About InnoWeek

Innovation Week in Timișoara

Innovation: The Engine of Modern Prosperity

Scientifically proven correlations between innovation and societal development

💰

ECONOMIC PROSPERITY

+1.3% GDP

for every 10% increase in digital penetration

Innovation directly transforms investments into measurable economic growth

🚀

ACCELERATED PRODUCTIVITY

+15-25%

improvement in total factor productivity

Technology multiplies efficiency and competitiveness

🎯

TALENT ATTRACTION

2.5x more

young professionals in innovative cities

Innovation ecosystems become magnets for human capital

💼

SUPERIOR WAGES

+35%

salary differential vs traditional regions

Innovation creates high value-added jobs

🌍

GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS

0.85 correlation

between innovation performance and global ranking

Innovation positions regions on the world map

💸

INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT

3x more

foreign investment in top 25% innovation regions

Capital follows innovation and opportunity

😊

QUALITY OF LIFE

0.78 correlation

between innovation and happiness index

Innovation improves public services and urban environment

🌱

SUSTAINABILITY

-30-40%

emissions reduction through green technologies

Innovation provides solutions to climate challenges

The Challenges We Must Overcome

Multi-level analysis based on official European and national reports

🌍

EUROPE FALLS BEHIND

EU ranked 6th

globally: behind South Korea, Canada, China, USA and Australia

Source: European Innovation Scoreboard 2025, European Commission

🇪🇺

ROMANIA - LAST PLACE

Position 27/27

in European Innovation Scoreboard 2025

Source: European Innovation Scoreboard 2025, European Commission

📉

WEST REGION - IP decline

7th OUT OF 8

from 3rd place to 7th place

Source: Inobarometru 2023, MCID Romania

🏭

TIMIȘOARA - OPPORTUNITY

37.1%

high-tech manufacturing exports, mostly through international partnerships

Opportunity to develop more local innovation capacity and entrepreneurship

🎓

TALENT ATTRACTION CHALLENGE

0.51%

R&D employees vs 1.53% in Bucharest-Ilfov

Timișoara's university center lags behind Cluj, Iași, Bucharest in talent magnetism (UPT study)

💼

NON-INNOVATIVE ENTERPRISES

8th place

(last) for innovative enterprises in the region

Only 73.64% introduce innovations vs 89.42% in South-East

💰

INVESTMENT EFFICIENCY

2nd place

in spending, 8th place in results

We invest substantially, but efficiency can be better

🚀

UNTAPPED POTENTIAL

Timișoara can be the engine

that transforms the entire region

Opportunity to become a magnet for talents and tech SMEs

The Path Forward

From potential to performance - how we bridge the innovation gap

🚀

Why Innovation

Innovation drives +1.3% GDP growth, attracts 2.5x more talent, and creates +35% higher wages. It's the engine of modern prosperity.

📊

Our Reality

Romania ranks 27/27 in EU, West Region ranks 239/244 European regions despite its industrial base, and we invest more than we achieve in innovation output.

🌟

InnoWeek 2025

The most important event in the regional innovation ecosystem - a week dedicated to tech innovation and entrepreneurship, bridging potential with performance.

Our Vision & Mission

The principles that guide our work

🎯 Our Mission

Building a regional innovation ecosystem that transforms ideas into measurable community impact.

🌟 Our Vision

Timișoara as Eastern Europe's leading innovation hub, driving regional prosperity through talent and technology.

Our Journey

From a collaborative space to one of the biggest innovation events in Romania

2004-2016: Genesis and Foundations

StartupHub served as the catalyst that brought together Timișoara's emerging innovation community. More than a physical space, it became the spark that united visionaries and innovation practitioners. Here, pioneering projects took shape: UpgradeMyCity, Startups Timișoara, CoWork Timișoara, Growceanu, and Banat IT Association - each contributing to building the foundations of a robust ecosystem.

2022: The Turning Point

Some of those who met in the StartupHub context and collaborated on these projects together formally committed to developing the ecosystem through organized, evidence-based approaches. We created the first strategic action plan for regional innovation ecosystem development, marking the transition from organic initiatives to systematic methodology.

2023-2025: Acceleration and Scale

InnoWeek emerged in 2023 as the concrete manifestation of our vision - a week when Timișoara becomes Romania's innovation and entrepreneurship epicenter. The exponential growth from edition to edition (with 2025 marking nearly triple the numbers from the first edition) demonstrates both ecosystem strength and appetite for innovation.

2025 brings a dual achievement: StartupHub organizations successfully secured 14M EUR in public funding for the Western Region's tech startup accelerator. Simultaneously, through partnership with Timișoara Municipality, we launched the Timisoara Innovation City series - transforming informal efforts into a formalized organization built on open governance principles and multistakeholder approaches.

Organizing Team

The people behind InnoWeek

Our Values

The principles that guide us in organizing InnoWeek

Measurable Impact

Every initiative must generate concrete, verifiable results for the community

Multistakeholder Collaboration

We believe in the power of strategic partnerships between public, private, academic, and civic sectors

Transparency and Open Governance

We operate with clear principles, transparent processes, and accountability to the community

Long-Term Sustainability

We build for the future, with systemic thinking and generational responsibility

Bold Ambition

We champion courageous ideas that have the potential to change the world