VentureConnect, the initiative that started in 2010, reached its fifth edition. The entrepreneurs interested to present thier business in front of over 40 investors from Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary or Poland can submit thier projects until 20th of May. Along with the traditional pitching event, the second part of the day will host a conference dedicated to Romanian investors, interested in supporting entreprenorial start-ups in the IT, Online, Technology areas: Angel Connect.

Among the confirmed investors who will attend the event, we mention: Andreas Cser (Director of Fraser Finance), Alexis Bonte (CEO eRepublik Labs Limited), Ondrej Bartos (Partner & Chairman of the Board at Credo Ventures), Gwidon Humeniuk (Member of the Board at Xevin Investments), Maxim Gurvits (New Europe Corporate Advisory) along with other Romanian business-angels.

“A company’s success is based on its project development, its business objectives, as well as fully understanding the targeted market. As technology or business planning can be learned, mentored or even bought, the project developed by entrepreneurs has the experimental value: it involves several try-outs, failures or multiple repositioning strategies. But, in order to shape a scalable business that’s locally and internationally appreciated, the entrepreneurs need a mature business environment. I am happy to be seeing a stable and growing market in South-East Europe, especially in Bucharest and also in Bulgaria” says Maxim Gurvits, Investment Banking Associate la New Europe Corporate Advisory.

Until now, two major investments were granted:  in 2011, TJOBS.ro project. an online recruiting platform that was supported by Andreas Cser (business-angel Frasier Finance), Alexis Bonte and Post-Privatization Foundation and BITTNET Systems, a leading project in the Network Training market in Romania,  who announced in the beginning of 2011 the investment of Răzvan Căpăţînă, Romanian business-angel.

“We are very happy with all the start-up projects that were submitted, from the first VentureConnect event in 2010 to the most recent ones for the event on 31^st of May. Together with the VentureConnect Board members, we’re doing our best to bring to Bucharest investors interested in the local entrepreneurial market and to facilitate the development of local business to become internationally recognized” declared Ana-Maria Andronic, Senior Associate at Biriş Goran, co- founder member of VentureConnect Foundation.

The VentureConnect spring edition is supported by Allegro Group Romania, part of the international media group Naspers and the Post-Privatization Foundation (FPP).

Péter Barta has a 14 years experience in the profit and non-profit sector. He is presently managing one of the most important Romanian institutions dedicated to supporting and counseling Romanian startups: the Post-Privatization Foundation. In 2010, partnering with six of the most renowned and respected businessmen in Romania, Péter Barta had a great influence in establishing the VentureConnect project, now the VentureConnect Foundation.

Business accelerators and incubators are programs designed to assist start-up businesses with financial and/or operational resources that will increase their chance of growth and success.

Péter Barta will be bringing his experience and expertise in presenting the current trends, the pro’s and con’s that young entrepreneurs should consider before signing up for using accelerators and incubators for their start-ups.

VentureConnect, the project dedicated to entrepreneurs from the IT, Online, Technology areas, will be hosting the third meeting of the Venture Mentoring program. Every month, one of the VentureConnect Board members is meeting with the entrepreneurs that need advice and concrete solutions for the challenges they face in their business.

Marius Ghenea, business-angel, co-founder of the VentureConnect Foundation, mentor for the School for Startups Romanian program and also President of ARMO (National Agency for Online Shopping), will be leading the third Venture Mentoring event , staring at 15:00, on 17th May. Considering the positive feedback received from the participants of previous meetings with Radu Georgescu (Chairman GECAD Group) and Ana Maria Andronic (Senior Associate Biriş Goran), the monthly meetings that provide mentoring and consultancy will continue throughout the year.

„In 2012, VentureConnect started a series of activities targeting the entrepreneurial environment and aiming to support it’s development and to offer Romanian projects the needed resources of networking and mentoring. We want to help the young start-ups to become scalable businesses, with profits that could actively attract investors from Romania or abroad, interest that would have the potential to bring a seed or venture investment. Until reaching this step, we believe an active mentoring period is needed and thus, together with the VentureConnect Board members, we are involved in a direct and structured manner in the process” says Marius Ghenea.

The third meeting will bring up for discussion subjects of interest for start-ups, such as business structure, strategies, e Commerce, Internet, brand development and positioning on the market, mobilizing resources as well as building relationships with potential investors.

The meeting on 17th May starts at 15:00. To participate, please apply via the website www.ventureconnect.ro.

From the many creative ideas for online applications developed using Windows Azure, Windows Phone, Office 365, Dynamics CRM Online, SQL Server 2012, only the best ones will have the opportunity to pitch them. Selected participants will have 10 minutes to present their projects and 10 minutes to answer questions.

Jury members who will bring their experience and expertise to evaluate the projects are Dan Visoiu – President of the VentureConnect Foundation, Andrei Pitiș –  President ANIS, Gabriel Vasile – MarketWatch, Ciprian Jichici – Genisoft and Zoli Herczeg – Microsoft. The jury will closely follow the innovation, architecture and business plan components of the projects when deciding the winning ones.

The awards – 1000 euro – will be given to each of the 5 categories. The grand award will represent Romania at the Central and Eastern Europe Regional Contest “Your Business Your Fame” and will participate at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference. The event will take place in Toronto, from 8th to 12th July and will bring more than 15,000 attendees from 150 countries to network, learn the keys to success, share best practices, and expand business opportunities.

The event on 14^th May is mainly addressed to selected participants, but if you would like to join, you are more than welcome! Please let us know by sending an email at afacerea@microsoft.com.

With several established speakers: Adrian Florea, Andy Szekely, Lorand Soares-Szasz, Bogdan Comanescu and Eusebiu Burcas and a special guest, Paul Martinelli, representing John Maxwell Team, the event is a marathon of interesting presentations that center on current issues in the Romanian business world.

The event will take place during an entire day and will be structured in two parts: first, the five Romanian speakers will present their themes and then Paul Martinelli will take the scene. At the end of the day, Paul Martinelli will invite several of his guests, successful entrepreneurs from the business world, to an official dinner.

Leadership Summit addresses business-men with top management positions, entrepreneurs, managers and team leaders, and also  anyone that has an interest in this concept. The price of an attendance ticket varies between 200RON and 650RON, depending on the chosen access type (Normal, Premium or VIP). Enrollments to this event can be made online at www.leadershipsummit.ro.