During this event, we had the opportunity to talk to Ioana Rus (Chairwoman of the Board) and Cătălin Rus (Co-founder and COO) from Prime Dash, a successful global FinTech startup founded in Oradea, with offices across three continents (Oradea, Bucharest, London, Senegal and Virginia). Prime Dash takes BI to a new level and uses advanced analytics and machine learning to help entrepreneurs and financial institutions make data-based decisions in real time, in order to attain their financial objectives, regardless of their industry or business size.

On the platform, users can simulate different scenarios to visualize the impact of their decision on the company’s results and receive recommendations to optimize their strategy. The app also bridges the gap between banks and SMEs, as financial institutions can automate and control their lending processes, enhance risk mitigation, while companies can receive loans within hours, based on easily accessible performance data.

What is more, the tool is also suitable for public administrations looking to the ensure the transparency of the budget execution for public companies in their subordination. For instance, the app can deliver ROI analysis for all costs and identify cost optimization patterns to increase the performance of public spending. Building on the existing local talent, the Oradea City Hall has partnered with Prime Dash to become the most transparent public institution in terms of how citizens’ money is used. Prime Dash is eager to have other administrations onboard, at no cost, and can offer direct support for implementing the solution.

What is the story of Prime Dash?

“We started Prime Dash as a result of an exchange of ideas with our US partner Madou Sylla back in 2014. The goal was to develop the best financial advisor for decision makers, and we began mapping the steps to make this possible. The key focus areas were R&D, tech and business development.”

The team of founders was formed of Madou Sylla (CEO), Cătălin Rus (COO) and Cosmin Ghiță (CTO). The product went into a validation phase with two major financial institutions in 2017, and was launched in a beta version two years later. 

“We presented our beta version at the Future Banking event in Bucharest, as we were looking for investors. Banca Transilvania (BT) contacted us and proposed us a partnership to promote the product towards their SME portfolio.”

This partnership also prompted the team to refactor the app into a SaaS (software as a service), as it previously needed to be installed locally by users. The first cloud version of the app was launched in BT Store in the summer of 2020, but the pandemic context put the bank’s store project on hold.

The startup had a global vision from the beginning. Other major partnerships with Microsoft, BCR InnovX (an accelerator of the Romanian Commercial Bank) and the inclusion in the Visa Innovation Program have allowed Prime Dash to scale up and accelerate their international journey. As part of a program of the UK Department of International Trade (DIT), Prime Dash will soon be headquartered in London, while the software development and the business development for Central and Eastern Europe will remain in Romania.

What makes the product different from competitors and how does it work?

“In Romania, Prime Dash is the only AI-driven tool offering financial modelling to improve decision-making for SMEs. There are two aspects that differentiate the product from a traditional BI software – a virtual financial consultant based on artificial intelligence and the ability to simulate financial scenarios and visualize the impact of decisions in real time.”

The first step is to import accounting data onto the platform, which is then interpreted for optimizing financial decisions.  This can be done, ideally, by real time connection to accounting systems through an API, or by manual upload of pdf documents. The first option ensures that real-time data can be processed and used at any time, compared to quarterly uploads of data. Ensuring this compatibility is a key requirement for making the most out of what the product can offer.  

Who were the first investors?

“The team of people who worked for this product was the first to invest money in it – as a result, the initial product was evaluated at approximately €500.000 at the time (authors note: currently Prime Dash is evaluated at €10 million). Another key investment came from the legal team behind the project, with a strategic role in navigating the banking and financial ecosystem. We could not afford to hire our own legal department, so we proposed them to make an investment in the product.”

Prime Dash received its first angel investments through a brokerage company which helps companies prepare for listing on the stock exchange. In total, by 2020 the company attracted over €600.000 in angel investments, to further develop and promote the product.

How much did the product change from the initial idea?

“There was a lot of work to get here – our app had over 70 updates, focusing on making it as a simple as possible for the users. We took in the feedback coming from our first clients in the US, Africa and Europe, as well from consultancy firms, and more optimizations will follow, as we are headed for a new round of investments of €1.5 million.”

How has the local startup ecosystem changed in the last years?

“We noticed that there is a strong orientation towards building new products, instead of the outsourcing model. With outsourcing, there is always the risk that due to increased costs, clients will move their business to cheaper markets. Today, in Oradea, we have more and more startups designing innovative solutions for a wide range of industries.  The support offered through the Make IT in Oradea initiative, as a result of the partnership between the Oradea City Hall and local tech companies, is very valuable for encouraging young people to develop their ideas and for promoting them beyond the local market. The growth of this ecosystem of stakeholders is a key asset and shows that there is a lot of potential here, locally.”

