Startup Luxembourg to connect with Romanian's startup ecosystem

Startup Luxembourg took part in the innovation mission to Bucharest organised from 21 to 24 November by Business Forum RomLux. The aim was to get to know the Romanian startup ecosystem better and to develop its network in this part of Europe.

Located on the eastern border of the European Union, Romania is one of the most dynamic economies in the region. And if its startup ecosystem is less known than that of Poland, it is nonetheless booming.

It is to discover this market, but also to make Luxembourg known as an international hub that Business Forum RomLux organised this first innovation mission. Alongside Startup Luxembourg, Luxembourg house of financial technology (LHoFT), Luxembourg for Finance, European Space Resources Innovation Centre (ESRIC), Luxembourg Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (LPEA), Luxembourg Chamber of commerce, Dupont, SnT, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), Asteroid foundation, SES, Moniflo, Pandemsafe and the Luxembourg embassy to Romania took part in this trip.

A unicorn that fuels the startup ecosystem

One of the highlights of this mission was the visit to the Immersion Lab of the technology company UiPath. Founded in Romania in 2017, its headquarters are now in New York, UiPath is the first unicorn (company with a capitalisation of over $1 billion) in the country and has been a driving force for its startup ecosystem.

The company develops a technology that automates processes in organisations through a business automation platform. Its turnover should reach $1 billion for 2022. Despite it is today global, it has kept its Romanian roots and continues to shine a light on the country.

Dealing with a brain drain

The country's widespread mix of entrepreneurial spirit and IT talent makes it a fertile ground for innovative and ambitious startups.

The Polytechnic University of Bucharest has seen many students choose IT courses and Romania has always attracted numerous multinationals active in this field to benefit from this unique expertise.

However, Romania faced an important brain drain in this field and retaining talents in IT has become one of the priorities of the authorities over the last years. A very advantageous tax policy for IT workers has been put in place and has managed to reverse the trend. If in the 2000’s 80% of Romanian students in IT chose to leave the country, today this percentage has dropped to 20%.

Positioning Luxembourg as a hub for internationalisation

More and more initiatives try to foster entrepreneurship among the young generation. The Polytechnic University of Bucharest houses an Innovation Lab, an initiative present in 16 universities across the country, and hosts an Orange 5G lab in its premises where students can work on 5G projects with the Telco companies.

Both were visited by the Luxembourg delegation, which had also the occasion to introduce Luxembourg as a hub for internationalisation to the students as well as during a reception at the National Bank of Romania, part of the Banking 4.0 event.