Bridging ecosystems: Cluj IT creates European funding opportunities for Romanian SMEs

The transformations at the European level and the intensity of their impact on most sectors of activity now highlight more than ever the need for interconnection and cohesion of ecosystems to collaboratively develop tools and mechanisms to meet all current and future challenges.

With a vision of change and an orientation towards innovation and performance, Cluj IT, as part of the European consortium of the GALATEA project, managed to bring closer to the Romanian business environment the development and funding opportunities connected to the European maritime ecosystem.

GALATEA is an initiative based on the concept of co-creation, built on the joint efforts of 8 organizations from 5 European countries, whose aim is to create new industrial value chains, promoting the synergies between the maritime and the technological sectors for the development of new mechanism and instruments which can overcome the challenges stakeholders in the maritime industry are facing.

Halfway through the implementation period (18 months), the project completed the second round of financing through which 19 SMEs received direct financial support of € 1.02 million for the development of 9 innovative projects that contribute to increasing the sustainability of port operators or other stakeholders in the sector.

Cumulatively, in the two calls for funding, 44 SMEs benefit from direct financial support amounting to over € 2.250 million to develop their innovative ideas, individually or in consortia.

Cluj IT has brought closer to the Romanian companies the needs identified at the European level, relating them to the technological skills found in the national ecosystem and facilitating access to a new “market” and new partners. Results obtained at the national level are significant steps in designing and defining an innovative and performing community.

In numbers, Cluj IT facilitated benefits for the Romanian business environment can be summarized as it follows:

5 supported SMEs in 2 individual Development and Technology Transfer projects and in 4 Prototyping ones.

€ 280.000 direct financial support.

Financial benefits are equally complemented by the networking ones. In the first nine months of the project, Cluj IT facilitated the participation of over 25 SMEs in the matchmaking and Innovation Clubs events organized as part of the project activities, contributing to the development of strategic trans-national and cross-sectoral partnerships of European impact.

GALATEA is just one of the European initiatives in which Cluj IT is involved and builds on our objective to capitalize on and increase the potential of the business environment and create new market opportunities for innovative Romanian SMEs.