Interested in more information about the startup scene in Oradea?

The Oradea Tech Hub, created in 2015 with the aim of strengthening the local tech community, published a report on the local startup ecosystem in 2020, showcasing 22 startups. 

The main local startup industries are project management (Paymo), app development (Mobiversal), cybersecurity (TypingDNA, East-Tec Eraser), FinTech (Prime Dash, Finboard), ad design and creation (Creatopy), appointment scheduling and field services (Appointfix, Fieldvibe), HoReCa (OptiOffer, tapTasty), professional services platform (Ex€pert24.ro), online ads platform (Publi24), graphic design and online catalogs software (SVGator, Bannersnack, Flipsnack),  academic conferences (confDesk), online  marketing (Relevon), POS (ExpertPOS),  ERP software (ExpertAccounts), personal shopping assistance (Cartloop), parking (Keyticket), hotel management (HoteloPro) industry 4.0 solutions (Octavic) and biotech – creating medical exoskeletons (Axosuits), automotive (Tracknamic).

Let’s turn to the city: how is Oradea changing?

The city has been keeping up its high pace of development and is continually investing in becoming more attractive for citizens, tourists, innovators and investors. Besides being a popular touristic attraction and the “ArtNouveau capital” of Romania, Oradea has embarked on the journey towards the “smart city”, understood as a city which has a good economic balance, efficient services and quality of life. The smart approach will consist of continuing the digitalization of the administration, the improvement of public services and simplifying the way in which citizens and companies interact with local institutions, as well as data-based decision making with the help of AI. The Smart City components will also focus on health, education, the environment and energy efficiency.

Developing air transport is another key priority for Oradea, with the aim of attracting investments and tourists in the city and the Bihor county. The local airport currently offers external connections to London, Dusseldorf, Milano and Bologna, with two airlines. Since last year, the city has established its own public airline, Air Oradea, which will most likely start operating this fall and will extend the current flight offer to Bucharest and other European capitals of interest. The ambitious airline project has been initiated as a partnership between the City Hall and the County Council, making it the first of its kind in Romania. The Cargo terminal is another major investment that shows the commitment to better connect the city to economic markets and accelerate its development. The terminal will ensure conditions for the transport of necessary products to local production companies, and the other way around. To this end, a new logistics base will be created in Bihor County. The construction works have already started and the terminal is set to be finished at the end of 2023.

The four industrial parks, managed by the Oradea Local Development Agency (ADLO), in which the majority shareholder is the Oradea City Hall, have attracted investments of over €425 million and created close to 10.000 new jobs. Based on these results, the local Agency was also handed over the administration of the entire network of existing and new industrial parks in the county, which will comprise of 11 units.  Another significant project implemented by ADLO, in partnership with the Bihor County Council and the University of Oradea is the establishment of the city’s first Science and Technology Park, which will facilitate technological transfer and foster innovation.

In the coming years, continuing the support for strengthening the tech and startup community, implementing the planned infrastructure investments and developing the metropolitan dimension, in order to connect people to opportunities will be key for sustaining the city’s development. What the story of Oradea’s startup ecosystem shows is that where talent, mentorship, financial support, a performant public sector and a culture of partnerships exist, the rest is only a matter of time.

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Oradea-based startup OptiOffer gets 50,000 EUR in funding as part of the program Make IT in Oradea, a public initiative aimed at promoting and growing the local startup ecosystem. This is the first financing round offered by Make IT in Oradea, less than a year after the program’s launch. Make IT in Oradea is a non-profit organization initiated by Oradea City Hall and Oradea Local Development Agency, together with together with a group of local tech companies.

Make IT in Oradea manages an annual fund of 300,000 EUR through Bright Labs Incubator, a place where technology startup founders can enter their idea in order to receive mentoring and financing. 

OptiOffer is a Supplier – Reseller Platform (SRP), focused on Business to Business transactions, managing price quotes and eCatalogs. It connects suppliers and resellers in order to make selling and buying products more efficient, without having to deal with hundreds of PDF or printed catalogs, price lists and emails. Such a platform brings the Business to Consumer experience to B2B transactions to achieve connected selling and streamlined buying. The platform helps both entrepreneurs and sales people to focus on customer relationships, instead of spending that time to manage catalogs, price quotes and supplier orders. 

