About GEN in Moldova

GEN launched Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) in Moldova in 2013. It had an immediate impact, growing over the years from simple networking meetups into a massive national campaign designed to map, celebrate, and accelerate the Moldovan startup ecosystem. The inaugural edition reached more than 1,000 participants with events organized by 25 partners. Early backing came from the European Business Association (EBA Moldova) and a coalition of local stakeholders. Olesea Fortuna, an entrepreneurship educator and academic, guided the campaign from the outset. She later became the founding chair of GEN’s local affiliate, GEN Moldova. Built around the mantra “start locally, build globally,” the campaign connected founders across the country, planting the seeds for more than a decade of grassroots ecosystem development.

In 2015, GEN established GEN Moldova to provide a year-round platform to strengthen the ecosystem and support entrepreneurs. The organization continued to coordinate GEW as the campaign steadily broadened its coalition. By 2016, GEW in Moldova drew on 30 partner organizations while reaching thousands of participants. Public officials took notice and began lending their names to the movement. Vladimir Hotineanu, then Moldova’s Minister of Health, was among the prominent national figures associated with that year’s edition. Year over year, the campaign shifted from standalone networking meetups toward a structured, thematic program addressing education, inclusion, and regional development.

GEN’s confidence in the Moldovan community showed early in its global programming. In 2016, GEN selected Chișinău as one of only five cities worldwide to pilot Startup Huddle, introducing its peer-driven meetup model in the program’s first year. That same year, GEN Moldova hosted a matchmaking event pairing established women entrepreneurs with young founders identified through the Technovation Challenge.

GEN Moldova is now led by Managing Director Marina Lita and works to map, unify, and scale the country’s startup community while drawing rural districts and local administrations into the effort. A concrete expression of that mandate is GEN Moldova’s role in the bilateral partnership between North Carolina and the Republic of Moldova. Working through the Open World Program—managed by the Congressional Office for International Leadership—GEN Moldova convened Thom Ruhe and Sarah Mixter of NC IDEA, alongside Lora Sinigur of the bilateral partnership. Together with the NC State Entrepreneurship Clinic, they linked startup communities across the two regions and advanced the LOCAL BOND project for rural enterprise.

In 2024, thousands of people participated in 10 flagship GEW events across the country focusing on technology, agriculture, and social entrepreneurship. GEN produced these in partnership with local public authorities and universities, including Moldova State University. The campaign recognized innovative ventures such as EduJoc, which conducts financial education and social entrepreneurship workshops for young people. GEN Moldova also entered into formal partnerships with local authorities in Ungheni, Strășeni, Ștefan Vodă, and Cimișlia. A continual thread running through this work has been women’s entrepreneurship. Supported by backers including the U.S. Embassy in Moldova and the Moldova–North Carolina partnership, GEN Moldova has run pre-acceleration bootcamps for women founders in information technology, video media, and tourism. Additionally, it convened approximately 230 stakeholders from across the country to build local and national ecosystem plans.

A consistent feature of GEN’s work in Moldova is engagement with public authorities at every level. During the 2022 GEW campaign, GEN Moldova ran the CODE NEXT project—mobilizing young people from eight regions to pursue high-impact entrepreneurship—with support from the Ministry of Education and Research. At the local level, GEN Moldova has built partnerships across the country’s regions, working with the mayors of Palanca, Cimișlia, Dubăsarii Vechi, and Soroca, as well as with district legislators from Ungheni. During GEW 2024, it entered into formal agreements with several local public authorities. GEN Moldova has also collaborated with the State Agency on Intellectual Property (AGEPI) to give founders access to training on trademarks and competitiveness.

GEN actively connects Moldovan founders to its global platforms. The Startup Huddle chapter model that debuted in Chișinău in 2016 brought founders together for regular, mentor-supported meetups. GEN’s Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC) connects the country’s leaders to its worldwide policy circles and communities. Furthermore, through the Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC)—the global pitch competition GEN launched in 2019 offering training, mentorship, and a share of $1 million in prizes—GEN extends an international proving ground to founders across its network, including those in Moldova.

GEN maintains a broad set of relationships across Moldova’s institutions. Its academic partners include the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova (ASEM), the Technical University of Moldova, and Moldova State University. Meanwhile, its programming has integrated the ZIPhouse Center of Excellence, the General Directorate of Youth of Chișinău, the Ungheni District Council, and the Ștefan Vodă City Hall. GEN Moldova’s international collaborators span Creative Estonia and, through GEN’s creative industries work, partners such as Erasmus in Belgium, Envolve in Canada, CBN in Denmark, and Entrepreneur Traction in South Africa. Beyond the capital, GEN Moldova helped the municipality of Cahul strengthen its cultural strategy and institutions.

