start-up.ro and Green Start-Up are supporters of the initiative and we kindly ask you to fill out the survey and help us put together a map of the diverse teams in the Romanian startup ecosystem.

StepFWD believes that team diversity is a major force that gives startups access to good ideas, fresh perspectives, and real experience they might otherwise lack. This component can also attract investors and customers who value businesses run by diverse teams.

"With the data collected through this survey, we intend to determine the current state of diversity within founding teams, the importance of diversity in a startup's success, but also how diversity can be encouraged by relevant actors in the ecosystem", states Liviu Cadariu, Program Director StepFWD.

By not having a diverse team, founders might think and act similarly, having the same general life experiences, and are prone to building a less innovative product.

Romanian cofounded Databricks, 10 billion $ investment at $62B valuation

Through this report StepFWD aims to analyse, understand, and support diversity from the 9 existing perspectives such as age, ethnicity, education, skills, culture, sexual orientation, gender identity, neurodiversity, and disability.

If you’ve been part of the startup ecosystem for a while and want to share your take on diversity in a team, fill out the survey and you’ll be invited to the launch of the report event in September.