Green Ecosystem Overview Report
Discover the first mapping of the Green Ecosystem in the Black Sea area.
The Green Ecosystem Overview Report was developed as part of the Black Sea ClimAccelerator, organized by Impact Hub Bucharest & The Climate Vertical from Romania, and Innovation Starter from Bulgaria, with the support of EIT Climate-KIC.
To find solutions to existing climate issues, there is a strong need of bringing together resources from public authorities, companies, corporations, NGOs, researchers, civic groups and entrepreneurs.
This report is a useful tool for entrepreneurs and innovators interested in the green sector and offers a large image of the regional green ecosystem, trends and challenges, strong points and needs. It contains a diverse list of resources, opportunities, and initiatives, together with the points of view from investors, entrepreneurs, people from academia, public authorities and activists. The report includes as well the main climate opportunities and politics of the EU.
All these perspectives offer a valuable overview of the green ecosystems of Romania and Bulgaria, and highlight the main areas that need urgent action from anyone who wants to get involved.
Highlights
- The report includes 72 green startups from Romania and 31 from Bulgaria, along with the key actors actively involved in supporting these initiatives – 89 in Romania and 30 in Bulgaria.
- In Romania, the green startups activate in different sectors, such as smart technologies, sustainability, agriculture, agritech, food and nutrition, renewable economy and energy, zero waste, recyclable consumption, education, learning, and development.
- In Bulgaria, the main sectors with green startups are circular economy, durability, IoT, clean production (process, packaging, products), waste management, clean energy / clean industry / cleantech / efficient energy, agriculture, urban mobility, biotechnology and agroinnovation.
- There is a strong need for a stronger entrepreneurial approach of ecologic initiatives: sustainability is not just about the environment but also about businesses. For green startups to thrive, they need to work both on their mission and their scalability. This will increase their impact and make them more investable and stable.
- The report has highlighted a series of similarities between regional ecosystems from Romania and Bulgaria – it’s clear that eco-initiatives have gained ground in the last years but they still need increased support from various organizations. Both countries are similar in terms of values, development processes and challenges. This is why cooperation between them is essential for building stronger regulations and peer learning.
Adina Crețu
Director Programs & Entrepreneurial Growth la Impact Hub Bucharest
The Impact Hub Network tagline, of which we in Bucharest are a part of, is building communities for impact. This has guided us in our path to contribute to thriving communities and bring together allies – however unlikely – who share the same purpose: positive change.
For years now, we have built programs and networks to support start-ups innovating the most challenging industries of our time. And sustainability and climate focused initiatives are the most challenging – and most urgent – of them all. This is hardly a mission for one: in finding solutions for climate change there is a strong need to bring together resources from public authorities, private companies and corporations, NGOs, scientists and researchers, civic groups and entrepreneurs.
This is one of the reasons we chose to be a part of the consortium representing EIT Climate-KIC and work together with like minded organisations to better support and consolidate the green ecosystem.
Vlad Gliga
Co-founder The Climate Vertical & CEO Rubik Hub
The Climate Vertical (TCV) is an ambitious private initiative that came from the need and desire to reconnect humans with nature. That is why TCV’s vision is to live in a world where humans live in harmony with nature, united as one. Through a series of specially designed programs, our mission is to create the movement to inspire more respect for nature, educate on living sustainability, and accelerate high-impact climate solutions.
The reason we are doing this activity of mapping & report is to better understand the global & regional climate context. We need all the input so we can plan and design the accelerator programs for eco-innovative start-ups.
The report is a step towards a community around the climate with the scope of bringing people together to solve the existing and future challenges. We want to bring together impact with profit into sustainable start-ups. Also, due to the emergency that all experts are stating we did an analysis of actions and start-up initiatives started at global & European stage that can be implemented in our country.
Leona Aslanova
CEO Innovation Starter
Innovation Starter is the first specialized innovation agency in Bulgaria, founded by Leona Aslanova in 2014. It collaborates with the business (corporates and startups), the public sector, the academic sector and the non-government sector to design a long-term culture of innovation. The company’s mission is for Bulgaria to become a leading European country in the field of innovation.
Our mission is to make Bulgaria a top leading country in terms of innovation.
Our vision is to focus on high-priority key sectors from local economies with a strong disruptive and scalable innovation potential and to focus on green solutions.
This is the main reason why we joined the BlackSea ClimAccelerator consortium and we contributed to this report from both Bulgaria and Romania.
