Southeastern European Cities teach togetherness to restart the innovation economy

A summit on innovation, the first of its kind in the region

Innowave Summit is a Varna Brand Event held for the first time in Cluj-Napoca (Romania). It’s one of the largest innovation events in Central and Eastern Europe, organized by the Bulgarian Business Forum (Varna), C-EDU Cluster of Education (Cluj-Napoca) and the Municipality of Cluj-Napoca in partnership with the City of Varna (Bulgaria). It is also part of the strategic activities of the first pan-European platform for collaboration and stimulation of start-ups in Europe and the world, StartupCities Platform, in which Varna and Cluj-Napoca function as founding members.

The connection and collaboration of the two cities are especially important in the context of the European Year of Youth. In the presence of the European commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, the President of the European Committee of the Regions, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, and some of the most innovative mayors in Europe, Innowave Summit will show how two European cities work together to bring Youth and Education to the next level. 

The vibrant appearance at this innovation and shared knowledge event would also present Cluj and Varna as cities of knowledge and would make the strong bond between these two cities visible to everyone.

Connected events during the days of Innowave Summit under the StartupCity Cluj Napoca Days:

• The Europe Goes Local initiative will host a transnational conference in Cluj-Napoca, 17-20 May 2022. 
• In the context of the European Year of Youth, actors from the local ecosystem will also organize a series of events and youth actions in the city. 
• On 18 May 2022, a Local dialogue with the citizens – co-organized by the European Committee of the Region and the Municipality of Cluj-Napoca on the topic of “Europe Starts in Transylvania. Building the strong foundation of the House of European Democracy”
• On the morning of 19 May 2022, the official establishment of the Network of European Youth Capitals will be marked with a signing ceremony. 
• Part of the agenda of Innowave Summit 2022 will also be the First Regional Edition in Romania for the largest startup event – Startup World Cup. The winner will have the chance to compete with the best startups in the world for the prize of $1,000,000 US dollars. 

All the above events, together with Innowave Summit 2022, aim to celebrate youth innovation and youth contribution to the participatory reconstruction of European cities and communities.

This initiative will further the good connection and collaboration between Cluj Napoca and Varna. Through this collaboration, Bulgaria and Romania will continue their efforts to support start-ups, local public authorities, catalysts of the local innovation ecosystem and innovative bottom-up initiatives to retain talents in the region.

Dimitar Vasilev, president of Bulgarian Business Forum, described the concept: “Togetherness put into practice and building on the collaboration and mutual support that Varna and Cluj have developed in the last years. Our communities have similar challenges and our ecosystems are compatible. With Innowave Summit, we invite all of the interested actors to join us in moving to pragmatic and concrete projects, actions and business decisions. The summit will gather policy makers, European startup communities, innovative leaders from regional and global market”. 

Emilia Botezan, head of International Affairs and Investors within the Cluj-Napoca Municipality emphasized that “in a global world, when no one can isolate to avoid problems (such as Covid19), what we can do is to use this as a constructive tool, and create a mechanism which offers the same resources to as many communities as possible access to them. Innowave Summit is one of  the ways we invite communities to rejoin and discuss solutions that tackles vital problems for our cities, such as digital transformation, or accessing innovation European funding and opening access to eastern European startups, and most of all solution provider for the most urgent Green Deal needs”.

Book your place here: www.innowavesummit.com

Learn more about Startup World Cup Romania here: swc.innowavesummit.com