“In the sector of professional equipment, in order to create a single price quote, it can take from a few hours, up to a few days, depending on the complexity of the project. Currently, this process is done manually: the salesperson copies the product descriptions, specifications, and prices from PDF catalogs into a Word or Excel document – the price quote. It is a back-and-forth process for many companies, which didn’t improve considerably since the 1990s.”, says Bogdan Boța, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of OptiOffer.

The product is dedicated to small and medium enterprises that sell equipment. These can be either resellers or distributors that are doing B2B selling in industries such as hospitality, green energy, HVAC equipment, and so on.

Make it in Oradea funding process

During the financing process, startups are analyzed in order to qualify as a company with a real potential for growth. A technical and business analysis is performed by the members of the board of Make IT in Oradea, together with other specialists. Next there is a negotiation of the general financing terms and conditions with the founders. After analyzing the company’s documents, and if the conclusions of this analysis are in line with the investors’ expectations, the terms of the actual transaction are negotiated and the financing contract is signed between the parties. This entire process usually takes 3 months.

“Make it in Oradea financing process is done professionally, in collaboration with specialists from the private sector, and is quite standard for the tech industry. Given that we are talking to startups that are facing this process for the first time, it may seem complicated at first glance. We try as much as we can to make it as simple as possible, but at the same time, to make sure that the start-up we are talking about proves the necessary potential and seriousness. It is also a process of educating the founders regarding such transactions, preparing them for discussions with future investment funds and a process that is at least as rigorous.”, says David Achim, Executive Director of Make IT in Oradea.

Oradea, a public example for funding startups

Make IT in Oradea is built on 3 pillars: education, startups and companies. The initiative is aimed at developing, accelerating and promoting the local technology startups ecosystem.

“The role of Make IT in Oradea is to help startups with real market potential to develop and finance their operations from a very early stage, namely pre-seed. It is one of the most difficult moments for the founders and the stage at which there are very few funding options to turn to”, said David Achim.

Oradea’s continuous investment in improving the quality of life of its citizens and in public infrastructure, coupled with the new programs and initiatives aimed at supporting the creation of new startups are setting the city to become one of the most attractive startup hubs in Romania in the near future.

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Oradea’s continuous investment in improving the quality of life of its citizens and in public infrastructure, coupled with new programs and initiatives aimed at supporting the creation of new startups are setting the city to become one of the most attractive startup hubs in Romania. With a highly developed entrepreneurial culture due to its proximity to the border and various historic reasons, having excellent healthcare facilities and offering unique cultural experiences, Oradea’s future may reside in its rather “softer” skills, a combination of business development talent and wellbeing services, complementing the more techy nearby hubs of Cluj and Timișoara. 

In recent years, Oradea has become one of the favorite destinations for Romanian and foreign tourists, with the number of tourists exceeding for the first time the number of inhabitants in 2018. The city has a unique combination of attractions, such as the Art Nouveau-style historical center, recently refurbished to bring back the splendor of the past, the Nymphaea Aquapark, one of the largest and most modern in this region of Europe and the Băile Felix resort, one of the most popular destinations for spa tourism in the country. 

High quality of life and the safest city in Romania

Oradea is a “magnet city” not only as a holiday destination. A report published by the World Bank in 2017 shows that the city is increasingly attracting both tourists and new residents. Oradea is perceived as a city with a high quality of life and the World Bank experts estimate that the city’s population grows every year by 3,000 inhabitants. Coupled with the relatively lower cost of housing, these data rank Oradea in the top of the preferences for those planning to move. The city is attractive through its growing job offer, as well as generous areas of green spaces, easy traffic, well developed cycling infrastructure and the pedestrianization of public spaces. 

“The quality of life and jobs are first and foremost in our scoring. The people see Oradea as a city with a Western European touch, that has changed, modernized”, says Marcel Heroiu, urban development expert at the World Bank.

A survey published by the real estate platform Storia.ro also ranks Oradea as the safest city in Romania. In the study involving almost 100.000 participants across the country, Oradea received the highest score when it came to the safety offered to its inhabitants. The large-scale research conducted by Storia also looked at other aspects, such as: the general cost of living, access to public health institutions, the situation of public transport, the quality of the environment or the cleanliness and area of green spaces.

Moreover, Oradea has been included in the top safest European destinations based on the efficient management of the COVID-19 pandemic. The European Best Destinations Association recommends Oradea for „slow, stress-free tourism”. 

