Daniel Trokhin
“Recently, the ecosystem of technology startups in the Republic of Moldova has started to gain momentum and grow. If you look back 4 years ago, we had only one conference a year – Startup Moldova Summit – and that was it. Now we have five to ten conferences dedicated to different areas or specific audiences. There is already growth in this direction,” said Daniel Trohin, co-founder and CEO of the startup Renter (electric bike rental in Moldova and Romania) in an interview with the Romanian publication start-up.ro.
He believes that the ecosystem needs more ideas, more founders and more support.
“Acceleration programs and funding, a kind of gas pedals, are needed for these ideas to develop. Skilled professionals are also needed – public universities and the education system in general also play an important role here. There are many components, and we see movement from all sides.”
Daniel noted that one of the differences between Moldova and Romania is the lack of university-related accelerator programs.
He also cited the absence of risk capital in Moldova.
“To bring Moldova on the world stage with startups, you need a lot of venture capital,” Daniel said.
Currently, Moldova does not yet have a developed venture capital ecosystem, although there are initiatives to create the first local fund focused on startups.
“We don’t have a venture capital fund in Moldova yet, but I know that the creation of the first fund that can invest in startups in Moldova is in process. It is a very small amount and the government could help with larger investments so that more ideas can be scaled.”
