ROMANIAN VENTURE

REPORT 2020

2017 TO 2020 - ARE WE PROGRESSING?

While 2020 was a bit of an awful year, it did not create a funding
crisis for Romanian startups. However, the number of investments
has increased and for once it wasn’t clear what is the status of the
Romanian startup investment landscape.

The winter break felt like a great moment to put some numbers
together, but 2020 had to be compared with something so I
extended the analysis to 2019, and then I got carried away and
ended up filtering and tagging all venture transactions
announcements I could find starting with 2017. The result is a
comprehensive analysis of the venture investments market in
Romania in the last years.

Notably, this analysis does not include the UiPath investment

rounds. Since 2017, UiPath has raised investments of over $1b,
more than 12x the total value raised by all the other local startups.

Big thanks to Bogdan Ceobanu, whose public list of transaction

announcements was the basis of this report, EY Romania for their
Ecosystem reports published in 2019 and 2020, and also to
Alexandru Agatinei, Mircea Vadan, Adriana Spulber, Andrei Firou,
Vlad Ionescu, Dragos Nicolaescu, Monica Obogeanu, Dan
Mihaescu, Cosmin Ochisor, Dan Calugareanu, Malin Stefanescu
and Mihai Guran for their questions and feedback.

I’ve started working on this report with a simple question in mind:

are we progressing? That’s why, apart from the key numbers,
we’ve added qualitative information to better understand what
has happened in the last year, such as “Is this the first round a
company has raised?” or “What is the source of the capital of this
round?”.

The rules for filtering and enriching the date are detailed at the
end of the report, along with a link to the full transaction list, and
let me know if you find anything that should be updated.

I hope you enjoy reading the report.

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 ROMANIAN VENTURE REPORT 2020

5 EXCEPTIONAL
#1
FINDINGS
2020 WAS A BUSY YEAR

In 2020, I’ve tracked 59 venture transactions, with a total

investment volume of €30.4m.
Compared to 2019, that’s a 6% growth in investment volume, but a
51% increase in transactions.

VENTURE INVESTMENTS
70
59

50
39
€28.62 €30.39
30

10

2019 2020

Transactions Volume €m

While 2020 was quite unpredictable, the venture investment pace

did not slow down. After a short hiatus in March / April, as it was
clear the pandemic will be more of a digital acceleration force, the
venture funds and angel investors kept providing capital to the
startups.

As a general trend, both the investment volume and number of

transactions have been significantly growing since 2017, a sign of
not only better startups, but more capital available on the local
market.

In particular, 2019 has had a 90% bigger investment volume than

2018 mostly due to the FintechOS financing rounds, who raised a
total of €13.7m, 48% of the volume in 2019.

VENTURE INVESTMENTS
70
59

50
39
37
€28.62 €30.39
30
14 €15.07
10 €8.24

2017 2018 2019 2020

Transactions Volume €m

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 ROMANIAN VENTURE REPORT 2020

#2 MANY FRESH FACES

One thing 2020 had was a lot of new startups raising money for
the first time - a total of 39 in 2020, from 18 in 2019, a solid 115%
increase.

The volume of investments in new startups also increased - from

€5.65m to €13.92m, almost a 150% growth year-on-year.

1ST TIME INVESTED STRTUPS

50
39
30
30
18
€13.92
11 €9.94
10 €6.75 €5.65

2017 2018 2019 2020

Transactions Volume €m

The average cheque for the 1st investment was €357k, slightly
increasing the €314k value from 2019.

Looking back at the historical numbers, 2017 stands out for a

higher average cheque mostly because of the lack of seed
investors at that time - both seed-stage funds and active angel
groups began to do investments the following year.

1ST TIME NVESTED STARTUPS ROUND SIZE

€700
€613

€500
€331 €357
€314
€300

€100

2017 2018 2019 2020

Avrage €k

In many ways, it looks like a new generation of startups has been

financed, and we’ll start to know the outcome of this year's
investments in 2-3 years from now.

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 ROMANIAN VENTURE REPORT 2020

#3 IF YOU BUILD IT, SOMEBODY WILL INVEST

In 2020, the vast majority of the capital has been invested in seed
rounds - a total of €21.87m out of the €30.4m in total investments
last year, or 72%.

INVESTMENT VOLUME PRE-SEED, SEED, SERIES A

100%
€5.95

75% €13.95
€5.04

€13.47
50%
€21.87
€11.37
25% €2.55

€0.65 €1.60 €3.30 €2.57

0%
2017 2018 2019 2020

Series A Seed Pre-Seed

A startup raising a seed round generally has already built a

working version 1, and probably they’ve got some usage from
users or clients (or pilot projects),

The money raised in the seed round will be used to finalise their
product (aka reach product/market fit) and figure out the most
useful go-to-market strategy in order to position themselves well
for a Series A round.

While the total volume and the number of investments have

grown, much of the investment activity was geared towards
startups which have already built something significant (seed
rounds) rather than startups which were just starting up (pre-seed
rounds).

