40 ideas of teams formed by young people between the ages of 16-26 who live, study or work in Cluj-Napoca have been selected to participate in the Cluj-Napoca Innovation and Experiment Fund (FIX Cluj). The teams behind the ideas selected for access to the FIX Cluj program will be awarded by Cluj-Napoca City Hall with a first prize worth 3,000 euros.
The ideas were selected from among the 145 initial proposals received following the publication of a dedicated call in this regard during October 2021. The final selection list can be accessed here: https://bit.ly/FIXCluj_Rezultate_2021.
"FIX Cluj is a first in Romania for what it means to support innovation among young people. The young people validated our initial assumption: they have innovative ideas for a city, a better Cluj of the future, and they understood that innovation can be entrepreneurial, technological, but also social. Among the awarded ideas are those that have the potential for exponential growth or are based on the use of technology, as well as those that respond to a well-defined local need and that do not necessarily aim for a very wide impact and rely more on the human side. But Cluj-Napoca can become even more innovative and resilient and can address local challenges, as well as global ones with local impact, if it encourages the initiative from its youth, because that way the generation that follows us and will support us will persevere existence in 20-30 years. In addition to awarding them, we will work in the future to present these ideas and these young people to the public as a source of inspiration for the entire community.", stated Emil Boc, the mayor of Cluj-Napoca.
,,We are concluding a new stage with our community partners in the first iteration of the Fund Innovation and Experiment FIX Cluj and I am happy, as a teacher and as an actor in the promotion of Cluj education, to be part of this great innovative and entrepreneurial journey. We learn together through co-design and collaboration with all the actors in the process, and as of today, we have 40 teams of incredibly creative, brave young people oriented towards practical solutions for a better future for Cluj, for young people, for economy. We can't wait to start the work and walk alongside their mentors and program supporters, without whom this dream would not be possible, this journey towards an innovative, inclusive and happy "tomorrow"", has completed Simona Baciu, the president of the C-EDU Education Cluster.
FIX CLUJ is focused on building ecosystems that will support communities to rebuild, helping youth groups in Cluj-Napoca to create innovative entrepreneurship initiatives that can have a significant impact. The program helps young people through grants of up to 50,000 Euros to experiment, test and develop their innovative ideas.
In addition to this first prize, the selected teams will undergo a training and mentoring program during January-March 2022 where they will be able to improve their ideas before presenting them again to the jury for a possible second round of funding of 12,000 euros within the social innovation program.
The jury that evaluated the presented ideas consisted of:
- Sergiu Biriș, CEO & Co-founder, Eventmix
- Vlad Ciurcă, Co-Founder, Techsylvania and Codiax
- Nicoleta Deliu-Pașol, Director of Communication, BCR
- Cristin Iosif, CEO, Salt & Pepper
- Nina Moldovan, General Manager and President of the Board, Winners
- Ionuț Muntean, Senior Manager, Innovation and University Relations at Bosch Romania
- Voicu Oprean, CEO & founder, AROBS Transilvania Software
- Tudor Ogner, President, Cluj Youth Federation
- Mălina Pălăncianu, President, Hermes Society
- Bianca Tanțau, President, County Council of Cluj Students
ABOUT FIX CLUJ
FIX Cluj is an initiative of the Cluj innovation ecosystem. FIX Cluj is implemented within the framework of a partnership formed by Cluj-Napoca City Hall and the C-EDU Education Cluster that brings together the leading institutions of the Cluj education ecosystem, the technical management being provided by the PONT Group.
FIX Cluj was developed with the financial support of the Botnar Foundation from Switzerland and with the active participation of a vast network of institutional partners and experts in creating the general framework through an innovative co-design process. FIX Cluj is supported by NTT Data, AROBS Transylvania Software, BOSCH, Banca Comercială Română, and Salt&Pepper.
