Press release 01/27/2022
- The Cluj-Napoca Innovation and Experiment Fund (FIX Cluj) is a unique project in Romania
- 40 innovative ideas of young people between the ages of 16-26 were selected to participate in this stage of the FIX Cluj project
- FIX Cluj is more than a program to incubate entrepreneurship ideas, also aiming at social innovation and how we can have a significant impact on the community
The Cluj-Napoca Innovation and Experiment Fund (FIX Cluj), a unique project in Romania, which helps young people from Cluj-Napoca to create innovative entrepreneurship initiatives, has entered a new stage. The first innovation fund dedicated to financing the entrepreneurial initiatives of young people from Cluj was launched at the end of 2021 by Cluj-Napoca City Hall, the C-EDU Education Cluster and the Botnar Foundation, being the result of a co-design process of the Cluj innovation ecosystem.
"The City Hall's support of this innovation fund is the consequence of the innovation ecosystem that was created in Cluj. Innovation cannot be dictated, it happens where it finds the specific conditions, that ecosystem that we, the people of Cluj, managed to set up. Both the business environment and the young people, the fundamental resource of the city, the administration with the infrastructure and with the vision and with the money, most of the time and the other partners with open and critical thinking. This project, unique in Romania and admired by other European cities, is proof that this city, par excellence of youth, respects its coat of arms. We are in the European Year of Youth and it is not for nothing that we came to young people with this program, precisely to bring to fruition all the components of competitive advantages. Cluj will be the real winner in this effort", Emil Boc, mayor of Cluj-Napoca
Currently, from 145 innovative proposals, received following the publication of a dedicated call in this regard during October last year, 40 ideas have been selected to participate in the next stage of the project. The final selection list can be accessed here: https://fixcluj.eu/2022/01/27/lista-finala-a-echipelor-acceptate-in-programul-fix-cluj-editia-1/. These ideas are awarded by Cluj-Napoca City Hall with a first prize worth 3,000 euros. The teams are made up of young people aged between 16-26 who live, study or work in Cluj-Napoca.
The young people presented their ideas to their colleagues from the opposing teams during the first FIX Cluj event this year, FIX Kick-Off 2022, held online on January 26. Until March 2022, the selected teams will go through a training and mentoring program where they can improve their ideas, before presenting them again to the jury for a possible
the second funding round of 12,000 euros within the social innovation program. The program helps teams with grants of up to 50,000 euros to experiment, test and develop their innovative projects.
"Cluj-Napoca is a city that has been supporting young people for a very long time. In 2012, the idea of applying for the European Youth Capital was born, a title obtained in 2015, which was realized through innovative programs and projects. FIX Cluj is also the result of that process. Many other things have happened since then, the startup ecosystem is in continuous development, and now the municipality, as the main actor, had the initiative to launch this experimental program with the help of partners”, András Farkas, FIX Cluj coordinator, from the PONT Group
"We want through the first edition of FIX Cluj to have a dialogue, to listen to the voice of young people and to know their needs. I am convinced that all my colleagues who will be their mentors will accompany them on this journey of exploration. I congratulate all the participants and I am sure that this project will put Cluj on the map in everything that means innovation and courage”, Simona Baciu, president of the C-EDU Education Cluster
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 Swiss Botnar Foundation 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.
Private supporters of the FIX Cluj project are NTT DATA, AROBS Transilvania Software, Bosch, Salt & Pepper, BCR.
More details about the FIX Cluj calendar, edition I, can be found on official website and from official Facebook page.
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