• Stup is Romania’s largest hub for entrepreneurs, with a community of over 27,000 members.
• 500 businesses have been launched at Stup to date.
• Stup is open to all entrepreneurs, whether they are clients of Banca Transilvania or of other banks.

Over the past two years, more than 6,500 entrepreneurs have accessed around 10,000 financial and non-financial solutions at Stup, and 500 businesses have been launched there. To date, Stup has hosted over 12,500 one-to-one advisory meetings, and more than 16,000 people have taken part in courses. In addition, 3,500 small businesses and start-ups have obtained financing.

One in three business solutions accessed by entrepreneurs is digital, reflecting the upward trend in adopting new solutions. Also, 500 businesses have gone online by launching, with support from Stup, a business website or online store, or by running online marketing campaigns.

Stup is continuing the journey it began two years ago in an authentic, value-adding way. Every day, entrepreneurs walk through our doors for advisory sessions, courses and events, to access solutions to grow their businesses. This is what we set out to build from the start: a community and a space for dialogue and development for entrepreneurs, especially for businesses at the beginning of their journey. These two years have exceeded our expectations in terms of how the market responded to this new concept, which gives us the confidence to keep expanding it. We want to contribute even more to the development of the entrepreneurial community with everything that gets done at Stup — concrete, hands-on. As we like to say these days at Stup: less talk, more business.

Cristina Sindile
CEO BT Mic

To join this community, you need to open a member account on the Stup website, and the benefits are as follows:  

• easy access to solutions for starting and growing a business thanks to the One-stop-shop concept, offered at a discount by Stup’s 20+ partners;
• free advice on any entrepreneurial topic;
• free participation in courses covering nearly 20 topics;
• no membership fee.    

Stup is a first on the Romanian banking market, launched by Banca Transilvania and BT Mic in 2022. Stup is in Bucharest, at Calea Șerban Vodă 206-218; some of the business solutions can also be accessed online, and on social media it is on Instagram and Facebook.

Stup & Quantix study: entrepreneurs are moderately optimistic about business growth over the next 12 months 
A recent study of the entrepreneurial market in Bucharest and the Stup community shows that 44% of respondents expect their business to remain at the same level over the next 12 months, while 37% are looking at moderate growth. The online channel is seen as a priority for business growth, although for most entrepreneurs (8 out of 10) “online” means having a website or communicating via a social media channel (6 out of 10). In the same vein, a marketplace or online shop is an option for only 3 out of 10 entrepreneurs.

Also according to this study, 4 out of 10 entrepreneurs finance themselves from their own funds, while 54% have never tried to take out a business loan. However, among the 46% who have sought financing, 87% received a positive answer.

More details about Stup and the study’s findings can be found in the white paper A Day at Stup.