The final line up for VentureConnect, 9 June

Less than 24 hours to go until this edition of VentureConnect. The final line of start-ups in amazing and we wish all our entrepreneurs the best of luck in their pitching process. 

  • Ringhel
  • Airisvision
  • Goin.Mobi
  • Planable
  • Mushin.fm 
  • Visitor Analytics
  • Metiaro
  • City365
  • Band Wizard
  • Approd
  • Bunchup.io

This is the first edition of the event which debuted with a new strategic partnership with ESIL, grouping together EBANBusiness Angels EuropeBusiness Angels Romania, Go Beyond Early Stage Investing and META Group (www.meta-group.com). Therefore, a full round of investors and business-angels will attend the VentureConnect session. 

 

The event is organised at Connect Hub (Boulevard Dacia, Number 99, 4th Floor), starting 9.00 a.m. 

 

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Presenting ESIL Pilot Partners in Romania

Early Stage Investing Launchpad pilot has the overall objective of developing and boosting the activities for Business Angels through an international capacity building program. ESIL pilot focuses on 3 EU Member States where the number of BAs and BA related activities and investments are still under developed or just emerging. Particular attention is devoted to the seed and early stage investment in ICT highly innovative start-ups and SMEs. 

 zAV-_888_400x400After a careful analysis of the candidates, ESIL Pilot partnership was glad to select VentureConnect and Business Angels Romania as local leaders for the development of the ESIL Pilot project in Romania. We are positive that both local partners have a great mix of drive and skills which makes them the best choice for a successful participation and development of the BA capacity building program in the region.” Umberto de Feo, ESIL Pilot Project Manager. 

Business Angels Romania is proud to be part of the ESIL Pilot Project We believethat the education of investors is a very strong first step in building astrong ecosystem.” Andrei Tabarcea, Managing Partner at Business Angels Romania. 

Dan Visoiu photo “The main reason for launching VentureConnect was to begin offering the means through which the local entrepreneurial ecosystem could begin to develop in Romania. After a number of investments and success stories in the IT/online sector, we believe it is time to also focus on potential Romanian business angels. Thus, the partnership with local and established international business angels networks will allow potential Romanian business angels to obtain substantial investment know-how” Daniel Visoiu, Partner BAC Investments and President of the VentureConnect Foundation.

Apply to VentureConnect by June 3rd here

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Presenting ESIL Pilot Partners in Romania

Early Stage Investing Launchpad pilot has the overall objective of developing and boosting the activities for Business Angels through an international capacity building program. ESIL pilot focuses on 3 EU Member States where the number of BAs and BA related activities and investments are still under developed or just emerging. Particular attention is devoted to the seed and early stage investment in ICT highly innovative start-ups and SMEs.

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After a careful analysis of the candidates, ESIL Pilot partnership was glad to select Venture Connect and Business Angels Romania as local leaders for the development of the ESIL Pilot project in Romania. We are positive that both local partners have a great mix of drive and skills which makes them the best choice for a successful participation and development of the BA capacity building program in the region” Umberto de Feo, ESIL Pilot Project Manager. 

Business Angels Romania is proud to be part of the ESIL Pilot Project. We believe that the education of investors is a very strong first step in building a strong ecosystem” Andrei Tabarcea, Managing Partner at Business Angels Romania.

“The purpose of starting VentureConnect was to offer the means through which the local entrepreneurial ecosystem could develop. After a number of investments and success stories for the IT industry here in Romania, we believe it is time to also focus on potential Romanian business angels. The partnership with local and established international business angels networks will create the means through which potential Romanian business angels will be able to obtain substantial investment know-how”, mentioned Daniel Visoiu, Partner BAC Investments and President of the VentureConnectFoundation.

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VentureConnect enters a new development stage: partnership with the leading EU initiative for Business Angels

VentureConnect, the first pitching event for technology and IT entrepreneurial projects organized in Romania, announces today a new strategic partnership with ESIL, grouping together EBAN, Business Angels Europe, Business Angels Romania, Go Beyond Early Stage Investing and META Group (www.meta-group.com).

Therefore, for the upcoming VentureConnect edition on 9th June in Bucharest, VentureConnect will invite business angels in Romania and the region to attend a series of dedicated meetings and practice orientated workshops with the objective of building capacity for seed and early stage investments. The first session will be run by Brigitte Baumann (Go Beyond Early Stage Investing) and Marius Ghenea (VentureConnect board member and Investment Director at 3TS) who will focus on an overview of early-stage start-ups and key insights from business-angels’ own experiences and their investment know-how. Attendance will be free of charge and by invitation only.

“The purpose of starting VentureConnect was to offer the means through which the local entrepreneurial ecosystem could develop. After a number of investments and success stories for the IT industry here in Romania, we believe it is time to also focus on potential Romanian business angels. The partnership with local and established international business angels networks will create the means through which potential Romanian business angels will be able to obtain substantial investment know-how”, mentioned Daniel Visoiu, Partner BAC Investments and President of the VentureConnect Foundation.

In the past six years, VentureConnect has been recognized for its continuous efforts to bring together early-stage start-ups as well as more mature companies with potential investors such as VC funds and business angels.

Entrepreneurs wishing to pitch their businesses on 9th June 2016 to international and Romania-based investors can submit their projects until 3rd June, by submitting the information indicated on www.ventureconnect.ro. A selection of up to ten companies will be announced prior to the event.

Andrei Pitis

Andrei Pitiș is joining us for the 11th edition of VentureConnect!

Andrei Pitiș is joining us for the 11th edition of VentureConnect on 3rd of June to conduct a debate on the newly enforced business angels law.

Andrei Pitiș is the President of ANIS (Employers Association of the Software and Services Industry), the most active Romanian software association. As the leader of the Association, Andrei supports the idea of a stronger business environment in software industry where both corporations, SMBs and start-ups can coexist and grow.

In 2013, Andrei founded Vector Watch with the purpose of delivering a disruptive product to the global (smart)watches market. Today he is in charge with the technology development of Vector smart-watches and he is also deeply involved in building the strategic global expansion of the company.

 

 

 

Tina

Member of the Seedcamp Advisory Board present at Venture Connect on 3rd June

Entrepreneurs have until 22 May to submit their projects

 

Bucharest, 11th May, 2015: Venture Connect, the leading pitching and networking event in Romania, announces a new speaker invited for the 11th event organized on 3 June in ASE’s Aula Magna, Bucharest. Started in 2010, Venture Connect has welcomed over the last four years more than 400 projects and businesses from the CEE region and the US, with entrepreneurs having benefited from various special mentoring sessions to dedicated meetings with potential investors and business mentors. For the following edition, entrepreneurs can submit their projects until the extended deadline of 22 May 2015 on the event website.

 

For the first time in Romania, Venture Connect welcomes for its upcoming pitching session Tina Baker, co-founder of JAG Shaw Baker and member of the Seedcamp Advisory Board. With over 20 years of experience representing venture capital funds and emerging technology companies  with respect to international financings, exits and commercial transactions, Tina Baker will discuss with Venture Connect’s pitching start-ups and participants key issues regarding “How to make your company attractive to foreign investors

 

Tina Baker is both a US (New York State Bar) and English qualified attorney, and was formerly the chair of Brown Rudnick LLP’s European Emerging Technologies and Venture Capital Practice. She was “Highly Commended” in the category of Best Startup Advisor/Mentor of the Year at the Europas (the European Startup Awards) and is ranked as a leading individual in the 2015 edition of Chambers UK for Private Equity and Venture Capital Investments, the 2014 edition of Legal 500 for Venture Capital and listed in Thomson Reuters’ UK Super Lawyers publication 2013.

 

“In the last couple of years, European start-ups have found their call, with more and more valuable businesses growing each year and a more mature and dynamic ecosystem. This growth is determined by dedicated initiatives such as Venture Connect or Seedcamp which lay the foundations of a healthy and educated entrepreneurial class, while also pushing for a stronger connection with a wider investors’ community, both business-angels and VCs. I look forward to networking and discussing possibilities of growth and development with Romanian companies and share know-how and experience with Venture Connect”, mentioned Tina Baker, co-founder of JAG Shaw Baker and member of the Seedcamp Advisory Board.

 

As with previous sessions, Venture Connect includes two pitching sessions: the first part shall be dedicated to students and early-stage companies in search of seed investment, and the second part shall be dedicated to more mature companies in search of more substantial investments. Over 40 business angels, VCs and business mentors are expected to attend the 3 June session.

 

Entrepreneurs can submit their projects until 22 May on the event website. The entire event agenda as well as the selected pitching projects will be available on 27th May. The 11th edition of Venture Connect will take place in partnership with ASE Startup, the Business Incubator of the Bucharest University of Economic Studies and with the support of Biris Goran law firm. The event organizer is Govnet.

 

Recommended taglines: Venture Connect, entrepreneurs, start-ups, pitching,

Press contact:

 

Alexandra Pahomi – prSTEPS
[email protected] | 0729.003.956

RaduGeorgescu_blog

Venture Mentoring with Radu Georgescu: How to Build an International StartUp

On Thursday, 12 March, between 3.00 and 6.00 PM, at ASE StartUp headquartes (31 Frumoasa Street), IT entrepreneurs interested in learning how to expand their business internationally have the opportunity to meet with Radu Georgescu, Founding Partner GECAD Group, as part of the first 2015 session of the mentoring program conducted by the Venture Connect Foundation – VentureMentoring.

