Vest Ventures launches with €16.6 million budget to accelerate early-stage startups in Timișoara and the broader western region
The Romanian Startup Summit in Timișoara marked a milestone for the country’s western region with the official launch of Vest Ventures, the first regional venture capital fund dedicated to fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in western Romania.
A Strategic Investment in Regional Innovation
The fund has a total budget of €16.6 million, co-financed through European funds via the West Regional Program 2021-2027, administered by the West Regional Development Agency (ADR Vest), alongside private capital.
“Vest Ventures represents a strategic step for the economic future of the West Region,” said Sorin Maxim, General Director of ADR Vest. “We want entrepreneurs with bold ideas to be able to transform these ideas into scalable and competitive businesses at the European level. European funds allow us to build modern development tools that go beyond classic grants and offer real access to capital, mentorship, and investor networks.”
Summit Highlights
The Romanian Startup Summit brought together key voices in entrepreneurship and innovation for an evening of insights and announcements. The program included:
Opening remarks by Andrei Munteanu, Programs Managing Director at Vest Ventures, followed by a fireside chat on successful tech entrepreneurship moderated by Vlad Andriescu, Chief Editor at Start-up.ro.
A panel discussion on regional development and innovation featured Sorin Maxim alongside Krzysztof Kasprzyk, Deputy Head of Unit for Romania at the European Commission, Ovidiu Sandor, CEO of Mulberry Development, and Ciprian Man, General Partner at Vest Ventures. Adrian Seceleanu, Business Hi-Tech Editor at Ziarul Financiar, moderated the conversation.
The evening also showcased Startup Awards finalist pitches before the main event: the Vest Ventures announcement and presentation by the fund’s leadership team—Cristobal Alonso (General Partner), Ciprian Man (General Partner), Andrei Munteanu (Programs Managing Director), and Razvan Suta (Chief Operating Officer).
Expert Consortium and Comprehensive Support
Vest Ventures is managed by an experienced consortium in startup acceleration, comprising Startup Wise Guys, Cowork Timișoara, Growceanu, and Iceberg Plus. The fund will conduct direct investments and run dedicated acceleration programs for early-stage startups with regional and international growth potential.
“The West Region, with Timișoara at the forefront, has the potential to become one of the strongest technology and innovation hubs in Central and Eastern Europe,” said Ciprian Man, General Partner at Vest Ventures. “Vest Ventures starts from this conviction: that there is valuable intellectual capital here that deserves to be accelerated through investments, know-how, and access to relevant networks.”
Investment Strategy and Program Structure
The fund will run four acceleration cohorts, with the first set to begin on March 27, 2026, and nine regional pre-acceleration cohorts focused on entrepreneurial education and developing minimum viable products (MVPs). Approximately €6 million of the total budget is allocated to direct investments in pre-seed stage startups, with amounts determined based on each team’s needs and potential.
Beyond financing, selected startups will benefit from personalized mentorship, applied workshops covering the entire entrepreneurial journey, from idea to product, sales, and investment, access to investor and partner networks, and essential workspace and support services.
