Startup Events

Best Startup Events in Romania

Romania's startup calendar is busiest in Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca: a packed November with DefCamp, Banking 4.0 and two hackathons, investor pitch days in December, and How to Web, the region's main startup conference, on 5–7 October 2027.
This guide lists startup, tech, investor and women-founder events in Romania from November 2026 to the end of 2027. We checked every date on the organiser's own website. Where a date isn't published yet, we say so, and we mark each event as Confirmed (date on the official site), Announced (date from a reliable second source) or Expected (based on past editions only).
This article is regularly updated with new events. Do you know about an event that needs to be added? Send us some info and we will see if it's a fit.

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Best Startup Events in Romania 2026–2027: Calendar from November 2026 to October 2027

DatesEventWhereTypeStatus
10–11 Nov 2026GoTech WorldBucharestB2B tech expoConfirmed
11–12 Nov 2026IT DaysCluj-NapocaDeveloper conferenceConfirmed
14–15 Nov 2026NASA Space Apps ChallengeBucharest, Cluj-NapocaHackathonConfirmed
17 Nov 2026Empower TechBucharestWomen in tech conferenceConfirmed
19–20 Nov 2026DefCampBucharestCybersecurity conferenceConfirmed
23 Nov 2026GPeC eCommerce Awards GalaBucharestE-commerce awardsConfirmed
24–25 Nov 2026Banking 4.0BucharestFintech conferenceConfirmed
27–29 Nov 2026CASSINI HackathonBucharestSpace data hackathonConfirmed
5 Dec 2026DevFest Cluj-NapocaCluj-NapocaDeveloper conferenceConfirmed
7 Dec 2026Transylvania Venture DayCluj-NapocaInvestor pitch dayConfirmed
16 Feb 2027Romania Startup AwardsBucharestAwards galaConfirmed
Mar 2027Innovation Labs hackathonBucharestHackathon, pre-acceleratorExpected
14 Apr 2027Romania ClimAccelerator Demo DayBucharestAccelerator demo dayConfirmed
12–23 May 2027Romanian Creative WeekIașiCreative industries festivalConfirmed
May 2027Cluj Innovation DaysCluj-NapocaInnovation conferenceExpected
27–28 May 2027JSHeroesCluj-NapocaJavaScript conferenceConfirmed
Jun 2027DevTalks RomaniaBucharestDeveloper conferenceExpected
Jun 2027TechsylvaniaCluj-NapocaTech conferenceExpected
5–7 Oct 2027How to WebBucharestStartup conferenceConfirmed
Oct 2027InnoWeek TimișoaraTimișoaraStartup and innovation weekExpected

November 2026

GoTech World, Bucharest: 10–11 November 2026

📅 GoTech World 2026Confirmed
Dates10–11 November 2026
WhereRomexpo, Pavilion B1, Bucharest
TypeB2B technology expo and conference
Who it's forFounders selling to companies, tech buyers, product and IT teams
TicketsStandard pass €159, Content pass €299, VIP pass €419 at the time of writing; the page shows a new registration step from 5 November
Official sitegotech.world
A large B2B tech fair with stages on AI, cybersecurity, product and e-commerce. It is useful if you sell software or services to banks, telecoms and other large companies, because their buyers walk the expo hall.

IT Days, Cluj-Napoca: 11–12 November 2026

📅 IT Days 2026Confirmed
Dates11–12 November 2026
WhereCluj Innovation Park, Str. Tiberiu Popovici, Cluj-Napoca
TypeDeveloper conference (4 stages, 18 domains, including startups)
Who it's forDevelopers, CTOs and technical founders
Tickets€193.60 including VAT; 5-person team pack €786.50
Official siteitdays.ro
The 14th edition, run by Today Software Magazine, with more than 60 talks. Cluj has one of the largest pools of software engineers in the country, so this is a good place to hire or find a technical co-founder. See our developer tools events list.

NASA Space Apps Challenge, Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca: 14–15 November 2026

📅 NASA Space Apps Challenge 2026 RomaniaConfirmed
Dates14–15 November 2026
WhereRomanian-American University, Bucharest, and ClujHub, Cluj-Napoca
Type48-hour hackathon on NASA open data
Who it's forDevelopers, designers, students and early founders
TicketsFree; registration required
Official siterotsa.ro
Organised in Romania by the Romanian Tech Startups Association (ROTSA) with DiFine PR. A free weekend of building on real data, and a fast way to test whether you work well with a future co-founder. See our hackathons list.

