Iceberg+ as EIT Urban Mobility Representatives in Romania
What is EIT Urban Mobility?
Founded in 2019 as an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union, EIT Urban Mobility is committed to accelerating the transition to sustainable mobility.
It accelerates the sustainable urban mobility transition by providing established businesses, startups, universities, research institutes and the public sector with access to markets, talent, funding and knowledge. We empower our partners to develop and deploy new solutions that address the mobility challenges European cities face.
EIT Urban Mobility works in partnership with over 250 organisations and collaborate with a wider network of more than 1,100 organisations across 35 countries. Our work supports our vision for sustainable and decarbonised urban mobility and more liveable urban spaces for all.
Regional Impact
The project targets three transition regions: Western Macedonia (Greece), Centru (Romania), and Southeastern Bulgaria. These areas face the dual challenge of economic restructuring and fossil fuel phase-out.
COALition strengthens local ecosystems, builds capacity, and helps secure funding, laying the foundation for sustainable growth and job creation in emerging sectors like renewables, hydrogen, and energy efficiency.
Market Context
Coal regions across Europe are under pressure to phase out fossil fuels while preserving economic stability.
Despite their challenges, they also present major opportunities — with estimates of up to 314,000 jobs created through clean energy investments by 2030.
EU policies like the Green Deal, Just Transition Fund, and Hydrogen Strategy support this shift, yet local coordination, strategic planning, and skills development remain key barriers.
Beneficiary
Primary beneficiaries include workers in coal-related industries, regional and local authorities, innovation ecosystem stakeholders, academic institutions, and SMEs in the energy and tech sectors.
Broader beneficiaries include residents of transition regions, future investors, and the extended EU innovation community focused on clean energy and climate neutrality.
Stakeholder Network
COALition is implemented by a diverse consortium of partners from Greece, Romania, and Bulgaria, including public institutions, universities, regional agencies, private companies, and NGOs.
Key members include CERTH (leader), Iceberg Plus, UMFST Târgu Mureș, Sofia University, Mureș County Council, Stara Zagora REDA, and many more.
Through the RIS Urban Mobility Specialists (RISUMS-RO), we are representing EIT Urban Mobility in Romania, actively implementing concrete solutions that drive innovation, foster collaboration, and create tangible impacts in the urban mobility sector.
Through the RIS Urban Mobility Specialists (RISUMS-RO), we are representing EIT Urban Mobility in Romania, actively implementing concrete solutions that drive innovation, foster collaboration, and create tangible impacts in the urban mobility sector.
Iceberg+ and Activize, building on their successful collaboration on the EIT Urban Mobility RIS Hub Romania, continue to strengthen the extended knowledge triangle with RISUMS-RO, by fostering collaboration between education, research, industry, and cities.
Through hackathons, workshops, and mentoring sessions, the partners create platforms for urban mobility innovation. These initiatives attract students, researchers, startups, and public authorities, facilitating the scouting and development of talent.
By guiding emerging innovators toward EIT Urban Mobility’s programmes, Iceberg+ and Activize ensure a steady pipeline of local solutions that align with broader European mobility objectives. Their ongoing efforts help connect the Romanian urban mobility ecosystem to the wider EU framework, promoting sustainable development and impactful collaborations.
This project builds on the solid foundation we have developed as a RIS Hub in Romania over the past years. With deep experience in driving innovation and fostering collaborations in urban mobility, we are now ready to take the next step. These objectives are designed to continue growing the urban mobility ecosystem and ensure that Romania remains an active and engaged participant in EIT Urban Mobility’s programmes.
Our approach is based on four key action pillars:
Local Community Building
Strenghtening the urban mobility community by:
- Engaging with local stakeholders, including government, municipalities, universities, NGOs, startups and SMEs to enhance their participation in EIT Urban Mobility programmes.
- Organizing ecosystem-building events such as stakeholder events, bringing together key actors from the innovation community.
- Facilitating strategic partnerships by establishing relationships with key players such as municipalities, funding agencies, and mobility leaders.
- Building European collaborations: Establishing partnerships for joint EU projects, increasing Romanian involvement in EIT Urban Mobility’s European initiatives.
Impact Ventures Support - Empowering new entrepreneurs & startups
- Startup creation & acceleration: Providing a year-round pre-acceleration programme for both idea-stage teams and established urban mobility startups, offering tailored mentorship, access to EIT Urban Mobility’s European acceleration programmes and funding, and networking opportunities.
- Hackathons for startup creation: Hosting a mobility hackathons to help individuals transition ideas into startups.
- Startup investment & Access to funding: Connecting urban mobility startups with funding opportunities from EIT Urban Mobility (e.g., Jumpstarter, Market Readiness Accelerator, Scale-Up Programme).
- Market entry support for EU startups: Assisting EIT Urban Mobility portfolio startups in entering the Romanian market by facilitating pilot projects, investment term sheets, and corporate partnerships.
Innovation Support
- Access to funding on innovation: Supporting Romanian entities in applying for EIT Urban Mobility annual innovation calls.
- Innovation matchmaking & consortium building: Organizing targeted matchmaking sessions, workshops, and 1:1 meetings to connect SMEs, NGOs, universities, researchers, and cities with international partners.
- Enhancing Romania’s role in urban mobility innovation: Encouraging pilot projects and collaborative EU-funded initiatives by strategically engaging with innovation hubs and municipalities.
Education Support
- Supporting urban mobility education initiatives: Facilitating Romanian educational initiatives to apply for the EIT Urban Mobility Education Calls, ensuring compliance with funding requirements.
- Strategic partnerships with universities: Collaborating with universities and research institutions to integrate urban mobility education into academic curricula.
