orange Fab was announced today for the first time by the mobile operator Orange, being dedicated to the support and development of innovation in our country. More precisely, Orange Fab is a startup accelerator through which Orange Romania wants to support the good ideas of entrepreneurs, of any age, through dedicated technological solutions, but also strategic investments.
Orange Fab starts with an initial investment of 200.000 euros in the location where the startups will be able to carry out their activities, the operator stating that this only aims to set up the location and purchase technology for it. It is not known how much money the operator intends to invest through Orange Fab in startups, but also how much it will accept in the acceleration program.
Orange Fab is an older program of the Orange group, which has now arrived in Romania as well, being successful in the more than 10 countries where it has been developed for some time. Orange has been supporting innovation for several years through Innovation Labs and individual investments in companies, but Orange Fab will help it better focus on helping startups in their entire development.
Orange Fab – accelerator for startups
Starting today, Orange Fab accepts startup registrations in this page from the website of the mobile phone operator, all those interested in developing their ideas can register there. The startups accepted in the Orange Fab program will have access to the last generation technologies of the operator, but also of its partners, plus mentoring from Orange members and partners.
Orange Fab startups will be able to participate in pilot projects that could be included in existing products in the operator's offer, but they will also have access to its global distribution network. This last facility of Orange Fab will help in the international validation of the developed products, potentially attracting serious investments from Orange.
"This startup program aims to discover Romanian startups with mature products that help improve lifestyles and set trends. Teams will receive access to technologies and APIs for project development, support for prototype testing, and access to the Orange distribution network for business growth. The selection process and the acceleration stage will be carried out in partnership with Tech Hub, a team with experience in the startup ecosystem."
What the operator did not want to reveal about Orange Fab is how it will make the investments and what it will ask the startups to give up in order to be part of the program. It is not known what percentage of participation in the startup the operator will ask to include the project in Orange Fab, nor how much the investments could be limited to, but we probably won't find out too soon.
Orange Fab already has a member, a company called Symme 3D that has developed a 3D printer with applicability in the medical field. Orange Fab is an extremely interesting initiative by Orange and the operator deserves unreserved praise for it.