Empower Tech, Bucharest: 17 November 2026

📅 Empower Tech 2026Confirmed
Dates17 November 2026
WhereNORD Events Center by Globalworth, Bucharest
TypeWomen in tech conference with an expo
Who it's forWomen in tech, including founders and team leads
TicketsPrice not published; register on the site
Official sitecatalyst.ro
The third edition, run by Catalyst Solutions, the company behind DevTalks: a one-day programme for about 400 participants, with international speakers and more than 20 partners in the expo. It is the clearest women-in-tech event in Romania this autumn.

DefCamp, Bucharest: 19–20 November 2026

📅 DefCamp 2026Confirmed
Dates19–20 November 2026; workshops 17–18 November
WherePalace of the Parliament, Bucharest
TypeCybersecurity conference with hacking competitions
Who it's forSecurity teams, CISOs and cybersecurity founders
TicketsAttendee pass €250 until 18 November 2026; workshops extra; students can ask for a discount
Official sitedef.camp
Central and Eastern Europe's largest cybersecurity conference, run by the Cyber Security Research Center from Romania (CCSIR), with a Hacking Village. If you build security or AI safety products, this is where regional buyers meet. See our cybersecurity events list.

GPeC eCommerce Awards Gala, Bucharest: 23 November 2026

📅 Gala Premiilor eCommerce 2026Confirmed
Dates23 November 2026, guests from 18:00
WhereHALO Events Center, Romexpo, Bucharest
TypeE-commerce awards gala and networking
Who it's forE-commerce founders, D2C brands, agencies
TicketsLimited tickets; price not published
Official sitegpec.ro
GPeC has run Romania's main e-commerce events for more than 20 years. The gala closes its year; its GPeC Summit conference usually runs in May and October. See our e-commerce events list.

Banking 4.0, Bucharest: 24–25 November 2026

📅 Banking 4.0 2026Confirmed
Dates24–25 November 2026
WhereJW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel, Calea 13 Septembrie 90, Bucharest
TypeBanking and fintech conference
Who it's forFintech founders, banks, payment companies
TicketsEarly-bird tickets mentioned; price not shown
Official sitebanking40.ro
An international conference where Romanian banks and payment companies discuss AI and digital finance. For fintech founders it is a direct way to meet the people who buy from them. See our fintech events list.

CASSINI Hackathon, Bucharest: 27–29 November 2026

📅 12th CASSINI Hackathon: EU Space for Peace and ResilienceConfirmed
Dates27–29 November 2026
WhereBucharest (venue not published yet)
TypeEU space data hackathon
Who it's forDevelopers, designers and founders; no space experience needed
TicketsRegister on the site; price not stated
Official sitecassini.eu
The European Commission's CASSINI hackathon runs in ten cities at once, and Bucharest is one of them, with ROTSA as local partner. Teams work on EU satellite data for security and resilience. See our space tech events list.

December 2026

DevFest Cluj-Napoca: 5 December 2026

📅 DevFest 2026 Cluj-NapocaConfirmed
Dates5 December 2026, 09:00–18:00
WhereHub UTCN, Str. Gheorghe Barițiu 4, Cluj-Napoca
TypeGoogle developer conference
Who it's forDevelopers and startup tech teams
TicketsFree; register on the page
Official sitegdg.community.dev
A free day of talks on AI, cloud, Android and Flutter, run by GDG Cluj-Napoca at the Technical University's hub. A relaxed place to meet developers.

Transylvania Venture Day, Cluj-Napoca: 7 December 2026

📅 Transylvania Venture DayConfirmed
Dates7 December 2026
WhereCluj-Napoca (venue not published yet)
TypeInvestor pitch day
Who it's forStartups, scaleups and university spin-offs looking for investment
TicketsRegister on the page; price not stated
Official sitetechcelerator.co
Run twice a year by the accelerator Techcelerator with ROTSA. Selected companies pitch to local, regional and international investors; it is one of the few investor days outside Bucharest. See our pitch competitions list.
Also in December: Impact Hub Bucharest holds an online pitch day for the Deep Tech and AI track of its Romania ClimAccelerator on 9 December 2026. Applications for the 2026–2027 programme close on 22 November 2026 at 10:00.

Winter and spring 2027

Romania Startup Awards, Bucharest: February 2027

📅 Romania Startup Awards 2027Confirmed
Dates16 February 2027 (ROTSA's own page says 25 February; check before you book)
WhereBucharest (venue not published yet)
TypeAwards gala
Who it's forStartups from Romania and the Republic of Moldova
TicketsRegister on the page; entry rules not published yet
Official siterotsa.ro
ROTSA's yearly gala for the national startup scene. The two event pages give different dates: Techcelerator says 16 February, ROTSA says 25 February 2027. The 2026 awards were held in March.

