Romania has #Unicorns
Never mind the Balkans, here is Romania!
This is the title of the first book I bought my husband to learn about our culture, traditions, family life and peculiarities, we as a people have developed and still hold. In this context, however, I am using the phrase to set the scene to an emerging market for technology unicorns and, more broadly, innovation.
Romania, an Eastern European country with great potential has finally set itself up as a breeder of unicorns in the technology sector after #UiPath raised $120m+ at a $1bn valuation. #UiPath is a leading Robotic Process Automation vendor providing a complete software platform to help organisations efficiently automate business processes. The company is a true trendsetter for local entrepreneurs. Of course, not the only company that managed to raise impressive rounds in 2017, considering Bitdefender, a cybersecurity, and anti-virus software company, founded in 2001 by #FlorinTalpes.
The most exciting part is that Romanian founders have truly made their mark in 2017, raising across continents and setting a standard for excellence our country has never experienced. Honourable mentions go to #Spring (US), #Tracktable (UK), #Proportunity (UK), and #Statustoday (UK).
In the country, over the last few years, the blend of technical expertise, which is abundant, and an infusion of business culture, led to a brew of great local companies, especially within innovation: 2Performant (Performance Marketing), Amber (game development studio), Electrogroup (energy), Lasting System (software development), Softelligence (provider of business software services), Smartbill (SaaS billing), Vola.ro (travel fare aggregator).
This is particularly impressive considering Romania is at the very bottom of the ranking list in domestic tech investments across Europe and potentially more broadly.
Romanian Business Leaders Summit
Last week, I was invited to join the Romanian Business Leaders’ Summit, the single most important event in the country. It was an eye-opening experience, after 11 years since my relocation, to witness potentially the most positive change in living history. A wave of entrepreneurs, corporates, and organisations coming together to showcase various programs that have started to change the society from the grassroots upwards.
Background
Romania has been over the last three decades one of the main exporters of talent and workforce for the rest of Europe, from manufacturing to agriculture to sciences to AI and advanced computing. Unsupported by a broken political system, many of my fellow nationals have reached leading positions in academia, business, and even politics, outside the country.
It is one of the few countries struggling to retain its talent and develop a world-class culture for its business ambitions. A post-communist country still ruled by party classes and archetypes, relics of a past where people were living in continuous humiliation, food rations and no awareness of the outside world or what personal freedom really is.
The RBL Foundation
The Romanian Business Leaders Foundation is a community of Romanian entrepreneurs, managers, and professionals in various fields. United by a desire to contribute to a public good beyond the interests of the company, industry or field. An organisation that believes Romania will be a better country for business when it becomes a better country for its people.
The RBL is really breaking ground in a number of issues from the mindset of teachers with programs like #Merito, to building the first mentoring program for entrepreneurs, #Mentoria and #Antreprenueria, and leading the first programme tasked with the creation of an ecosystem for tech talent, business and international community, #Start-UpBridge, led by #ClaudiuVranceanu and #AndreiBrad.
Of course, this is an early stage process and there are many many more things required for Bucharest and Cluj to become truly global centres for investors to scout as a matter of business.
Behind the founding team of RBL (#SorinAxinte, #AndreeaRosca, #MihaiMarcu, #LucianButnaru), representatives and frontrunners for change, are hundreds of business leaders, corporates, foundation and ONGs, all working to bring a healthy framework to the existing and the future generations of entrepreneurs and innovators in the country.
The Opportunity
The Romanian technology ecosystem it is nascent, but it has immeasurable potential, with a lower cost of living, a high density of tech talent, and with more western business expertise and funding pouring into the ecosystem, it is clear that what we are seeing it is just the beginning.
