The top 50 largest technology companies in Romania, which realise software and digital solutions for group companies or for third parties, have increased their turnover and teams in Romania by approximately four times in the last ten years, reaching a cumulative turnover of €3 billion and over 50,000 employees in 2019, according to a Cushman & Wakefield Echinox analysis.

Warsaw is among the top 10 European cities for the fintech sector. According to Savills, which prepared the ranking, the COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating the digitalisation of the banking sector and Poland provides a favourable environment for fintechs to expand.

Bucharest has been named one of the top 10 European Tech Cities of the Future for 2020/21, according to fDi and TNW. The Romanian capital ranks as #7 making the Central & Eastern European city with the highest score. Five other cities – Warsaw (#15), Sofia (#20), Prague (#22), Tallinn (#23) and Krakow (#24) have made it into the top 25.

Ghelamco Poland has introduced special solutions to its office buildings to prepare them for an epidemic which will become a standard in the company’s future projects. A new approach to HVAC systems will enable the buildings to operate in the so-called pandemic mode.

Futureal Group has launched the construction of Corvin Innovation Campus. The office complex equipped with contactless technology will offer nearly 30,000 sqm of gross leasable area (GLA) in the immediate vicinity of Corvin Promenade in Budapest. The new-generation building is being developed under Futureal’s Stay Safe initiative designed to respond to the changing market demand due to the COVID-19 epidemic. The first phase of the building is expected to be handed over in the autumn of 2022.

MVGM has taken over the management of Forum 76, the office building located in Łódź and belonging to Benson Elliot and Sharow Capital. Sharow Capital is responsible for asset management. The handover of the building took place in March, during the server lockdown measures that have been implemented in Poland. The majority of the process has had to be completed virtually.

Romanian proptech start-up Bright Spaces, which develops a complete digital platform for showcasing and offering for office buildings and spaces, has been selected to join proptech accelerator Pi Labs in the United Kingdom. Pi Labs is the first venture capital firm in Europe to invest exclusively in proptech start-ups and Europe's most active investor in the field. Bright Spaces was chosen, along with 4 other European start-ups, out of a total of over 600 registered teams. The Romanian startup will enter a 15-week intensive program, with the objective of developing the product and scaling the company to the size and needs of the European office market.

Property Forum’s next virtual event, CEE Valuation & Investment Forum 2020, will cover the most burning topics of property investment and valuation. Leading international experts will share their own experiences and best practices related to managing the unprecedented market situation that COVID-19 has created.

Fab Lab Iași has started setting-up its second co-working location in Iași, in partnership with BCR and Modex. Located on the 7th floor of the Romanian Commercial Bank (BCR) building, in the Podu Roș area, this new space covers 250 square meters.

The COVID-19 crisis has accelerated the adaptation of technology on the residential market with developers across the region now offering digital solutions for prospective home-buyers. Waldemar Olbryk, Board Member responsible for the residential sector at Echo Investment shared his thoughts on the topic.