Romania ClimAccelerator Demo Day, Bucharest: 14 April 2027

📅 Romania ClimAccelerator Demo Day 2027Confirmed
Dates14 April 2027
WhereBucharest (venue not published yet; in person)
TypeAccelerator demo day
Who it's forClimate, sustainability, deep tech and AI startups; investors
TicketsApply to the programme by 22 November 2026, 10:00
Official siteimpacthub.ro
Impact Hub Bucharest's accelerator takes 8 startups in its Climate track and 7 in its Deep Tech and AI track, and ends with this Demo Day in front of investors. See our climate tech events and accelerators and demo days lists.

Romanian Creative Week, Iași: 12–23 May 2027

📅 Romanian Creative Week 2027Confirmed
Dates12–23 May 2027
WhereIași (venues not published yet)
TypeCreative industries festival
Who it's forCreative, design and digital founders
TicketsPrice not published; call for projects open
Official siteromaniancreativeweek.ro
A large festival with sections on creative entrepreneurship, innovation and digital. The Iași Entrepreneurs Summit ran as part of it in 2026, so it is worth watching if you build in the creative economy.

JSHeroes, Cluj-Napoca: 27–28 May 2027

📅 JSHeroes 2027Confirmed
Dates27–28 May 2027
WhereCluj-Napoca (venue not published yet)
TypeJavaScript conference
Who it's forFront-end developers and technical founders
TicketsWaitlist only; tickets not on sale yet
Official sitejsheroes.io
A community-run conference with a strong international speaker line-up. Useful if your product is built for developers or you are hiring front-end engineers.

Autumn 2027

How to Web, Bucharest: 5–7 October 2027

📅 How to Web Conference 2027Confirmed
Dates5–7 October 2027
WhereFace Convention Center, Piața Presei Libere 3-5, Bucharest
TypeStartup and tech conference with an Investors Summit
Who it's forFounders, investors and product people from Central and Eastern Europe
TicketsDiscounted startup tickets by application; prices not published on the page
Official sitehowtoweb.co
Central and Eastern Europe's main startup conference. The 2026 edition drew more than 3,000 attendees, 500 founders and 250 investors, with more than 50 side events. Startups can apply for a startup ticket with investor matching or a pitch on stage. See our founder networking events list.

Dates not announced yet

  • Innovation Labs, Bucharest: Romania's main pre-accelerator for student and early teams; in 2026 the hackathon ran on 21–22 March and the Demo Day on 25 May. innovationlabs.ro
  • Cluj Innovation Days: the innovation and policy conference, last held on 28–29 May 2026. clujinnovationdays.com
  • DevTalks Romania, Bucharest: the largest developer conference in the country, last held on 3–4 June 2026; DevTalks Cluj-Napoca was on 24 September 2026. devtalks.ro
  • Business Summits București (formerly Bucharest Tech Week): last held on 15–19 June 2026; 2027 tickets are on sale without dates. techweek.ro
  • Techsylvania, Cluj-Napoca: last held on 24–25 June 2026. techsylvania.com
  • Codecamp: one-day IT conferences in Bucharest, Timișoara, Cluj-Napoca and Iași, held in spring and autumn 2026. codecamp.ro
  • InnoWeek Timișoara: the city's startup and innovation week, last held on 26–31 October 2026; PROW, Timișoara's product conference, was on 22 October 2026. innoweek.ro, prow.ro
  • AWS Community Day Romania, Timișoara: the organisers are preparing a 2027 edition; a listing site gives 22–23 April 2027, but the official site has no date yet. aws-community.ro
We found no dated startup events in Brașov, Sibiu, Oradea or Constanța for this period. Romania has no Global Entrepreneurship Week host listed for 2026.

Recurring meetups and communities

  • ROTSA (Romanian Tech Startups Association): runs the Startup Awards, Space Apps and other national events. rotsa.ro
  • Techcelerator: accelerator in Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca, behind Transylvania Venture Day. techcelerator.co
  • Impact Hub Bucharest: accelerators and founder events, including ClimAccelerator. impacthub.ro
  • GDG Cluj-Napoca (DevFest in December) and GDG Cloud Iași (latest meetup 27 July 2026): free developer meetups. GDG Cluj-Napoca, GDG Iași
  • AWS User Group Timișoara: cloud meetups, the latest on 11 September 2026. meetup.com
  • How to Web side events: Startup Weekend Bucharest, The AI Collective and Beta Nights all met in Bucharest during How to Web week in October 2026.
  • Inactive or quiet: Startup Grind Bucharest (no local event listed), ROTSA's Founders Club Iași and Timișoara (nothing since October 2025), ICEEfest (no edition since 2019).

