Got A Good Startup? Here’s 50.000 EUR For It!

I bet you clicked the link to this post because of the 50.000 EUR in it! So, to quench your curiosity, that money is for real. It’s not vouchers, or anything like this.:) But it’s not a present either. It’s an investment. Who, how and when, you asked? Stay with me, and you’ll find out.

Venture Connect – The Event

A few months ago, I wrote on this blog for the first time about Venture Connect, a Romanian initiative meant to bring together investors and entrepreneurs. It’s not a contest, nor an incubator (although there are some strong indications that this could turn into an incubator at some point in the near future). It’s a bi-annual event, in which selected projects are presented by entrepreneurs to a pools of investors. There were already 3 events organized already, and the next one is set to take place on November 23rd. There is no guarantee that you, as an entrepreneur, will get an investment, although a few months after the first event, one of the startups got a capital injection of 500.000 EUR. After the second event a few other startups got involved in further discussions with a few potential investors, and the talks are still going on as I write this.

Venture Connect is ruled by a board of advisers. Part of the members of this board are also members of the foundation Venture Connect. I’m part of the board, but not of the foundation. I function as an adviser and mentor for the selected projects, helping entrepreneurs refining their message and polish their presentation. A part from the seats taken by the founders of Venture Connect (the Biris-Goran law firm), there are 4 more other places taken by advisers (in a very random order): Radu Georgescu, Peter Barta, Marius Ghenea and Orlando Nicoara. All seasoned entrepreneurs, some of them with a strong international presence.

The 50.000 EUR Investment

Starting with the event on 23rd of November, Radu Georgescu, president of Gecad Group and one of the board members, announced that it will invest 50.000 EUR in a startup that he will evaluate at that event. Not only he will put that money on the table, but he’ll also integrate the startup into a mentoring program. In other words, there will be involvement, not only cash.

The startup must play on the tech field, with a good international potential. If you think you have this, just go ahead and sign up for the event. You must submit the project on the official website, not here! Keep in mind that every project or startup you submit will be carefully reviewed by yours truly too, so at least we may have a chance to both meet interesting people.

Why am I doing this? Because I support this event, not only by working on it, but also by spreading the word about it to my wonderful audience. That would be you, in case you had any doubts. My wonderful audience, that is.

So, if you have anything closer to “putting a dent into the Universe” but lack the initial investment, go ahead and check out Venture Connect. If you don’t, but know people who are, I would highly appreciate spreading the word about this one.