The mentoring session led by Radu Georgescu will deal with high-interest topics for local entrepreneurs, such as: the expansion of a business in international markets and defining of a unitary business strategy, the identification of strategic partnerships in key markets, surpassing of cultural barriers, business structuring, as well as the steps to follow within a financing process. The event format is interactive and free discussions are encouraged between participants and mentor. For efficiency purposes, the number of participants is limited to 20.

“I have always enjoyed sharing my experience and thinking practical solutions alongside Romanian entrepreneurs. Venture Mentoring is precisely about that: free and inhibited discussions about the business issues encountered by the attendees and finding practical and applicable solutions to their questions together”, says Radu Georgescu, Founding Partner GECAD Group.

The Venture Mentoring sessions is a project developed by the Venture Connect Foundation, which has supported over 170 business projects from Romania, Bulgaria and the Republic of Moldova through its mentorship programs on various topics relating to business and technology in the past two years. Mentors that have taken part in the Venture Mentoring program include Daniel Nicolescu (Country Manager PayU Romania), Daniela Crețu (coach, entrepreneur and Managing Partner Opteam Associates), Ana Maria Andronic (Partner Biris Goran and co-founder of Venture Connect), Marius Ghenea (Business Angel) or Dan Vișoiu (Partner BAC Investment).

Registration for this session is opened at: http://www.ventureconnect.ro/events/venture-mentoring/. The participation fee is RON 300.

For further details, please contact Alexandra Pahomi at [email protected] or Mihaela Perciun at [email protected]

VentureConnect2015

Announcing Venture Connect: 3 June 2015

The Venture Connect Foundation announces that the 11th edition of Venture Connect will take place on 3rd June 2015, in partnership with the Business Incubator of the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies (ASE) and with the support of Biris Goran law firm.

The Business Incubator is an ASE project to be launched at the end of February that was created with the purpose of fostering the entrepreneurial spirit of students, master students and PhD students of the academy and to provide them with support in their entrepreneurial activity.

The 11th edition of Venture Connect will be hosted in ASE’s Aula Magna and will stand out by a new approach, but also with the support of some notable guests, business angels and investment funds from the American Continent. Moreover, the Venture Connect Foundation opens the session for this event’s pitches submissions.

The entrepreneurs willing to present their business in front of some of the most important investment funds, accelerators, incubators in Romania and Europe can submit the projects until 13th May 2015 on the event’s website: www.ventureconnect.ro. Before the event, Venture Connect Foundation shall organize two mentoring sessions to support the finalist entrepreneurs with respect to efficiency and structure of the pitch, public speaking skills and discourse elaboration.

The Venture Connect event shall include two pitching sessions: the first part shall be dedicated to students and early-stage companies in search for seed investment, and the second part shall be dedicated to more mature companies in search for a more substantial capital input.

“After more than four years since we launched the project, we take pride in a community of over 400 companies which visited Venture Connect and came in touch with investors. We are glad to be able to offer the Romanian entrepreneurs access to an important network of contacts in Romania, Europe and the American continent, and that Venture Connect is the place where investments happen”, states Ana Maria Andronic, co-founder of Venture Connect.

For more details on how to participate to Venture Connect, please visit our Admission Page or contact at us [email protected].

DanLufkin

Meet Dan Lufkin in Bucharest on 12th December

On 12th December, Bucharest Stock Exchange is organising a must see event –> A capital conversation – Wall Street and BVB. The keynote speaker will be Dan Lufkin, Wall Street legend and co-founder of DLJ investment bank.

Participation is free of charge. The event can also be found on Facebook as well.

The number of seats is limited, so please confirm your participation as soon as possible at [email protected]. Deadline for registration is December 5, 2014.

Ready for a capital conversation? Then join us on 12th December :-)

AERO

AeRO presented at Venture Connect Anniversary Edition

Companies, even in an early stage of development, can access the required money. In Romania, areas as IT, technology, agriculture and services have potential for accelerated growth. Also, investors are always in search of new opportunities for investments with higher degree of risk, and high yields” stated Bogdan Mugescu, Business Development Specialist at Bucharest Stock Exchange.

Venture Connect is the most important regional meeting dedicated to entrepreneurs from technology area searching for early-stage financing and venture capital. At the anniversary edition, six Romanian and Bulgarian companies had the opportunity to present their business plan to more than 100 potential investors and business partners.

“Four years after we launched the Venture Connect project, we are proud with a community of over 400 companies who stepped in and had direct contact with investors, with 230 companies that joined our mentoring program, as with important investments as TJobs, Bittnet Systems, Flori de Lux and Green Horse Games. We are glad to offer to Romanian entrepreneurs’ access to an important network of Romanian and regional contacts and that Venture Connect became the place where investments happen. For the next period, we explore new opportunities, with a strong objective: bold financing of sustainable IT and software projects” mentioned Ana Maria Andronic, Partner at the law firm Biris Goran and Co-Founder of Venture Connect.