Small Is Beautiful: The Startup Environment In Mures

Targu Mures is home to many talented people with entrepreneurial minds who wish to move from a clean sheet of paper to a crowded market. The vibrant startup culture of Mures provides a unique source of inspiration for anyone to innovate and explore new areas. Some of these are creating structures and methods that encourage and enable employees to think and act more like entrepreneurs; adopting business set-ups such as coworking spaces, incubators, ‘hackathons’ and accelerators; working more collaboratively with other industries and with people from innovative backgrounds; reaching audiences in new ways using technology; and exploring new funding options. Taken together, these are some of the key ingredients for making great ideas happen. This guide looks at the current landscape of local entrepreneurship. Find out what you need to know about Mures here!

Heading To Mures

Served by the second biggest airport in Transylvania, Targu Mures is an expanding city. The main road E60 connects the citizens to the well known Cluj Napoca, Brasov and all the other big cities in the area, and soon the A3- Transylvania Motorway will pass nearby. The city has also attracted EU funds for modernisation and infrastructure.

With 5 active Universities, several Faculties in the IT fields and various active and successful IT companies the interest for online entrepreneurship is rising day by day. Startup ideas are discussed in meet-ups and at drink-abouts by community members, and there are a bunch of experienced founders active in the community.

Consider Targu Mures As Your Startup Destination Because:

• we have good internet connection – 100Mbs, which is really good!
• the living expenses are low
• the community is welcoming and engaged
• there are some companies interested in investing resources into startups (Reea, Lateral, proClick, Direct Spark)
• Mures is not as chaotic as the big cities and still provides diverse opportunities

What Startup Founders Have To Consider:

There is no accelerator based in Targu Mures, and no VC fund either. Some ideas for coworking spaces are currently being discussed (there is only one shared office active at this moment) but there are enough places to rent at a fair price.

If you want to grow within a relatively new startup ecosystem then Targu Mures is your destination! The community has plenty of professional opportunities and also lots of fun things to do. We aim to be a big happy startup family!

Uncover The Startup Community In Mures

Although the startup community in Tg. Mures is not very large yet, it’s open to newcomers and continually growing. There are currently more than 25 startups founded in Tg. Mures and many more ideas are waiting to be validated and launched.

If you want to get in touch with the local startup community or if you just want to hang around some interesting people, you can attend regular meetups, which are organized every 1 or 2 weeks.

Find Info About The Community & Upcoming Events:

• Follow the Mures Startups page for event updates. There is a meetup every 1 or 2 weeks, the topics vary from investment to lean startups, conversion optimization, agile or pitching night.
• Request access to Mures Startups FB group to discuss, find and share startup related resources.
• Startup Lab meetup provides some event updates.
• Follow the Startup Weekend Mures page for event updates and startup related articles, infographics and motivational quotes.
• Business.inMures offers news about local startups and businesses.

Some Of The Events Are Being Organized Regularly Around A Certain Topic:

• Startup Stories where local entrepreneurs share their experience in launching and running their startup and lessons they learned along the way.
• Mures Startups Drinkabout: There is no agenda, just fun time for sharing ideas, casual drinking and lots of positive energy. Next: startup barbeque or paintball anyone?
• Pitching Night….is coming soon

Yearly Events:

• Startup Weekend Mures in its 3d edition this year, has become a tradition in Tg. Mures. The event usually takes places at the end of May at Petru Maior University’s Library (check out below picture from the event).
• Tg. Mures is located about 2hrs car drive to Cluj Napoca, where some cool annual events are being organized like: Techsylvania or Cluj Startup Weekend

Startup Weekend Mures, 1st edition 2013, 100 attendees, 68 participants. Library of Petru Maior University .

Pick An Inspiring Space To Be Productive In Mures

Coworking spaces are born because freelancers around the world were tired of working alone and vying for outlets in busy cafes. In order to find new freelancing friends, all you have to do is visit a gym, library, coffee shop, park, or internet cafe in the middle of the day. Smile at other people who are working in these places, and wait for an opportunity to ask what they do for a living.

At this point, the region’s entrepreneurial community does not exhibit strong networking and collaboration and creating a coworking space is not sustainable. Because we do not have a coworking space in our city, most coworkers who are independent professionals work anywhere as long as there’s an internet connection. So, as alternatives to a coworking space here’s what the local entrepreneurs do:

• Work in the library or coffee shop.
• Search for fellow freelancers online. Meetup is an international site that helps like-minded people connect and network, as we mentioned in the previous section.
• Arrange fun meetings in public locations, like local bookstores, restaurants, or bars that offer wifi. There they have some drinks, snacks and discuss common topics.
• Get involved online, there’s a rich virtual community of national and international co-workers readily available online:
  • Mures startups, Geek Meet – discussion groups on Facebook
  • The Startup Lab is a group on Meetups
  • Startup Weekend page: Stay up-to-date about the event

Sspaces Used By Up To 10 Freelancers:

• Startup Lab Mures space (Piata Republicii, Nr. 28, SALA B14, Targu Mures). The Startup Lab is a real movement for students and young researchers interested in learning and exchanging ideas about entrepreneurship. To get access to the space get in touch with Dumitru Radoiu.