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 ROMANIAN VENTURE REPORT 2020

#4 2 MORE OF “THIS COULD BE BIG” STARTUPS

Two of the companies raising money this year have moved into
the “this could be big” bucket, which at the beginning of 2020
included only FintechOS.

In January, TypingDNA announced a €6.2m Series A round, led by

Gradient Ventures, Google’s AI-focused fund. It has been the
biggest investment round of the year for Romanian startups.

In December, Deepstash announced a €3m seed round, a

significant size for the European investment market. The new
round was led by Connect Ventures, one of Europe’s best seed
funds (Citymapper, TrueLayer etc.).

TOP DEALS VS. TOTAL INVESTMENTS IN 2020

TypingDNA
20.4%

9.9% Deepstash

Others 65.3% 4.4%

Soleadify

A notable mention goes to Soleadify, which raised a €1.35m seed

round, the first institutional investment in the company.

Together, TypingDNA, Deepstash and Soleadify’s rounds bought

35% of the total capital raised and 100% of all the international
capital coming in Romanian startups last year (as per our
tracking).

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 ROMANIAN VENTURE REPORT 2020

#5 MORE ROMANIAN CAPITAL THAN EVER

If there is one silver-lining of the 2020 venture capital market, it

would be the emergence of the Romanian private capital as the
main source of capital for local startups.

In 2020, Romanian capital counted for over 77% of the capital

invested in Romanian startups, a 51% increase over 2019. Also,
Romanian capital was included in all the 59 transactions we’ve
tracked in 2020.

ROMANIAN CAPITAL INVESTED

70
59

50
35
32
30 €23.32
€15.39
11 €7.00
10 €6.12

2017 2018 2019 2020

Transactions Volume €m

Multiple factors have contributed to this spectacular development.

In 2019, UiPath raised a massive $568m round at a $7.5b valuation,

confirming its high-growth trajectory and making the total
investments in the company to cross $1b, an accomplishment in
itself. For local investors, it set a clear example that you can make it
(really!) big even if you’re starting in Romania, and made them
more willing to invest in local companies.

And while traditional assets have provided little returns in the last
years, technology companies have seen increased valuations
world-wide. At the end of 2020, only one company in the top 10
most valued publicly traded companies in the world was not a
technology company.

While there was a general positive feeling towards technology and

success stories which proved Romanian startups can make it big,
angel groups and equity crowdfunding via Seedblink provided an
easy way for Romanian capital to reach Romanian startups.

And folks, that’s how it happened.

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 ROMANIAN VENTURE REPORT 2020

SO, ARE WE PROGRESSING?

2020 was definitely a good year for the investment market, with
all-time-highs in terms of transactions, capital invested and local
capital engaged. And, as this trend will most probably continue,
more money will be available for early-stage startups.

At the same time, we have had less confirmations. With the only
Series A transaction of the year being reported on January 7, 2020
(but signed probably in the end of 2019), we may well assume this
year was low in growth capital.

But as I’m writing this, Druid has just announced a $2.5m

investment round and 2021 has started on a high note.

In 2020, a new wave of startups has been seeded - new, bold bets
have been made, and we’ll see their results starting in the next
year.

One thing is sure - better more bets than less.

AUTHOR

Bogdan Iordache is the founder of the How

to Web Conference, angel investor and
startup advisor.

Previously a partner at Gecad Ventures,

Managing director of MVP Academy and
Investment director at 3TS Capital Partners,
he has supported startups such as Green
Horse Games, TypingDNA, FintechOS,
InnerTrends, 123ContactForm.
In the last years, Bogdan has advised startups such as Soleadify,
Deepstash, Tokinomo, Underline and others on their investment
strategy, and eMAG Ventures on their corporate fund formation
and strategy.

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 ROMANIAN VENTURE REPORT 2020

EXTENDED
REPORTS
VENTURE INVESTMENTS
70
59 Total Transactions Total Volume €m Average €k

50 2017 14 € 8.24 € 588.86

39
37
€28.62 €30.39 2018 37 € 15.07 € 407.37
30
€15.07 2019 39 € 28.62 € 733.78
14
10 €8.24
2020 59 € 30.39 € 515.13

2017 2018 2019 2020

Transactions Volume €m

PRE-SEED INVESTMENTS
40
Total Transactions Total Volume €m Average €k
30 25 2017 8 € 0.65 € 81.75
21 21
20 2018 25 € 1.60 € 64.02

8 2019 21 € 3.30 € 157.19

10
€1.60 €3.30 €2.57
€0.65 2020 21 € 2.57 € 122.50
0
2017 2018 2019 2020

Transactions Volume €m

SEED INVESTMENTS
40 37
Total Transactions Total Volume €m Average €k
30 2017 5 € 2.55 € 510.00
€21.87
20 16 2018 12 € 13.47 € 1,122.68
€13.47
12 €11.37 16 € 11.37 € 710.32
2019
10
5 €2.55
2020 37 € 21.87 € 591.08
0
2017 2018 2019 2020

Transactions Volume €m

SERIES A INVESTMENTS
20
Total Transactions Total Volume €m Average €k
€13.95
15 2017 1 € 5.04 € 5,040.00

