Nine years later, at the Startup Moldova Summit 2026, Viorica Cerbusca spoke in an interview with start-up.ro about the generation that wants to create Moldova’s first “unicorn.” (“Unicorns”—in the startup world, this term refers to high-tech companies that have achieved a valuation of $1 billion within 3–5 years of founding, with the founders retaining a controlling stake—ed. Logos Press).
As the founder and CEO of the YEP Moldova accelerator, she noted that the real focus is not only on mature startups but also on teenagers who have been learning entrepreneurship since age 12 and are growing up in an ecosystem that is increasingly believing in its own potential.
“We start with teenagers. We have programs for children as young as 12, through which we teach them what entrepreneurship is, what a startup is, how to generate ideas, how to identify a problem that might or might not be profitable, who a customer is, and so on. We believe that this is the only way we can raise a generation of people who think like entrepreneurs and can change the world with their ideas,” Viorica explained.
“We start with teenagers”
YEP Moldova was founded in 2017 as a startup accelerator with the goal of helping local companies grow and enter foreign markets.
“YEP was one of the first startup accelerators in Moldova and an organization created specifically to develop startups. In 2017, no one supported us.”
The organization has expanded its activities beyond acceleration and investment and has begun creating programs dedicated to teenagers, female founders, and early-stage startups.
Viorica Cerbusca says that one of the most important projects developed by YEP is the Start-Up One on One program, in which teenagers aged 12 and older are introduced to the world of entrepreneurship and learn to identify real problems, test ideas, and create products based on market needs.
“The program has been running for six years, and over 1,000 teenagers participate in it every year. What makes us happiest is that they grow, return from one program to another, and eventually join our accelerators or those of our ecosystem partners,” said Viorica.
For YEP, the idea of investing in students and teenagers is a long-term strategy for developing the local startup ecosystem.
Viorica noted that young people are more inclined to experiment, take risks, and create products that have a social or societal impact.
“We are confident that by investing in these students, we will see results very quickly because they are extremely curious and possess an energy that we may have lost somewhere along the way. Many of them want to become Moldova’s first ‘unicorn,’ and the competition among them is fierce. At the same time, they are putting forward ideas that aim to solve problems in their communities, democracy, or society as a whole, and I find that extremely valuable,” explained the founder of YEP.
Women and Startups
In addition to programs for teenagers, YEP Moldova is also developing the Elevator Startup Women Accelerator, designed for female entrepreneurs from the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.
The program aims to help female founders better understand how to test the viability of their products, how to find paying customers, and how to scale into foreign markets.
In Viorica’s experience, many startups founded by women are focused on achieving meaningful results and solving real-world problems, but the investment market still doesn’t always understand these products.
“Women very often create products that have a significant impact, and we probably have fewer investors who understand this type of startup. But, ultimately, the rules are the same for everyone: you need to understand the market, the customer, and create a truly good product. When you know how to create value and present your project well, it shouldn’t matter whether you’re a woman or a man, or what you look like.”
At the same time, one of the biggest challenges Viorica sees for female founders of early-stage startups is a lack of confidence, which is why YEP strives to build communities where women entrepreneurs can collaborate and support one another.
“We see that women sometimes lack confidence, so we try to create communities where they can support one another and form partnerships. But there comes a point when separate programs are no longer viable, and women entrepreneurs have to compete directly with men, because that’s where growth comes from. Startups founded by women are making an impact, and competition from men forces everyone to learn from one another.”
Artificial intelligence is changing accelerators
In recent years, YEP Moldova has also begun working with startups at a more mature stage of development. One of the organization’s newest programs is a post-acceleration program designed for companies that want to integrate artificial intelligence tools into their products and grow faster using AI.
The program is still in the experimental stage, and even the accelerator team is learning alongside the participating startups.
“This is the first time we’ve run a program like this and are learning alongside the startups. I find this incredibly interesting because it forces us to be more innovative and constantly refine our approaches. We’re already seeing that AI is changing the way startups grow and build products, and I believe accelerators need to evolve just as quickly,” explained Viorica.