GEN’s global leadership has engaged directly over the years and noticed a striking transformation. "I remember visiting former 'Eastern Bloc' countries and seeing young people wait passively for direction,” said Jonathan Ortmans, founder and president of GEN. “Today, Moldova is the opposite: a thriving ecosystem, driven by initiative, and fully embracing the AI era and the disruptive power of entrepreneurship."

GEN’s work in Moldova continues to widen outward. GEN Moldova has extended its creative industries work across borders through the Creative City Exchange, connecting cultural entrepreneurs in Moldova, Armenia, and Ukraine under the EU-funded EU4Culture initiative. It also continues to deepen the North Carolina–Moldova partnership as a channel for digital and agricultural entrepreneurship. Olesea Fortuna is currently mapping international links between the Moldovan and U.S. innovation systems as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the University of North Carolina. Through it all, GEN’s goal in Moldova remains to connect the country’s founders with the knowledge, networks, capital, and policy support they need to scale.

- - - - -

Misiune

GEN Moldova este o asociație care își propune să susțină dezvoltarea ecosistemului antreprenorial în Republica Moldova, prin dezvoltarea spiritului, culturii antreprenoriale, pentru a extinde bunăstarea națiunii prin interconectarea cu platformele globale de dezvoltare a antreprenoriatului

Viziune

Interconectarea ecosistemului antreprenorial din Republica Moldova cu cel global, prin diverse programe de dezvoltare a mediului de afaceri.

Publicul țintă

Proprietarii de afaceri, startup-erii, antreprenorii sociali, potențialii antreprenori, managerii de top, studenții de la facultăți de business, media, autoritățile locale și centrale, investitorii, instituțiile financiare, decidenții.

Scop

Dezvoltarea ecosistemului antreprenorial în Republica Moldova.

Obiective

• Susținerea antreprenorialului moldovenesc prin sporirea viziblității și recunoașterii acestuia la nivel global;
• Dezvoltarea antreprenorialului sustenabil, inovativ și creșterea acestuia la dimensiune globală;
• Incluziunea socială a inovatorilor și extinderea mediului creativ în modelarea afacerii, răspunzând la nevoile comunității;
• Comunicarea despre bunele practici din domeniul antreprenorial, aplicarea acestora și celebrarea creativității și inovației;
• Deschiderea dialogului public privat pentru:

1. dezvoltarea prosperității economice și mentalității antreprenoriale prin incluziune, diversitate si sustenabilitate
2. consolidarea încrederii în comunitatea antreprenorială prin acțiuni sistemice, sistematice și consecvente pentru formarea grupurilor de afaceri,
3. comunicarea eficientă cu autoritățile pentru ajustarea politicilor la necesitățile antreprenorilor și prin urmare prosperarea societății.

La fel ca și majoritatea, dacă nu toate, noile asocieri, precum Global Entrepreneurship Week – Săptămâna Globală a Antreprenoriatului, a început cu o idee: „Cum ar fi dacă ar exista o mișcare globală pentru a inspira oamenii de pretutindeni să îmbrățișeze spiritul antreprenorial?”.

Reprezentanți din 37 de țări au îmbrățișat ideea lansării GEW în 2007, propusă de Jonathan Ortmans, președinte GEW, Carl Schramm, ex-președinte și CEO al Fundației Kauffman și Gordon Brown, fost prim-ministru al Marii Britanii. Dintre aceste 37 de țări, s-au evidențiat primele 18 organizații-gazdă care au organizat GEW în țări precum:

Bolivia, Brazilia, China, Croația, Franța, Germania, Grecia, Italia, Macedonia, Nepal, Olanda, Peru, Polonia, Spania, Suedia, Uganda, Marea Britanie, Statele Unite ale Americii.

Până în noiembrie 2008, organizațiile din 77 de țări au semnat oficial acordul și trei milioane de oameni au participat la 25.022 evenimente și activități. În decurs de trei ani, numărul țărilor membre a ajuns la 104 state – sub îndrumarea și conducerea Institutului Public Forum din Washington (SUA) și Enterprise din Londra, Marea Britanie, cu sprijinul financiar al Departamentului Regatului Unit pentru afaceri, inovare și aptitudini.

În 2013 Moldova devine membră a acestei mișcări – Săptămâna Globală a Antreprenoriatului – numărul țărilor ajunge la 140 de state.

Ulterior, în 2014, se decide să se creeze Rețeaua Globală a Antreprenoriatului, care reflectă evenimentele de pe parcursul anului, realizate de țările membre în colaborare și separat pentru stimularea și motivarea ecosistemului antreprenorial. În 2019 deja s-au implicat 153 de țări în această mișcare, iar în 2016 au fost înregistrate 200 de state membre GEN Global.