Romania, one of the poorest countries in the European Union, could be its next tech-startup hub, according to the digital global business news publication Quartz.

Bucharest has created a new generations of tech entrepreneurs and Romania’s IT boom has been supported by its high-speed internet. The country’s peak’s internet speeds are the fastest in Europe and the sixth fastest in the world, according to tech company Akamai’s “State of the Internet” report. By comparison, the US ranked 17th.

“The country’s incumbent telecom company, Romtelecom, was slow to offer broadband in the ‘90s, so entrepreneurs set up small-scale local fiber networks using overhead cables,” reads the Quartz article.

About 170 tech startups have been created in Romania in the last five years, according to the European Digital City Index. Romania also has the third largest percentage of women working in IT and telecommunications in Europe.

Quartz is owned by Atlantic Media Co., the publisher of The Atlantic, National Journal, and Government Executive.

editor@romania-insider.com