01The Summit
The Summit
Fifteen U.S. managing partners and company founders come to Timișoara for two working days of one-to-one meetings with Romanian funds, companies, universities and founders, and a public summit for 150.
Every delegate comes in person, holding the authority to assess an investment, commission work, form a partnership, or open another door.
02Facts
At a Glance
- When
- September 22 to 25, 2026
- Where
- Timișoara, Romania
- U.S. delegation
- Fifteen managing partners and company founders, by invitation
- Core format
- Two days of pre-matched one-to-one meetings
- Public summit
- 150 curated attendees, Thursday September 24
- Language
- English
03Value
What a Seat Is Worth
Romanian funds and companies
Meet U.S. fund partners, founders and operating executives whose interests were reviewed before they travelled. The delegation includes funds looking for local co-investors, and for portfolio companies that have outgrown what a Romanian round can carry.
Each delegate also opens the wider Bay Area, with introductions beyond the room to operators and co-investors.
Romanian startup founders
Selected founders are in the briefing packet the delegates read before they land, so the first meeting opens with someone who already knows the company.
You are matched where the thesis genuinely fits, and each meeting is yours alone.
For most founders, this is the first three people in a U.S. network.
U.S. delegates
Venture capital in Romania is close to a hundred times what it was a decade ago, per the World Bank. Most of the companies worth backing were built before it arrived, and the generation starting now is the first with capital behind it.
Across the table are Romanian founders, funds, enterprise decision-makers, the regional agency that funds expansion and research, and the technical university whose graduates work at UiPath, Intel, AMD and Google.
We sit together for three days. What begins here compounds for years.
04Four days
Agenda
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Tue Sep 22
Arrival
The delegation arrives. A small welcome dinner, deliberately conversational, so people meet before formal discussions begin.
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Wed Sep 23
Private delegation day
A full day of one-to-one meetings and focused roundtables, covering investment pipelines, U.S. market entry, growth financing, commercial partnerships, research and development, and university collaboration. Closes with a VIP dinner at a scenic location.
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Thu Sep 24
Meetings and the public summit
Matching continues alongside the public summit. Keynotes and panels place the private discussions in a wider economic context, and selected Romanian startups present to investors whose mandates fit their stage and sector.
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Fri Sep 25
Farewell brunch
Follow-up meetings where useful, and departures. Optional.
Private meetings are matched and confirmed in advance.
05Fifteen seats
The Delegation
A delegation of fifteen managing partners and company founders, from the Bay Area, New York and across the United States.
Each delegate was invited on the strength of a stated interest in Romania, a concrete contribution and a clear objective for the week. They arrive with mandates. Among them:
- Venture funds from early stage through growth, some backed by global technology corporations and development banks.
- Investors who already have Central and Eastern Europe inside their mandate.
- Partners who have built and run venture programs in the United States.
- Founders of AI companies looking for engineering partners, a research and development site, or a university to build with.
Their mandates span early-stage venture, growth software investment, enterprise AI, financial infrastructure, AI chips, sovereign data infrastructure, aerospace and dual-use technology, with check sizes from 500,000 to 15 million USD.
06Selection
The Romanian Side
The Romanian side is selected on the same standard as the delegation, from Timișoara, Cluj-Napoca, Bucharest, Oradea and the wider region. Every meeting has a clear reason to happen and a credible next step if both sides want to continue.
The funds in the room are the ones deploying now and able to write into the same round as a U.S. investor. The startups are the ones with a live path into the United States, or technology that has already drawn American interest unprompted. The remaining seats go to people whose work already has counterparts outside Romania.
Fifteen investors leave with a short list of Romanian counterparts they intend to keep working with. This is where that list gets made.
07September 24
The Public Summit
The private days are by invitation. The summit is where the program opens.
On the second working day it opens to 150 people from the Romanian technology and business community: founders, engineers, investors, university and public-sector leaders. Keynotes and panels put the private conversations in context, and selected Romanian startups present to the visiting investors.
It is capped at 150 so the room stays useful. Registration opens later in 2026.
08Context
Why Romania
Romania has been a member of NATO since 2004, the European Union since 2007 and the Schengen area since 2025. Romanian students place consistently among the leading national teams at the International Mathematical Olympiad.
Google runs its largest wearables development center in EMEA here, shipping features to Pixel users worldwide. Adobe runs its largest EMEA research center here. AMD designs in Iași, Intel in Timișoara. The case for Romania rests on that engineering base, the growth of local capital, and the value of building relationships before companies need larger rounds and wider markets.
Timișoara
Timișoara is the city from which Romania turned west in 1989, and European Capital of Culture in 2023. Around 250,000 people live in the city and more than 400,000 in the metropolitan area. Politehnica Timișoara anchors the country’s third largest technology workforce: Intel runs its Romanian AI silicon work here, Nokia develops Open RAN, and Continental builds driver-assistance systems. The city is compact and walkable, which keeps formal meetings and unhurried conversation inside the same program.
09Organizers
Who Convenes It
Ionuț Alexandru Antiu
Initiator and organizer
Technology entrepreneur and fractional CTO for U.S. enterprises and startups for over ten years, including Western Digital, SanDisk, Upthere and Bluescape. Based in Timișoara.
American Chamber of Commerce in Romania
Partner
The convening partner for U.S.-Romania business since 1993, with more than 570 member companies including major Fortune 500 companies operating in Romania.
ADR Vest
Partner
The regional development agency for West Romania, operator of the Vest Ventures and Asternova investment funds.
Politehnica Timișoara
Partner
The technical university behind the region’s engineering and research base.
10Three routes
Participate
U.S. investors and technology founders
Delegation places are by invitation. A conversation begins with your interests, the relevant Romanian counterparts, and what you want out of the visit.
Coming soonRomanian funds, companies and universities
Submit your investment mandate, partnership objective, financing need or research interest for the matching process.
Coming soonThe public summit, September 24
150 seats. Registration opens later in 2026.
Coming soonUntil these open, write to press@antiu.com.
11Media
Press
Press contact
Andreea Roman, Communication Manager
American Chamber of Commerce in Romania
aroman@amcham.roSummit press office
press@antiu.comFor background, interviews and media accreditation. The summit takes place from September 22 to 25, 2026 in Timișoara. This is the first edition.
About the U.S.-Romania AI & Business Summit
The U.S.-Romania AI & Business Summit is an invitation-only delegation and public summit organized by Ionuț Alexandru Antiu in partnership with the American Chamber of Commerce in Romania, ADR Vest and Politehnica Timișoara. Its first edition runs September 22 to 25, 2026 in Timișoara. Fifteen U.S. investors and technology founders meet Romanian founders, funds, companies, universities and public institutions across two days of pre-matched one-to-one meetings, followed by a public summit for 150 attendees.
Romanian technology has money now, and things are moving in the right direction. But if we grow the way I think we will, in five years we will need more than capital or good products. We will need access, and people who know us well enough to pick up the phone. That is what I want built here.