Innovation Labs 2026: Demo Day
14th Edition on Innovation Labs
Innovation Labs 2026 marked a new chapter for one of Romania’s longest-running startup education programs. Now in its 14th edition, the program continued its mission of helping young founders turn technical ideas into validated products, supported by mentors, business partners, universities and the wider technology ecosystem.
This year, the program introduced a refreshed national format: one large-scale hackathon in Bucharest, bringing together 127 selected teams from more than 220 applications. From there, 41 teams entered the 10-week mentorship program, developing their ideas into MVPs with support from mentors, users, partners and industry specialists.
The program culminated on May 25, 2026, at the Romanian National Opera in Bucharest, where the Innovation Labs Demo Day brought together founders, mentors, investors, partners, media and the wider startup community. The day opened with the Startups’ Fair, where 27 teams presented their products directly to the ecosystem. Later, 17 finalists pitched on stage, competing for the four Innovation Labs awards: Grand Prize, Best Emerging Start-up, Best Product, and Public Vote.
This year, the program introduced a refreshed national format: one large-scale hackathon in Bucharest, bringing together 127 selected teams from more than 220 applications. From there, 41 teams entered the 10-week mentorship program, developing their ideas into MVPs with support from mentors, users, partners and industry specialists.
The program culminated on May 25, 2026, at the Romanian National Opera in Bucharest, where the Innovation Labs Demo Day brought together founders, mentors, investors, partners, media and the wider startup community. The day opened with the Startups’ Fair, where 27 teams presented their products directly to the ecosystem. Later, 17 finalists pitched on stage, competing for the four Innovation Labs awards: Grand Prize, Best Emerging Start-up, Best Product, and Public Vote.
for their AI-based industrial maintenance predictive system.
for their AI agents infrastructure dedicated to automating retailers' operations
for their AI cybersecurity platform, simulating real attacker
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for their gamified AI app aimed at enhancing couples’ communication.
Orange Fab and Innovation Labs
Several prominent Innovation Labs participants, including Arcanna.ai, Pentest-Tools.com, Fullscreen Digital, and Apsulate continued their path in the Orange Fab accelerator ecosystem. Their evolution and experience of many others illustrates that Innovation Labs is not just a competition, but a meaningful contributor to Romania’s startup ecossytem.
We are proud to support the program, congratulate this year’s winners, and express our admiration for the amazing Innovation Labs team, who went above and beyond to #makeitreal.
We are proud to support the program, congratulate this year’s winners, and express our admiration for the amazing Innovation Labs team, who went above and beyond to #makeitreal.
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