- Knowledge-sharing & awareness-building: Organizing information sessions, workshops, and mentorship programmes to increase engagement with EIT Urban Mobility Academy programmes.
Regional Impact
The RIS Urban Mobility Specialists (RISUMS-RO) project strengthens Romania’s urban mobility ecosystem by integrating local stakeholders into EIT Urban Mobility’s European community, facilitating education, startup creation and development, access to funding and investment, and pilot projects in collaboration with municipalities and research institutions.
The initiative enhances access to EU funding, strengthens local innovation capacity, and supports smart city policies, contributing to Romania’s positioning as strategic player in regional and European sustainable urban mobility development.
Market Context
Romania’s urban mobility sector is undergoing rapid transformation, driven by increasing urbanization, EU sustainability targets, and the need for smart transport solutions. Major Romanian cities face congestion, pollution, and inefficient public transport, creating demand for innovative mobility solutions.
The Romanian market presents significant growth opportunities due to rising public and private investments, smart city initiatives, and EU-backed funding such as EIT Urban Mobility, Horizon Europe, and national mobility programs.
However, challenges persist, including fragmented regulations, limited collaboration between stakeholders, and slow adoption of new mobility technologies.
RIS Urban Mobility Specialists (RISUMS-RO) addresses these gaps by connecting local startups, municipalities, universities and industry players with European innovation networks, facilitating access to knowledge, access to funding, technology, and experiments/validation support.
Beneficiaries
RIS Urban Mobility Specialists (RISUMS-RO) benefits a wide range of stakeholders by connecting them to funding, innovation programmes, and to the EIT Urban Mobility European network of 1,100+ organizations.
Types of beneficiaries:
- Startups & SMEs – Gain access to EU funding, mentorship, acceleration and investmenet programmes, enabling them to develop and scale innovative urban mobility solutions.
- Municipalities & public authorities – Receive support for pilot projects testing, EU funding applications, and policy advisory, helping them implement smart, sustainable mobility solutions.
- Universities & research institutions – Engage in collaborative projects, talent development programmes, and EU funding, fostering cutting-edge urban mobility research.
- Investors & corporate partners – Connect with high-potential mobility startups and co-investment opportunities, strengthening the local mobility ecosystem.
- Citizens & urban communities – Benefit from improved mobility solutions, contributing to enhancing overall quality of life in Romanian cities.
Stakeholder Network
EIT Urban Mobility is Europe's largest innovation community for urban mobility, comprising over 250 partner organisations - including cities, companies, research institutions, and universities - and collaborating with a wider network of more than 1,100 organisations across 35 countries.
This extensive stakeholder network facilitates the development and deployment of innovative solutions to address urban mobility challenges, aiming to improve the quality of life in cities, mitigate climate change, and create jobs.
Results
(2021 - 2024)
- 40+ events and workshops, attracting 1400+ participants (approx. 10 events per year)
- 5 trainings on entrepreneurship, innovation, urban mobility and living labs, with 65 trainees completing the trainings (approx. 1 training per year)
- 100+ key stakeholders mapped and engaged in our activities
- 30+ mentors and experts engaged
- 2 new urban mobility startups created
- 38+ startups supported, through the national “Startup Support Programme” as a pre-acceleration programme
- 2+ living lab projects supported
- 3 Startup Competitions, with 21 startups pitching their ideas and receiving support
- 2+ hackathons, attracting 150+ participants
Major milestones
- 1 MoU signed between RDA Centru and EIT UM IH East in Bucharest, on 10 October 2023
- 1 MoU signed between ADR Vest and EIT UM IH East in 2024, resulted in: €400,000 attracted from ADR Vest: RIS Hub Romania established strategic synergies with regional development agencies, successfully facilitating the collaboration between EIT Urban Mobility and ADR Vest. Both parties committed €400,000 each to launch a joint funding programme aimed at supporting urban mobility startups. The first phase of the programme is planned to be co-funded and managed by EIT Urban Mobility, with a follow-up phase in 2026 to be managed by ADR Vest.
Entities / projects selected to the EIT UM programmes:
- 1 startup selected for the Cohort #7 of EIT UM Investment Readiness Accelerator in 2023: Cautcourier.ro
- 1 project selected for funding under the EIT UM Main Innovation call in 2023 – Lead partner: VEFRESH (Latvia), Romanian partner: Iceberg+ (Romania), involving the Metropolitan Agency and the Municipality of Brasov
- 1 project selected for funding under the EIT UM Main Innovation call in 2024: E-mobility-rentals as commercial partner / solution owner.
- 1 startup selected for the EIT UM City RAPTOR in 2024 (Brasov challenge): rastel.io.
- 2 Romanian cities launched challenge proposals on the EIT UM City RAPTOR 2024: Municipality of Brasov and Municipality of Bacau.
- 2 startups selected for the IC on the EIT UM Startup Investment Open Call 2024: COLIBRI TECH SRL and RENTER EBIKE PRIM S.R.L. (Renter).
- 1 startup selected EIT UM Scale Up Program 2024: Dotlumen S.R.L (.lumen).
Applications to the EIT UM programmes and calls for proposals:
- 2 startups applied to the EIT UM Impact Ventures Investment programmes (2022)
- 2 projects submitted to the EIT UM Main Innovation call (2022 and 2024)
- 3 applications to the CITY RAPTOR Challenges (2024)
- 1 startup applied to the SME Market Expansion Open Call (2024)
- 1 startup applied to the EIT UM Investment Readiness Programme (2024)
- 1 startup applied to the EIT UM Startup Investment Open Call (2024)
* This project was co-funded by EIT Urban Mobility, an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union.
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