10 2018 0 € 0.00 € 0.00

€5.04 €5.95
2019 2 € 13.95 € 6,975.73
5
1 2 1
0 €0.00 2020 1 € 5.95 € 5,950.00
0
2017 2018 2019 2020

Transactions Volume €m

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 ROMANIAN VENTURE REPORT 2020

INVESTMENT VOLUME PRE-SEED, SEED, SERIES A

100%
€5.95 Pre-Seed Seed Series A

2017 € 0.65 € 2.55 € 5.04

75% €13.95
€5.04
2018 € 1.60 € 13.47 € 0.00
€13.47
50% 2019 € 3.30 € 11.37 € 13.95
€21.87
€11.37 2020 € 2.57 € 21.87 € 5.95
25% €2.55

€0.65 €1.60 €3.30 €2.57

0%
2017 2018 2019 2020

Series A Seed Pre-Seed

1ST TIME INVESTED STRTUPS

40 39
Total Transactions Total Volume €m Average €k
30
30 2017 11 € 6.75 € 613

20 18 2018 30 € 9.94 € 331

€13.92
11 €9.94 2019 18 € 5.65 € 314
10 €6.75 €5.65
2020 39 € 13.92 € 357
0
2017 2018 2019 2020

Transactions Volume €m

1ST TIME INVESTED STARTUPS ROUND

€700
€613 Total Transactions Total Volume €m Average €k

€500 2017 3 € 1.50 € 499.67

€331 €357
€314 2018 7 € 5.13 € 733.01
€300
2019 21 € 22.97 € 1,093.69
€100 20 € 16.47 € 823.50
2020

2017 2018 2019 2020

Avrage €k

FOLLOW-ON INVESTMENTS
25 €22.97
21 20 Total Transactions Total Volume €m Average €k
€16.47 2017 3 € 1.50 € 499.57
15
2018 7 € 5.13 € 733.01
5 7 2019 21 € 22.97 € 1,093.69
€5.13
3 €1.50
2020 20 € 16.47 € 823.50
0
2017 2018 2019 2020

Transactions Volume €m

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 ROMANIAN VENTURE REPORT 2020

ROMANIAN CAPITAL INVESTED

70
59 Total Transactions Total Volume €m Average €k

50 2017 11 € 6.12 € 556.55

35
32 2018 32 € 7.00 € 218.66
30 €23.32
€15.39 2019 35 € 15.39 € 439.67
11 €7.00
10 €6.12
2020 59 € 23.32 € 393.30

2017 2018 2019 2020

Transactions Volume €m

NON-ROMANIAN CAPITAL INVESTED

50 €13.23
Total Transactions Total Volume €m Average €k

€8.70 2017 4 € 1.93 € 482.85

30 €7.07
6 2018 6 € 8.70 € 1,449.68
5
4 2019 5 € 13.23 € 2,645.83
3
10 €1.93
2020 3 € 7.07 € 2,356.67

2017 2018 2019 2020

Transactions Volume €m

TOP DEALS VS. TOTAL INVESTMENTS IN 2020

TypingDNA
20.4%
2020 Top Deals

TypingDNA € 6.20

Deepstash € 3.00
9.9% Deepstash
Soleadify € 1.35
Others 65.3% 4.4%
Soleadify Others € 30.39

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 ROMANIAN VENTURE REPORT 2020

ABOUT THE DATASET

There are no perfect reports and there is no perfect set of data. The
report is based on public information about investment rounds, and
sometimes on informed assumptions ab. Please assume a 90-95%
accuracy of the numbers presented.

You can access all data and reports here: http://bit.ly/RO-VC-2020

The data was filtered and enriched based on the following set of rules:
1) Tracked only equity investments - no grants, loans, convertible
notes, buy-outs etc. were included in the final list of transactions.
2) The list of transactions does not include investments in foreign
startups with Romanian founders.
3) All equity investments with no public value have been eliminated.
Their number is small and, while it affects the totals, it does not affect
them significantly.
4) Investments with no specified investors were also not included, as
many of those are actually grants, service payment etc. and not equity
investments.
5) UiPath investments were also not included - their value is
astronomical and even the smallest round raised, the $30m Series A
from 2017, was actually 3.5x more than the entire local VC market.
6) Transactions up to €200k were tagged as pre-seed rounds, all
transactions between €200k and €3m were tagged as seed rounds,
and everything above €3m was tagged as a series A round.
7) Exceptionally, some transactions above €200k were tagged as
pre-seed based on timing of the round and conversations with the
founders about the objectives for the round. Also, investments smaller
than €3m were tagged as Series A rounds as the companies were
expanding on the regional market
8) Using this classification, some companies have raised multiple
pre-seed and seed rounds, if the total capital raised was not over
€200k, respectively €3m.
9) Splitting capital between investors in a transaction was made using
the simple rule that the lead investor contributes with 80% of the
capital, while the co-investor with 20% of the capital. While this is in
no way an exact approximation, it is definitely in the ballpark.

Launched in 2010, How to Web is one of Europe’s

leading technology and innovation conferences, that
lays out the methods, tactics, and mindsets of
startups that started digital revolutions.
Find out more on www.howtoweb.co.

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