Romanian Startup Champions at DLD16
Romanian startups have an immense potential that we are now acknowledging and promoting.
Now, this is not just a statement we hear more and more of in the media or discussing the trends; it’s the conclusion we came to after attending the DLD Conference in the last few days. How did we reach this conclusion? Here it is!
Imagine there is the greatest party in the neighbourhood and only you are invited. It makes you feel a bit special, right? On the same note, imagine 5 Romanian startups participating at Europe’s hottest invite-only conference, where, besides participating, they got to showcase their work as a part of the event program. The thrill, the show, the people!
All this was made possible by the amazing Steffi Czerny, who was a speaker at last year’s edition of Techsylvania and witnessed first hand the opportunities our ecosystem offers and also the hospitality of Romanian people. It was an honor to be there and if you want to meet this amazing lady, you can do so this May in Cluj.
Each year, this event gathers high-profile politicians (European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager), inspirational Nobel Peace prize winners (Jody Williams), business leaders (Airbus CEO Tom Enders, News Corp CEO Robert Thomson) as well as top investors (Breyer’s Capital Jim Breyer, Atomico CEO Niklas Zennström) or amazing founders (Yelp’s Jeremy Stoppelman or WhatsApps’ Jan Koum).
This year, the DLD Conference took place in Munich, between the 17th and the 19th of January, giving every attendee the opportunity to experience three intense days of networking and attending the presentations of top notch speakers. Romania was there, too, with a hand selected delegation of 5 startups:
- AirisVision represented by Bogdan Grumezescu
- Idea Studios represented by Daniel Tamas
- Moqups, represented by Dan Burzo
- SkinVision, represented by Robbert Visser
- Symme3D represented by Calin Brandabur
Besides being invited to the conference, the teams had a unique opportunity to present their products on the Maxsaal Stage, during the `Romanian Startup Champions`, an informal breakfast, palinca and networking session hosted by DLD.
The mind masters behind the whole Romanian experience (traditional foods, amazing startups and, of course, tuica) wereOana Petrus and Vlad Ciurca, Techsylvania`s founders & Executive Producers.
What did they learn from participating?
Robbert Visser from SkinVision tells us: ”It was one of the very few high quality events I have attended in a long time. Quality speakers and quality topics. Moreover, participating as a startup delegation helps the ecosystem which is in a continuous process of development. People see the Romanian IT industry outsourcing-oriented, but bringing to light the emerging and growing product development activities helps to better value the Romanian market place.”
Bogdan Grumezescu, from AirisVision: ”Going to DLD Conference was a very good thing for the entire delegation, and I believe that this kind of exposure brings value to the Romanian startup ecosystem. We thank the organisers for the efforts, the Romanian Breakfast was a really important thing for us.”
Daniel Tamas from Idea Studios says: ”You get to meet a lot of important people from the industry, that have the experience and also the connections that might be helpful. In this case, it is very important to have a group mentality and to use the opportunity of networking as much as possible.”
Dan Burzo at Moqups: ”I believe two things are essential for the Romanian startup ecosystem: nurturing local communities to share and learn from our experiences, and establishing connections with the greater European startup community. For the latter, few conferences offer the level of exposure as DLD, and it’s been a great opportunity to get out there and meet like-minded people from across the world. Thanks!”
Calin Brandabur from Symme3D: ”Thank you for including us in the delegation team, attending DLD was a great experience! It’s a high-quality event and it is an honour to be in the same place with highly-reputed people from the European and US technology industries.”
Leaving our pride aside, being at DLD is a step forward for the way the Romanian startup ecosystem is seen throughout Europe. Our simple presence there proved that we have lots of things to share and that Romania has a lot to offer when it comes to technology and innovation.
For that, we’d like to thank again Steffi Czerny and the entire DLD team who invited the Romanian delegation. The experience was a blast!
Watch the startups’ pitches here: