A new report on the ecosystem of green startups in Romania highlights the fact that 83% of them develop their own products or technologies, especially in areas such as AgriFood tech, circular solutions & waste management, clean energy & energy efficiency solutions, sustainable mobility, green buildings & smart cities, water & biodiversity. Of these, 55% have already launched their product on the market.

“Sometimes, they start from a garage in Cluj or an attic in Bucharest. Green startups in Romania are no longer just stories of sustainable idealism. They become relevant players, with scalable technologies, validated markets and measurable impact,” says Oana Craioveanu, CEO & Co-founder of Impact Hub Bucharest & Startarium, according to Transilvania Business.

In 2024, there were over 2,300 startups in Romania, with a total estimated value of approximately 19 billion euros, placing our country in 5th place in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region. Even though the number of startups is growing, we do not know exactly how many of them are green, because they are not classified uniformly and operate in various niches.

In this regard, Impact Hub Bucharest and Startarium, together with the main partner Rompetrol and with the support of Climate-KIC, launched the fourth edition of the report on green startups in Romania – “Romanian Green Startups Overview Report 2024”. The report provides an overview of the current state of the ecosystem, the legislation supporting green entrepreneurs, case studies, as well as essential figures – all integrated into the European context.

Thus, the report prepared by Startarium and Impact Hub Bucharest shows that the Romanian green startup ecosystem is gaining momentum, driven by a skilled workforce, reforms aligned with EU policies and the climate emergency. Romania ranks 25th in Europe in the ranking of the most popular countries to launch a startup – but the green ecosystem is still emerging.

In 2024, important progress was recorded in areas such as the circular economy, renewable energy and biodiversity, although gaps in innovation and financing persist.

Romanian startups use technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain to build sustainable solutions, but scaling them remains a challenge, amid limited local investment and legislative complexity.

The results of the report provide a clear picture of the location of these companies, the sectors in which they operate and the evolution of their business indicators:

• Distribution of green startups across Romanian counties: the main center of activity is Bucharest (with 39 startups), and other notable concentrations are found in Cluj, Timiș and Ilfov – each with at least 5 green startups – followed by Brașov, Sibiu and Iași counties.
• The vast majority of companies in the dataset (90 out of 104) are micro-enterprises, with an annual turnover of less than 2 million RON in 2023 (the last year reported). A significant number of companies – over 50 – reported very low profitability margins (below 10%), a few even recorded negative margins, and in isolated cases the percentages even exceed 300-400% (probably companies in sectors with high profit margins – software or digital platforms). This uneven profitability landscape reflects early difficulties in monetization or operational efficiency, the fact that the size of capital depends on the activity sector and an inconsistent correlation between green objectives and immediate financial viability.
• Ranking of the top 10 NACE sectors, according to the average annual growth rate of green startups (in the last 3 available years): custom software development (with a spectacular growth of 1,058.2%, probably driven by digital solutions focused on energy efficiency, monitoring or sustainable use of resources).

The main areas of activity are: AgriFood tech (34% of the analyzed startups), circular solutions and waste management (17%), clean energy and energy efficiency solutions (12%), sustainable mobility (10%), green buildings and smart cities (9%), water and biodiversity (6%).

It should also be noted that the report revealed that 83% of startups develop their own products or technologies (of which 55% already have the product on the market).

“Completed in the context of accelerating green policies at European level and against the backdrop of an expanding climate crisis, this report functions as a radar for decision-makers, investors and entrepreneurs looking for impactful innovation. In a year of record temperatures and extreme weather phenomena, solutions do not only come from research laboratories or government offices. Sometimes, they start from a garage in Cluj or an attic in Bucharest. Green startups in Romania are no longer just stories of sustainable idealism. They are becoming relevant players, with scalable technologies, validated markets and measurable impact. What is missing? Systemic support, capital and confidence that Romanian innovation can compete globally. Despite the large number of tech startups in Romania, green ones still represent a marginal segment. By comparison, Poland has 3 times more startups in renewable energy, and Hungary surpasses Romania in terms of investment volumes in CleanTech,” said Oana Craioveanu, CEO & Co-founder of Impact Hub Bucharest & Startarium.

For the development of this study, a list of active green startups (122 in number) was compiled, and public financial data, main CAEN codes, geographical information and local specificities were analyzed for 104 of them. Insights from a survey (quantitative and qualitative) completed by 16 entrepreneurs in the field, as well as a series of in-depth interviews with Romanian green startup founders and experts in this sector, were also integrated into the analysis.