• Multinvest Business Center: Located in the heart of Tirgu-Mures site, Multinvest Business Center wants to be a local point for the community, tending to participate in city life beyond the business side.
• Hartmann Business Center: The center consists of two buildings and approximately 600 sqm are available on two levels. The space can be customised according to your requirements and business partners. The commercial spaces are equipped with all the necessary facilities.

Once we meet a few new people who might be interested in giving coworking a try, we’ll be ready to start building such a space for the local community.

The entrepreneurial energy and collective effort to improve the entrepreneurial community in Mures has increased and strengthened significantly in recent years. A scene was created in which potential entrepreneurs are willing to accept the risk of abandoning a stable job in exchange for a more volatile position in a startup. Efforts to highlight successful entrepreneurs, network those interested in new ideas (even those still working in large firms), potential supporters and startup investors should be continued and enhanced now to build on this momentum.

Secure Your Startup’s Budget In Mures

The availability of funding has increased. Local entrepreneurs see the accessibility and availability of funds and the capacity local venture investors bring to the table as limiting factors. At the same time, while a significant finance community is present and the number of investment groups has increased, the investor community is still fragmented and not well connected.

However, capital availability has improved and there are many nascent entrepreneurs interested in receiving external investments. Right now Mures needs to seize the opportunity and match the emerging investor community, or dealmakers, such as venture capitalists, angel investors, family offices, and large firm executives, with those interested in starting a firm.

The present networks need to be strengthened through regular networking activities. The entrepreneurial ecosystem exists, yet it seems to be just starting. Entrepreneurs who have successfully developed a startup have a great potential to advance regional economic development. They start new ventures, invest in regional startups, or become engaged in other ways through, for example, philanthropic efforts or advising entrepreneurs.

To combat organizational thinness and fragmentation in the region, we have to focus our efforts on connecting key actors in the entrepreneurial economy such as existing large firms, entrepreneurial ventures, universities as well as funding and mentoring organizations.

Incubators:

Mures Business Incubator: The Mures Business Incubator was opened in June 2010 and will support at least 20 firms during a three-year incubation cycle. The incubator, located in the Mures Industrial Park, was specifically built and designed to assure the space versatility required for business incubation.

Presently, the building houses 21 offices, with areas of 14 to 70 square meters, an information area, 2 offices, 5 storage units, the Administrator’s office, as well as other shared spaces. The building has all the necessary utilities (access to kitchen, internet, electricity).

The space is equipped with furniture, computers with unlimited Internet access, telephone, fax. You will have access to a conference room and training sessions, secretarial services. You can expect visibility on the Incubator web page and also consulting services may be requested.

Accelerators:

• SeedforTech, based in Cluj Napoca helps good ideas and talented people reach the next level while contributing to the development of the regional ecosystem of startups and tech products. Their focus is on tech ideas, preferably in the B2B field, but we definitely want to hear B2C ideas as well.
• There are 28 other accelerators all around Romania, you can find them here.

Grants & Subventions:

• EU Funding Opportunities for StartUps and SMEs

Crowd Investing Platforms:

• Kazuu: Community Crowdfunding platform for creative people and beautiful ideas.
• Potsieu: Crowdfunding platform for social entrepreneurship.
• Crestemidei: Crowdfunding platform which facilitates the funding of creative and innovative ideas in 15 different areas. Projects have to present a budget and a video as minimum criteria to enter the selection process. Anyone can raise any amount of money on the platform. Social cases are not accepted.

Angels:

• TechAngels, a Romanian-based international angel network: TechAngels is facilitating the development of tech businesses from South-Eastern Europe through investment, expertise and connections. They help entrepreneurs to shape up their pitch deck by evaluating their business and putting them in contact with the most fitted investors from our network, in order to improve their success rate.

Other Investment Opportunities:

• Local IT companies such as Reea, Lateral, Neogen group

Don’t Stop Looking For Additional Help In Mures

A good way to get more information about the startup scene in Tg. Mures is to join one of the Facebook groups mentioned above. Then attend one of the meetups and have a talk with the members, they will be more than eager to help out.

Find Info About The Community Here:

• Follow the Mures Startups page for event updates. There is a meetup every 1 or 2 weeks, the topics vary from investment to lean startups, conversion optimization, agile or pitching night.
• Request access to Mures Startups FB group to discuss, find and share startup related resources.
• Startup Lab meetup provides some event updates.

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  The guides are like startup communities – they constantly change and grow. Make sure to check for updates and if you have something to add or want to publish one for your city, get in touch right away! And don’t forget to enrich the startup ecosystem by creating your company profile at StartUs!

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