Over 34 000 people from southern Moldova develop their businesses and digital skills through the EU4Moldova project: Startup City Cahul

From 2020 until today, over 34,000 pupils, students, teachers, entrepreneurs, experts, and IT company representatives from Cahul and the southern region of Moldova have benefited from training, funding and development support from the European Union. Many of the young people who took digitization courses later launched their online businesses. 55% of the project’s beneficiaries are women.

Although there is one year left until the completion of the project, the results of the more than 3 years of implementation are visible even now. From 2020 until today, the EU4Moldova: Startup City Cahul project has achieved the following:

• 15 digital laboratories opened
• 28,000 children who are studying or have studied at least one STEM subject
• 1235 teachers trained in at least one IT subject
• Over 70 women who studied an ICT discipline were guided to register on a freelance platform
• Over 60 entrepreneurial events organized
• Over 2000 beneficiaries of entrepreneurial and community events
• 36 accelerated startups, of which 6 are financially supported
• 400,000 EUR of financial support for SMEs, startups, NGOs and public institutions in the integration of digital solutions
• 38 SMEs benefiting from digital training courses

Among the most recent success stories are the achievements of three entrepreneurs from Cahul, beneficiaries of the project: Iulia Zgherea, Stepan Untilov and Denis Lorchin.

Iulia Zgherea created a fitness platform for new mothers, after completing an EU4Moldova course: Startup City Cahul. Initially, Iulia participated in the Web Design course within ICT4Women, and later she also enrolled in the “Creating a web page” course. Thanks to the knowledge acquired during them, the young woman managed to create the FitMama platform, intended for women who want to keep in good physical shape.

Stepan Untilov digitized his business thanks to the small grant program of the Startup City Cahul Project. The young man created an online store of custom-made furniture for customers outside the country. Stepan decided to launch an online business after participating in the Digital Upgrade program organized by EU4Moldova: Startup City Cahul in the winter of 2023. Following the training, Stepan benefited from 20 thousand lei (in the competition for small grants) for the development of the online store https://redbed.md/

Denis Lorchin from Cahul opened a workshop for the production of murals, modular paintings, stickers and banners that can be ordered online at www.topart.md. To begin with, Denis followed the Digital Upgrade program within the EU4Moldova: Startup City Cahul project, and then also participated in the Small Grants Program, which allowed him to launch the business website in April 2023.

It is important to mention that the EU4Moldova Project: Startup City Cahul focuses on 3 main directions: Construction of the EU Innovation Center Cahul – Inotek, Development and promotion of STEM programs, Entrepreneurial programs for young people, support of startups and SMEs in the adoption of digital solutions. Its implementation period is 2020-2024, with funding from the EU in partnership with the Swedish Embassy.