Local tech solutions are constantly seeking opportunities to gain momentum and expand globally. A strong, well-connected network can significantly streamline this process, providing the foundation for faster growth and international success.
Enter Orange Fab, Romania’s first corporate accelerator, launched by Orange Romania in 2017. This accelerator is part of a broader international network spanning 20 countries across three continents, dedicated to fostering innovation and collaboration in the tech sector
In this exclusive interview, we speak with Ana Ciobanu, the Startup Programs Manager at Orange Romania, who is at the helm of the Orange Fab program. Ana shares insights into the motivation behind the accelerator, what makes it unique, and why it stands out in Romania’s growing innovation landscape.
Applications are open until October 1st, so if you are a tech startup, this is an opportunity you don’t want to miss.
What is the mission of Orange Fab? Tell us a little about the motivation behind this program.
The goal of Orange Fab is to support tech startups and the startup ecosystem as a whole in the countries where it is present. Orange is part of an open innovation system alongside 5G Labs and the Orange Educational Program, through which we co-innovate alongside our partners.
Essentially, our mission is to support the development of tech startups and offer them resources, mentorship, opportunities for collaboration with Orange business units, and with our partners and customers. We try to create synergies between startups and Orange’s extended network and aim to develop new products and services that we can bring to market together.
Our acceleration program is open year-round, with two periods for evaluating startups, one in the spring and one in the fall. Through this program, we try to be at the forefront of emerging technologies, to stay competitive, and to support local success stories of the startup ecosystem in Romania.
The major objectives of the program are to create business partnerships by scouting for startups and trying to bring added value to companies. We also aim to position ourselves as a significant player in the innovation market and facilitate the transition from Orange, the connectivity player, to Orange, the innovative operator that integrates disruptive solutions and adds value to customers.
This open innovation ecosystem means access to collaboration opportunities with external partners as well, from startups to universities, and other institutions that co-create innovation.
Orange’s financing vehicle, Orange Venture, is also part of this support system.
For startups considering applying, what does the ideal candidate look like? What are the key qualities or innovations you’re seeking in this cohort?
We are different from traditional accelerators because we don’t have cohorts or mandatory workshops. Instead, we run “a pure business accelerator”, as we call it, one that facilitates partnerships between startups and our sales teams, these business units, with a focus on mutually beneficial business partnerships. That’s why we provide tailored support, with Orange experts available to guide each startup on its journey—offering genuine, hands-on assistance at every step.
We support two categories of startups. The first one is early-stage startups, where we provide help for testing solutions at an MVP stage and validating them before they hit the market through our customer ecosystem.
We also support more mature startups that are already on the market and have proven traction and experience working with larger companies. These ones benefit from a more internationalized approach, with knowledge and resources for go-to-market strategies and scaling.
For this open call, we are looking for applicants from both categories, not just to provide a platform to promote them in Romania, but also to identify opportunities for internationalization and scaling with the help of our colleagues from Orange Group.
What unique resources or mentorship opportunities do startups gain access to by joining Orange Fab that they might not find elsewhere?
The most important resource we provide are our Business Units, which open the door to our customer database. This adds weight to the startup, provides additional trust, and validates the potential of their solution. Our business units build a relationship with the customer over time, and the recommendation of a solution or product carries significant weight in the relationship with potential customers.
Another advantage is that we offer mentorship through our internal team of experts at Orange, who have extensive expertise in various industries, from product, to marketing, to sales. They interact directly with customers, know their needs, and this interaction helps startups progress faster through certain stages, especially in the sales process.
Additionally, those who join Orange Fab have a larger team behind them that supports and wants to promote them.
Another resource that sets us apart from other acceleration programs is that we facilitate access to other areas of resources such as 5G Labs, collaborations with research institutes and universities, or access to Horizon research programs.
How does Orange Romania, as a major telecommunications player, leverage the corporate expertise to help catalyze the growth of startups within Orange Fab?
The fact that we are part of an international network already helps scale solutions outside Europe. Every country where there is an Orange Fab acts as a launch pad if you’re looking to scale, because it helps you get to know the local market: it facilitates access to customers, it provides pilot projects, or it can even recommend events to attend in the process of conquering new markets, depending on your needs.
Being part of various telecom organizations and alliances like Alaian provides development opportunities for startups through various open calls, facilitating access to over 65 markets internationally, along with technological support.
Every year, startups have access to events that facilitate internationalization and growth, such as VivaTech, but also to more technical conferences like the Mobile World Congress, where you find the best players in innovation and technology from this industry in Europe.
We have also made a series of investments in products and services from Romanian startups worth over 2 million euros and have implemented over 100 projects with them. Since 2017, a total of 50 startups enrolled in our program.
Startups often face challenges when scaling internationally. How do you help them expand beyond the local market, and what kind of support can they expect for international growth?
Beyond the Fab network and with our financing vehicle Orange Venture, there is currently interest in Europe in Climate, Inclusion and Caretech sectors for startups in Seed and Series A stages.
But more than the development stage, we are interested in identifying scalable and replicable models. A successful example is Nestor, Orange Fab alumnus from 2021, an enterprise platform for talent management, an application we use internally and which, with our support, is scaling in Jordan and has also had a pilot with Orange France.
Finally, for entrepreneurs who are still on the fence about applying, what’s the one piece of advice you would give them? Why should they consider joining the Orange Fab program?
They should consider that we are an accelerator based on win-win business partnerships, that we support them in their go-to-market journey, which we shorten and make easier and more personalized. Through our accelerator, they gain access to a large team and a support system that includes experts, facilitates access to various technologies, and is an equity-free program through which they can validate their solution with our customers.
It is a good opportunity to develop intentionally and sell alongside an integrator and innovator like Orange.
Our local startup ecosystem is underrepresented, and we are pleased to contribute from the beginning of this journey. That’s why we have ongoing partnerships with different community builders, such as Innovation Labs, Make IT in Oradea, Rubik Hub, Timișoara Startups, Co-Work Timișoara, FabLab Iași, the startup community in Sibiu. We have made over 650k euros investments in the ecosystem, because it’s the funnel that breeds local solutions over time.
