Innovation Labs, the pre-acceleration program for tech projects and mentoring for young entrepreneurs, students, and researchers, has launched the selection stage for this year's edition.

The selection entails showcasing business ideas at one of the hackathons organized in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Iași, Sibiu and Timișoara.

A jury of representatives of the program’s partners and experienced entrepreneurs will select the ideas and teams to be admitted to the five-month mentoring program.

Those interested can register by March 11 for hackathons on March 12-March 13 in Cluj-Napoca, Iași and Timișoara, and by March 17 for hackathons on March 19 – March 20 in Sibiu and Bucharest,

The events in this edition of the program will be held both online and offline.

Registrations are open to students, young graduates, industry specialists and researchers who wish to experiment developing a tech product in an acceleration program, alongside a community of mentors, entrepreneurs and IT& business specialists.

The selected teams will take part in a five-month mentoring program meant to support them in transforming their idea into an MPV, validated by real clients. The program also offers mentoring on product growth, access to business partners and technology, and various other opportunities. Teams will present their prototypes on July 26 at a Demo Day, in front of the jury, potential investors, partners, and the general public.

The participants at Innovation Labs 2022 will be grouped into three team types: teams of students; spin-offs from the university environment, where teams are made up of researchers; and teams of students and experienced entrepreneurs.

The 2022 verticals are Agriculture, Blockchain, Cybersecurity, DevTools, Digital Commerce, Digital Health, Lifestyle, Retail, Smart City & Industry 4.0, and Sustainability.

(Photo: Pop Nukoonrat/ Dreamstime)

simona@romania-insider.com