The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), through its Strategic Regional Innovation (SRI) Cluster, took part in the Moldova Start-up Summit 2025, held on 15-16 April in Chișinău. The summit brought together more than 1100 participants, including start-up founders, venture capital representatives, ecosystem builders, national and EU authorities, and innovation actors from Eastern Partnership countries such as Ukraine, Georgia, and Armenia and other countries of the EU. The event featured over 60 speakers from both the public and private sectors, offering diverse perspectives and insights across key topics. It was hosted across two main stages and included the national finals of the Startup World Cup Moldova, where six outstanding start-ups competed. One winner was selected to represent Moldova at the Startup World Cup Grand Finale in San Francisco.
This event served as a strategic opportunity for the EIT Community to reinforce its presence in the region, introduce its support instruments to Moldovan stakeholders, and establish connections for future collaboration. The EIT Community’s engagement began with a side event on 15 April, co-organised with Expertise France under the EU4Innovation initiative. Titled “Unlocking Moldova’s Potential: Growing with EU- Funded Opportunities”, the event attracted a total of 67 participants. Among the attendees were 19 representatives from accelerators, innovation hubs, and other key stakeholders in the tech ecosystem. The event was also attended by 11 local and international officials, including representatives from donor organisations and government agencies. There were 8 invited speakers contributing to the discussions, along with 7 staff members involved in organising and delivering the event. The remaining 22 participants represented the general audience, including start-up founders, students, and members of various ecosystem organisations.
The EIT was represented by Milda Krauzlis (EIT Food), Diana Berezhna (EIT Health InnoStars), Krisztián Gál and Adina Rus (EIT Digital). During the one-hour session allocated to the EIT Community, the speakers introduced the EIT as Europe’s largest innovation network and presented concrete opportunities for Moldovan stakeholders, including acceleration programmes, summer schools, training offers, and sector-specific support schemes.
The session contributed significantly to informing the local ecosystem about the potential benefits of engagement with the EIT Community. On 16 April, the main Moldova Start-up Summit took place, gathering a wide range of innovation actors and high-level stakeholders.
The EIT Community was present throughout the day and took part in key sessions. Milda Krauzlis (EIT Food) contributed to the high-level panel discussion titled “European Opportunities for the Start-up Ecosystem in Moldova”, alongside representatives from EU4Innovation and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Diana Berezhna (EIT Health InnoStars) participated in a panel focused on health innovation strategies, titled “Vertical vs Horizontal Approach in HealthTech”, where she shared insights into trends in European healthcare innovation and explained how Moldovan start-ups could access EIT Health’s support services.
Krisztián Gál (EIT Digital) moderated the panel “Next-Gen Learning: How Technology is Redefining Education”, which featured Moldovan and Georgian EdTech entrepreneurs and a representative from the Moldovan Ministry of Education.
Beyond the event sessions, the EIT Community also benefited from increased visibility through prominent branding opportunities. The Summit also facilitated networking with national and EU leaders.
Main takeaways
The Moldovan innovation ecosystem was described during the summit as vibrant but still in a formative stage. As of 2024, the country hosts over 250 start-ups, having raised approximately USD 7.2 million collectively, with an average investment of USD 260,000 per start-up.
However, recent developments, such as the termination of USAID funding in 2025, have put many ecosystem-building organisations in a vulnerable position. This shift has heightened the importance of European support, including the EUR 1.6 billion EU aid package and initiatives like EIT and EU4Innovation.
Moldova’s compact size was repeatedly highlighted as an advantage, offering strong potential as a testbed for innovative solutions, particularly in areas such as AgriTech.
Despite these promising developments, several structural challenges persist. Notably, there remains a wide gap between the research and education sectors and industry. While plans to develop science and technology parks are under discussion, these remain at an early stage and will require coordinated support from local governments and international partners.
Digital transformation in public services, including healthcare and education, is also an area in need of strategic guidance, with the government demonstrating openness to reform but lacking a clear roadmap.
Overall, the EIT’s involvement in the Moldova Start-up Summit 2025 marked a successful step in advancing the Widening agenda and strengthening its presence in Eastern Europe. It showcased the relevance of EIT’s programmes for emerging ecosystems and reinforced the EIT’s commitment to inclusive innovation across Europe.
Taking into consideration the current status of the startup ecosystem development and building on the outcomes of networking during the Startup Moldova Summit, EIT Communities plan to proceed with the follow up activities and launching open procurement for local partners to run GoToBusiness workshops for startup founders or entrepreneurial talents to prepare them to successfully apply to and benefit from the upcoming EIT and EU funded entrepreneurial support programmes. The tailormade workshops are planned to be organized together with local institutional partners in 2025 Q2-3 and to increase the number of Moldovan start-ups and applicants in EIT KICs programmes.