As part of the event, our Cluj-Napoca based partner, Spherik Accelerator, have organized the project’s third and last Access2Finance conference.
During the course of MY-GATEWAY, our partners based in Slovenia, Czech Republic and Romania have had to organize a side event during main tech startup events in their region. In Prague, Czech Invest organized the Access2Finance conference during Startup World Cup & Summit; in Maribor, Startup Slovenia set it up during PODIM conference and now Spherik Accelerator have opted for UPGRADE100 in Bucharest.
Instead of spreading over two days like in Slovenia and Czech Republic, Spherik Accelerator opted to invest only one day on the Access2Finance conference. We know it’s not a matter of time but it will be the quality of the speakers which will contribute to making the conference just as enriching as the other two.
The Access2Finance side event has been perfectly inserted into UPGRADE100. As a matter of fact on 14 Friday the whole of Focus Stage 4 will be dedicated to the Access2Finance conference. You can find the detailed agenda here.
The Access2Finance conference has been divided into four main sessions.
In Session 1 we’ll discover THE SECRETS OF THE EUROPEAN STARTUP ECOSYSTEM with Cristina Juc, project manager at Spherik Accelerator, who has been key in putting this event together; Andrew Wrobel, founding partner of Emerging Europe, an intelligence and networking platform; Augustin Radu, co-founder and CEO of IMT Starter, a French incubator founded in 1999; Sveatoslav Vizitiu, Co-founder and CEO of Wello, a health startup who we met at Startup Olé 2018 and Stoyan Yankov, productivity and performace strategist who set up his own consultancy.
In session 2 we’ll meet Bogdan Ceobanu, a very startup-passionate Policy Officer at the European Commission, DG Connect, who will speak about Digital Innovation and Funding in the European Startup Ecosystem opportunities. On the same panel you’ll learn about How the Western Balkans are learning with Frosina Ilievska – Head of the Western Balkan Division of the Startup Europe Central and Eastern Europe and Western Balkans Network, followed by dynamic Aleksandra Karan – Managing Director at Serbia Start Up and closing with Peter Barta – Co-Director at The Long Run, explaining the importance of the mentoring programmes in your startup journey.
If you’re curious about angel investment and want to know more about EU funding, then the 3rd session could really be of your interest. We’ll listen to Estonian Anu Oks, Managing Director at Estonian Business Angels Network – EstBAN, who will present about Angel Investing – Estonian Case Study, while Dragos Nicolaescu, Business Angel at TechAngels, is going to tackle the Is Your Startup Ready for an Angel Investor?
The last session of the day, session 4, is for those want to access European funding for their business idea. Beginning with SME Instruments and Cascade Funding Opportunities, by Alberto Siera, Innovation Consultant at Zabala Innovation Consulting and the European Space Agency: Possibilities of financing your startup (Karolina Vorlicka, Event manager at CzechInvest), all the way to Starting and growing a business with the help of EU funding (Costin Octavian Sorici, Managing Partner at Company Project Management Solutions) and the Routes to innovative funding and financing for Startups in the EU, by Antonio Carlos Ruiz Soria, CEO at Economia Creativa.