Efficient public administration and increased connectivity

The north-western city has also been acclaimed to have one of the most efficient and proactive local public administration in Romania. The investors who settled in Oradea are very pleased with the collaboration with the local authorities, based on transparency and active involvement. It is worth noting that, for example, the time for receiving a construction permit is by far the shortest in the country, as highlighted in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2017 study.

In terms of connectivity, one of the greatest advantages for investors settling here is the rapid access to Central Europe’s highway and rail infrastructure. The city will also be directly connected to the Transylvania highway, making transport to and from Central and Western Europe, through Hungary, even easier. A belt road around the city is already taking on all heavy traffic and, as part of an alliance with three other major cities in Western Romania (Cluj-Napoca, Arad, Timișoara), a high-speed railway will be connecting the region. 

3 fully equipped industrial parks and a future startup incubator

The measures taken by the local administration for the development of industrial parks and startup incubators, combined with the high quality of life and urban infrastructure put Oradea on the map of the most attractive cities in the country for investment. 

Oradea has 3 fully equipped public industrial parks, with a total  area of ​​231,3 ha, which already house 97 companies, 2/3 of which are foreign, and a fourth park (6.5 ha) is currently under development. The 3 industrial parks have attracted investments of about 397 million euros, creating about 8580 new jobs by the end of 2019.

The sites provide interested investors different sizes of lots, already connected to the transport infrastructure and public utilities in the area. Other private industrial and logistics parks add to Oradea’s business infrastructure.

“What we have been trying to do is to attract companies that offer the jobs of the future, such as Braintronix, a company specialized in the production of AI robots. They want to do part of the R&D in Oradea and they are 100% determined to train new specialists here.”, said Alina Silaghi, Oradea Local Development Agency.

To continue and sustain growth, Oradea is focused on attracting more high value-added investments. The latest investors announced in the industrial parks are focused on innovative, cutting edge technology: production of robots (Braintronix), batteries / accumulators needed in the automotive and aeronautics industry (ATNOM). In order to further develop these high value-added sectors, the local administration is committed to continue the investments in urban quality of life and has a strategy for attracting and training IT specialists in the city, through a package of facilities and incentives, as part of the “Make IT în Oradea” program.

“Oradea is very welcoming and offers a lot to startups and to large companies. I am talking to people that I know from several large companies and encourage them to come to Oradea because they can get land where they can build a headquarters, close to the city and also close to the new highway that will connect Oradea to the rest of Europe, through Budapest.”, said George Haber, investor and board member of Braintronix.

Besides the industrial parks, the City Hall of Oradea is investing in a startup incubator and a Center for Creative Industries, a project consisting in the rehabilitation of an unused building that will house 17 offices for future residents and an open work area of 30 workspaces.

“Oradea will have an infrastructure that will be made available to those who have innovative ideas, to those who work in the creative industries.”, says Deputy Mayor Mircea Mălan.

The university of tomorrow

Oradea’s university center has a tradition of almost 30 years and enrolls about 20,000 students. The municipality and the University of Oradea are working on the development of a unique university campus in the country, which will combine educational spaces with those of research, innovation, technological transfer, continuous training, accommodation and leisure.

The new Technological Transfer Centre will create a synergy between the academic environment and the local economic environment, as well as connections with the key actors in the areas of intelligent specialization at national and international level. The project proposes the construction of a new “smart-campus”, with a built area of approximately 827.5 square meters, on three levels. 

The building will be equipped with laboratories (for industrial robot lines, laser welding, numerical control processing centers and their programming etc.), research and innovation office spaces, conference spaces, as well as areas for courses, presentations and exhibitions.

Another major investment project of the Oradea City Hall aimed at supporting the development and competitiveness of higher education is the construction of two additional dormitories, with a total of 464 rooms. The area will also benefit from the expansion of the road and tram networks, as well as important investments in the utility infrastructure.

A program to boost the startup ecosystem, initiated by the municipality of Oradea and the tech business community

Make IT in Oradea is a joint initiative of City Hall of Oradea and the Oradea tech community to support the development of a competitive IT ecosystem. The program grants fiscal facilities (reducing the tax on buildings) for the premises on which the IT companies operate and supports the development of local start-ups, entrepreneurs and SMEs in the IT field. The startup incubation program will be launched over the next months and will have an annual budget of € 300,000, granted by the City Hall.

“The challenge of Oradea Tech Hub and Make IT în Oradea: to gather and create a sustained joint effort”, says David Achim, Executive Director of the Make IT in Oradea Association.

One of the key objectives of the project is to encourage young people to stay or return to Oradea and to connect them with the local opportunities. The program also offers a package for supporting highschool and college students, laying the foundations for the new generation of IT specialists. The support measures include scholarships, as well as meals and accommodation for students from nearby localities.

A vibrant startup scene

Talent, courage, a match between tech genius and a business mindset, powered by local and international investors make up Oradea’s growing startup scene. Founded in Oradea in 2016, TypingDNA is Oradea’s biggest startup success story and one of the most innovative startups in cybersecurity, offering a seamless experience of authentication based on typing biometrics. The AI-based technology works like this: after inputting an initial typing sample, the user’s unique patterns are learned and matched with each new authentication and password recovery attempt. Based on keystroke dynamics, each user is assigned a typing “DNA”, enabling one of the safest, user-friendly and non-intrusive authentication methods.

In 2018, the company moved its headquarters to New York and received a round of seed financing of $1,5 million from GapMinder Ventures. The startup raised another $7 million Series A round led by Gradient Ventures, Google’s AI-focused venture fund late 2019 and has opened new positions in both Oradea and New York.

Another key contributor to the development of the tech scene in Oradea is Mobiversal, a full-service app-building agency founded in 2011. The company has a portfolio of over 60 international clients and has successfully launched its own product, the appointment scheduling app Appointfix. 

Looking at the industries in which these startups are active, the innovative solutions developed in Oradea include cybersecurity (East-Tec, TypingDNA), appointment scheduling (Appointfix and Fieldvibe), project management (Paymo), graphic design software (Bannersnack and Flipsnack),  e-mail and real-time text marketing (Relevon), personal shopping assistance (Cartloop), parking (Keyticket), industry 4.0 solutions (Octavic) and biotech (Axosuits – medical exoskeletons).

Supporting the community during difficult times is also high on the agenda of Oradea’s startups. Following the closing of schools, Flipsnack, one of the most well-known international platforms for creating and publishing digital magazines and books, offered teachers free access for a year for digitizing educational materials and creating interactive PDFs. Typing DNA has also made its API free for supporting online learning.

A growing community of tech startups

Oradea Tech Hub is the first organization in the city that manages an IT hub, including co-working spaces and interaction between freelancers and start-ups. Based in the Oradea Fortress, the hub was established in 2015 and has managed to create a strong community, invested in empowering the public and NGO sector with technical solutions. Oradea Tech Hub also offered its support to the “Online teacher” project, a fast-track program initiated by Digital Nation in the middle of the Covid-19 crisis, designed to train teachers in basic digital skills for online education, with over 25.000 participants. 

The tech hub has recently published its first report, detailing the activity of startups that have developed their own software products, based mostly on local resources. According to the report, the tech startup ecosystem in Oradea currently counts 336 employees and has reached over 11 million users worldwide, with the total of investments attracted amounting to $9 million. 

“The purpose of the Oradea Tech Hub was exactly this: to coagulate and bring together companies, freelancers and local stakeholders to help develop the city towards higher value-added services and products than the well-known outsourcing.”, Alin Mercheș, President of Oradea Tech Hub. 

A vision for the future

The geographical location of Oradea, placed near the border with Hungary and in the middle of the distance between Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara offers Oradea the opportunity to easily sustain cooperation across the region. The areas can be R&D, software development, (a sector which is better represented in larger cities, with a higher density of programmers), as well as medical services and innovation within universities through cross-border cooperation. The local administration has embarked on the journey of smart specialization, envisioning the development of industries such as cosmetics, pharmaceutics, as well as organic agriculture.

Healtech and wellness tech are also set for growth in Oradea, given the city’s geothermal water resources and wellbeing facilities. The presence of robotics and automation companies in the industrial parks of Oradea is also a big strength, possibly spurring new startups in the area of IoT within Industry 4.0. Robots like the ones designed by Braintronix in Oradea are becoming all the more important in this pandemic, with automation needed for sanitizing hospitals and other public spaces.

While the effects of the current crisis put a significant pressure on the economy, Oradea has demonstrated resilience in counteracting these setbacks and continues its course to become one of the most attractive startup hubs of North-West Romania in the coming years. Investors and entrepreneurs benefit from a close cooperation between a highly efficient administration and a dynamic private environment, in a city well connected to the economic heart of Europe and to other competitive cities in the region.

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