We have successfully ended our Startup Funding Conference 2024. This event dedicated to startup financing in Moldova, gathered local and international investors, over 150 participants, support and financing organizations, representatives of state institutions, and members of the tech community in Chisinau. The event aimed to attract funding sources for Moldovan entrepreneurs.
Highlights of the event
Our event kicked off with welcome speeches from high officials and representatives supporting startup ecosystem. The Amdassador of Sweden to Moldova, Katarina Fried highlighted the Moldovan Government's commitment to creating a funding mechanism for startups. It continued with a fire-side chat moderated by Stella Jemna, Country Representative UMAEF and DPM, Minister of Economic Development and Digitalization, Dumitru Alaiba highlighting the advantages of the Moldovan startup ecosysytem and its strategic position into shaping the future of the country’s economy and technology power.
Olga Melniciuc, CEO of Startup Moldova shared recent data and trends from the startup ecosystem. There are 250+ startups, and Startup Moldova tracks over half of them. Total investment attracted by startups is $44+ mln. in a total nr. of 76 rounds. In 2024 only, Moldovan startups raised over $5 mln. which shows an increase of 38% compared to the last year. These and other important data has been presented.
Fagura shared their story of fundrasing from 0 to 2.5 mln euro in total. This year, Fagura raised 1.1 mln euro in investments from private investors such as Mozaic and u.ventures.
The secret sauce of the event was the presence of private investors. Both pitching on stage and participating in the panel, representatives from Mozaic, Business Angels Moldova, SpeedUP VC Group, Life Science Innovations Fund, SMOK VC, and Longe VC shared their insights on the investment landscape in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). They provided valuable reflections and outlined key trends shaping the future of the startup ecosystem in the region.
The agenda of the conference was diverse. Apart from presentations and fire-side chats, we had two practical workshops. One was delivered by Dmitrii Namashco, CEO of Mozaic and the other, by Tatiana Savva, Managing Partner & Co-founder of Pyretus Capital. Dmitrii shared tips and tricks on how to secure funding from VCs as a startup founder. Tatiana shared their view as a private equity fund of what investors want to know when making investment decisions.
The last part of the event has been dedicated to startup founders and their pitching session. 5 startups from Moldova: Renter, Pinky CyberSafe, One Syncs, GemsAround and Eating.AI. Not only they have delivered top quality pitches, all of them have received personalized feedback during the Q&A dedicated session.
The final part of the event spotlighted startup founders during a dedicated pitching session. Five innovative startups from Moldova—Renter, Pinky CyberSafe, One Syncs, GemsAround, and Eating.AI—delivered top quality presentations. Beyond showcasing their ideas, each received tailored feedback during the Q&A session, adding significant value to their startup journey.
You can watch the highlights and feel the atmosphere in the following video!
The Startup Funding Conference was organized by Startup Moldova in collaboration with the Warsaw Enterprise Institute and maib business. The event's general partner was Orange Systems. Organizing partners included Mozaic, Business Angels Moldova, The Future Technologies Project (USAID, Sweden, UKAid), and UMAEF.
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