CIVITTA STRATEGY & CONSULTING SA

Their core work

CIVITTA is a management consulting firm based in Bucharest that specializes in innovation ecosystem development, startup acceleration, and helping SMEs access alternative finance. Within EU projects, they provide expertise in building Digital Innovation Hub networks and designing acceleration programs that connect startups and scale-ups with investors and mentors. Their work bridges the gap between innovative companies and the financial and support ecosystems they need to grow.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

CIVITTA's H2020 journey shows a clear shift from financial advisory toward hands-on ecosystem orchestration. Their early involvement (2018, ALTFInator) centered on alternative finance and helping SMEs access funding — a classic consulting engagement. By 2020-2023, they had moved into designing and running Digital Innovation Hubs, acceleration programs, hackathons, and mentorship schemes, culminating in coordinating their own space-sector hub network (SUN).

CIVITTA is moving from passive consulting roles toward actively coordinating innovation support ecosystems, with a growing focus on space-sector applications.

How they like to work

CIVITTA primarily participates as a third party (2 of 3 projects), suggesting they are typically brought in for specific consulting or ecosystem-design expertise rather than being a core consortium member. However, their coordination of SUN signals a growing ambition to lead. With 33 unique partners across 22 countries from just 3 projects, they operate within large, pan-European consortia and appear comfortable in broad, multi-country networks.

Despite only 3 projects, CIVITTA has touched 33 partners across 22 countries — a remarkably wide reach that reflects the large-scale Coordination and Support Actions they participate in. Their network is broad rather than deep, spanning most of Europe.

What sets them apart

CIVITTA brings a consulting firm's structured approach to innovation ecosystem design — they don't do the research, they build the support infrastructure around it. For consortium builders, this makes them a useful partner when a project needs someone to design acceleration programs, organize hackathons, or connect startups with investors. Their Romanian base also offers access to a widening-country perspective, which is increasingly valued in EU calls.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SUN
  Their only coordinator role — a Space Hubs Network combining startup acceleration with the space sector, showing ambition to lead rather than just advise.
• BOWI
  A major DIH widening initiative connecting Digital Innovation Hubs across Europe, positioning CIVITTA within the core European DIH ecosystem.