Telekom Romania celebrates the first 100,000 “liberated” entrepreneurs investing 100,000 euros in the acceleration of 10 Romanian start-ups

Financial support worth 100,000 euros granted within the WeAccelerate program - a project supported by Telekom Romania - to 10 start-ups selected through contest; the support consists in financing, work space, free mentorship and promotion;

Each selected start-up will benefit from financing and support for the entrepreneurship activity worth 10,000 euros;

Telekom Romania is celebrating the first 100,000 entrepreneurs “liberated” with Freedom portfolio, who benefit from liberty and flexibility in using the communications services.

Telekom Romania is investing 100,000 euros in accelerating 10 Romanian start-ups, within the WeAccelerate programme, a new project aimed at boosting Romanian entrepreneurship digitalization. The project will be developed in partnership with the WeLoveDigital hub. Ten start-ups, selected upon a thorough business analysis, will receive financing and benefits consisting in work space, free mentorship and promotion, over a six month period. The competition is targeting start-ups from all the business areas, which have surpassed the prototype stage and have generated revenues of minimum 1,000 lei. A contestant may register more than one start-up in the competition, provided that each one is established as a separate legale entity.

The 100,000 euros will be directed towards the 10 start-ups that will reach the final stage of the competition. Each start-up will benefit, thus, from investments worth 10,000 euros, allotted as follows: financial support worth 6,000 euros, six month of subsidized rental within the WeLoveDigital hub, 60 hours of mentorship and counselling in the online promotion area, as well as promotion campaigns in the online environment.

WeAccelerate is the first initiative from a long series of such projects that Telekom will develop, meant to celebrate each 100,000 entrepreneurs „liberated” with the Freedom portfolio.

“We have thought about a new way of stimulating the growth of the entrepreneurship and managerial ecosystem providing, at the same time, financial support and know-how. At the end of this project, the Romanian economy will be able to integrate 10 stronger and more knowledgeable innovative companies, with real opportunities for growth. This is the way in which Telekom Romania wishes to thank all its customers that have chosen the Freedom portfolio services. From the launching of this portfolio, under the #BUSINESSLIBER umbrella, we have surpassed the threshold of 100,000 entrepreneurs “liberated” with the Freedom portfolio, who have thus chosen the freedom and flexibility in communication”, Ovidiu Ghiman, Chief Commercial Officer Business Segment, Telekom Romania, said.

One of the opportunities provided through this programme is the access the entrepreneurs will gain to mentors with remarkable business experience, such as: Radu Ionescu (COO Dentus Aegis Network), Marian Şeitan (General Manager Mediapost Hit Mail Group), Peter Barta (Angel Investor), Marius Ghenea (Partner 3TS Capital), Orlando Nicoară (Founder WeLoveDigital), Radu Apostolescu (Founder eMag).

In addition, due to the partnership with WeLoveDigital, the 10 finalist start-ups will benefit from an unconventional work space where the entrepreneurs will have the chance to interact every day with people facing similar challenges. Thus, the selected start-ups will work in an environment where they will find support and real business opportunities.

The start-ups interest to benefit from the support granted through the WeAccelerate programme can join the competition between 23^rd of May- 30^th of September 2018, by filling the form posted on the dedicated webpage: www.weaccelerate.ro where they can find detailed information on eligibility terms, selection mechanism, calendar and news on the project’s evolution.

The selection process will have three stages. In the first stage, carried out between 23^rd of May-30^th of September 2018, the contestants must access the program’s web page and fill the registration form. All the registered projects will go into the second stage - the pre-selection, which will take place between 1^st -30^th of October 2018. The projects will be analysed by a jury made of the mentors involved in the programme and at the end of this stage 25 semi-finalist start-ups will be designated. The third stage - the final selection, will take place between 1^st -10^th of November 2018, an interval during which each of the 25 candidates will present its project in front of a jury. The 10 winners will be announced on the 10^th of November 2018 on the competition’s website. The winners will also be invited to present their projects and objectives for the 6 mentorship months within a gala, which will also take place in November 2018. After the winners’ designation the incubation period, which will unfold between 4^th of February-2^nd of August 2019 will follow.

Telekom Romania introduced the new Freedom subscriptions through the #BUSINESSLIBER campaign, launched in October 2017, which brought, for the first time in the business segment, unlimited 4G internet, unlimited voice and message services, from 5 euro a month. #BUSINESSLIBER has radically changed the services offered to the entrepreneurs by eliminating, for the first time in the history of the Romanian communications market, the minimum contract term and the cancellation fee.