11 teams, 50 students and 3 months of hard work, these are the numbers for Innovation Labs, a joint project of TechLounge and TechSoup Romania developed with the support of Microsoft Romania. For the first time, Innovation Labs tries to bring the entrepreneurial culture into Romanian universities.

The project started in “Politehnica” University from Bucharest with the Innovation Labs Hackathon. The event gathered over 100 students, and after 24 hours of intense work 12 ideas developed into viable projects. After establishing the teams, the students who remained in the competition became part of weekly public talks, one-on-one sessions of mentoring and pitching sessions.

Three months later the “exam” was held at TechHub Bucharest, and Innovation Labs Demo Day chose its finalists. Their task was to skillfully present their projects in front of their mentors, potential investors and friends.

The jury members were the following: Todi Pruteanu (Microsoft Romania), Teodor Ceausu (IXIA), Radu Georgescu (Gecad Group), Alex Marinescu ( EA ), Daniel Dragomir (TechHub ), Raluca Georgescu (Allegro Group ), Diana Olar ( Voucherry ), Daniel Enache – ( Media IQ ) and Gabriel Iovu ( Top HoReCa ) – they had to decide which of projects worth the first place.

See the winners.

Auditorium – is an audio guide for tourists in the form of an Android app. The developers want to help solve the troubles tourists have when visiting a new place. Among the most common inconveniences tourists face we must mention not knowing where the touristic attraction is located or not knowing exactly what to visit.
Colosseo – it’s a project that wants to offer game streaming for Android games.
Diffusr – a social platform for location based announces, which helps you communicate with people around you. The team’s motto is “Socialize Locally”
FeedSpot – this represents a new loyalty system for bars and restaurants. It’s an app and by using it you can scan a QR code from your bill. After scanning the code you receive points which can be used to unlock free meals and other promotions in the same restaurant.
Freemble – a location based Android and iOS app that can help you donate things you no longer need or use.
InmeetApp – it’s an app that uses Linkedin and the information in the accounts from this social network. It can be a very useful tool for event organizers who can get a fully integrated experience, while guests are able to register, interact with each other during the event and bring forward their own comments. After the event, the organizers are presented with a breakdown of the activity they planned, so they can measure their actual effectiveness.
NextAds – it’s a project based on a new form of advertising. If a site decides to put its offers on NextAds, the people who share those offers are going to receive money from that site. If nobody shares the offers the company doesn’t pay anything, mostly because they pay per click.
OpenFridge – a Windows Phone app that can help you diet, and decide what you should have in your fridge and what you need to buy for a healthy diet.
Retake – it is a social platform for amateur photographers, were they can create portfolios and receive feedback from advanced photographers.
Seenesthesis – an app developed to help the blind learn about different shapes and colors with the help of touchscreen phones.
Toto – app for Android that streams live video games to a server, so they can be watched by fans.
Wyliodrin – it’s an app for people passionate about programming , especially for those who work on Raspberry Pi. The programming can be done directly from the browser and straight into the Cloud.

The judges decided that the prizes should go to the these projects :
People’s Choice – FeedSpot
Special Prize – Seenesthesis
Best Pitch – Freemble
Best Prototype – FeedSpot
Best Business – Wyliodrin

Innovation Labs – Pitch Session – Demo Day from TechSoup Romania on Vimeo.