Events for women founders in Romania

  • Empower Tech, Bucharest, 17 November 2026: a one-day conference for women in tech (see above). catalyst.ro
  • CONAF, the national association of women entrepreneurs, tours its "De Vocație Antreprenoare" forum around Romanian cities; the eighth edition was held in Pitești on 10 November 2025, and no 2026 or 2027 date is published. conaf.ro
We found no dated pitch competition or conference only for women founders in Romania in this period. Read our guide to funding for female entrepreneurs and the female entrepreneurship and women in tech events lists. If you organise an event for women founders in Romania, send it to us and we'll add it.

Funding and support to know before you go

  • Start-Up Nation 2026: the government grant programme gives grants of 250,000 lei to new companies whose founders complete a mandatory entrepreneurship course. In September 2026 the Economy Minister said a second 2026 session would open in the autumn, without giving a date. financiarul.ro
  • Micro-enterprise tax: since 1 January 2026, micro-enterprises pay a single 1% tax on turnover, and the revenue ceiling for the regime fell to €100,000. fiscalitatea.ro
  • Digital nomad visa (Law 22/2022): foreign remote workers need an income of at least three times Romania's average gross monthly salary. bucharest.ro
  • UEFISCDI, the national research and innovation funding agency: runs the PNCDI IV calls, including national co-funding for EUREKA and Digital Europe projects. uefiscdi.gov.ro
  • Venture capital with recovery money: LAUNCHub Ventures' third fund targets €75 million, €15 million of it from Romania's recovery plan (PNRR), and plans to invest at least €15 million in startups with Romanian founders. startupcafe.ro
See also the best countries for building a startup in Europe.

How to get the most out of Romanian startup events

  1. Pick Bucharest in November. GoTech World, Empower Tech, DefCamp, the GPeC gala, Banking 4.0 and the CASSINI Hackathon all fall between 10 and 29 November 2026.
  2. Book DefCamp early. Its attendee pass costs €250 until 18 November 2026, and the cheaper tiers have already ended.
  3. Go to Cluj-Napoca for developers and investors. IT Days, DevFest and Transylvania Venture Day are all there, and JSHeroes follows in May.
  4. Apply, don't just buy. How to Web's startup tickets, the ClimAccelerator (by 22 November 2026) and Transylvania Venture Day all select startups. See our pitch competitions list.
  5. Combine it with a regional trip. See our guides to startup events in Poland, the Czech Republic, Greece and Turkey, and our guide to startup events in Europe.

List your event in this guide

Do you run a startup, tech or investor event in Romania? Send us the name, dates, venue and official link, and we'll check whether it fits this guide. We list events for founders, with a real date and an official page.
This article is regularly updated with new events. Do you know about an event that needs to be added? Send us some info and we will see if it's a fit.

🔗 Add an awesome event

Startup events in other countries

FAQ

What is the biggest startup event in Romania?

How to Web in Bucharest (5–7 October 2027) is the main one: the 2026 edition drew more than 3,000 attendees, 500 founders and 250 investors.

Are there startup events in Cluj-Napoca?

Yes: IT Days (11–12 November 2026), DevFest Cluj-Napoca (5 December 2026), Transylvania Venture Day (7 December 2026) and JSHeroes (27–28 May 2027).

Are there free startup events in Romania?

Yes: the NASA Space Apps Challenge (14–15 November 2026) and DevFest Cluj-Napoca (5 December 2026) are free, as are the GDG meetups.

Are there events for women founders in Romania?

Empower Tech in Bucharest (17 November 2026) is a conference for women in tech; CONAF's forum for women entrepreneurs has no new date yet.

Where can Romanian startups pitch to investors?

At Transylvania Venture Day in Cluj-Napoca (7 December 2026), the ClimAccelerator Demo Day (14 April 2027) and How to Web's startup programme. See our pitch competitions list.

What support is there for startups in Romania?

Start-Up Nation grants of 250,000 lei, a 1% turnover tax for micro-enterprises, UEFISCDI research funding and VC funds backed by the recovery plan.

About the Author

Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
2026-11-04 10:31 By country