Fab Lab invests in joint venture with BCR and Modex into opening a new tech hub at Iasi

Fab Lab Iași announced it started the workings at its second coworking location in Iași in partnership with BCR and Modex. The space has an area of ​​250 square meters and it is located on the 7th floor in the building of the Romanian Commercial Bank in the Podu Roș area, Iași.

“Three years ago, the works started at the first space in Iasi affiliated to the international #FabLab coworking and makerspace network in partnership with the “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iași. During this time, our team managed to coagulate the technological and creative communities in the region. Through this second location we continue with confidence together with the partners from BCR and Modex the positioning #FabLabIasi as an active hub in the region,” says Dan Zaharia, manager of Fab Lab Iași.

“The BCR-InnovX accelerator has helped us become more agile, learn how to digitize certain processes faster and be open to partnerships with start-ups. We strongly believe that in such times of economic crisis we need to step up partnerships to stimulate innovation in technology entrepreneurs. We joined forces with Modex, alumni from the first group of the accelerator, and the Fab Lab Iasi team, which hosts the BCR-InnovX incubation program, in a project dedicated to the IT community in Iași, in which we see a lot of growth potential in the coming years. “, Said Ionuț Stanimir, BCR marketing director and co-founder of BCR-InnovX.

“Modex is a global company founded by Romanians. For a technology company like ours, we consider it a real social responsibility to offer something back to the community that formed us, which is why we continue to invest in education for young people and students but also in the development of the entrepreneurial environment. We enjoyed the invitation of our partners from Fab Lab and BCR to participate in the construction of the new technology hub in Iasi. Despite the global crisis we are in, Modex wants to send a message of solidarity, hope and trust in humanity, and the opening of this coworking space in times of social distancing is, in addition, an educational commitment that we face. by the entrepreneurial and technology community in Iași. At the same time, the Fab Lab BCR powered by Modex becomes a first step towards the regional expansion of the Modex company,” says Alin Iftemi, Head of Business & Co-founder Modex.

“As in the previously opened location, the FabLab project recovers and revitalizes the memory of the place it occupies, in a paradigm in which the past and the future are lived synergistically. The space is saved and refreshed with simple and precise interventions that respect the history of the place,” says Alexandra Berdan, architect A + Noima.

The phenomenon of #coworking is a socio-professional link that prevents the isolation of those who work from home and leads to an increase in the quality of work done. Moreover, having entrepreneurs and freelancers in the same common space, leads to the stimulation of the feeling of entrepreneurship through various sessions, events and workshops with different topics that aim to increase the flow of information for those who want to develop and to implement an idea.

The new Fab Lab space in Iasi will open in June 2020, offering flexible use scenarios (coworking areas, lecture and conference rooms, dedicated offices), functioning as an independent platform to catalyze innovation and collaboration for the business community in Iasi.

BCR supports the BCR-InnovX accelerator, a program dedicated to technology companies developed in partnership with UiPath, Microsoft, Modex, EdX, Startup Grind, Mindspace, European Center for Services Investments and Financing (ECSIF) and MIT Enterprise Forum. This year, the accelerator initiated an incubation program for start-ups in Iași together with Fab Lab Iași and the Informal IT School.

Modex is a developer of Blockchain Database (BCDB) software solutions. Created by Romanian programmers, Modex BCDB offers a new technological perspective on how companies or institutions manage their own databases, bringing a new level of cyber security and a series of benefits specific to blockchain technology such as decentralization, transparency, immutability and integrity. Recently, Modex BCDB received the “Seal of Excellence” certification from the European Commission under Horizon 2020, a program that offers funding opportunities for research and innovation.