This insightful report, produced by UK/Romania Business in collaboration with CMS Romania, Endeavor Romania, and How To Web, sheds light on the dynamic tech ecosystems of UK and Romania and explores the immense potential for strengthening ties between the two countries.
An Evening of Talent celebration and networking
The launch event brought together over 60 members of the Romania-UK tech community, including founders, investors, and industry leaders from many of the organisations mentioned in the report as well as report partners. It was an evening with meaningful speeches and conversations alike, with buzzing excitement for forging closer UK-Romania tech collaborations and as expected with great networking opportunities for those present.
David Webster, founder and managing partner of UK/Romania Business was the host of the evening. Attendees included many of the 56 UK-origin start-ups who have at least one Romanian co-founder, representatives of UK-based VCs and well known names of Romania’s tech ecosystem. In his welcoming speech David Webster set the tone of the evening: “The report is an opening move in our plan to strengthen technology ties between the two countries. By building these pathways we can contribute to the success of Romania's many high potential tech companies, as well as to support investors, corporates, startups from Britain discover new opportunities in Romania. And in the report, we set out a five point plan to develop this vision towards a UK-Romania tech hub”.
Skye Fletcher of Dawn Capital, Ionescu Raluca Mihaela of CMS Romania, Patric Fulop of Neurolab, Sergiu Negut of FintechOS and Mihnea Craciun of Endeavor Romania captured the audience in their speeches with their insights as investors, report partners and featured Romanian led UK Start-ups. The future of Romanian Tech Ecosystem looks exciting, and UK investors see the potential of actually investing there in the next generation of global software champions. As Romanian founders of Tech start-ups in Britain will become the next generation of mentors for the future entries made by Romanian tech startups to the UK market as they seek access to a global market, London will play an important role in the near future, and news of a future UK-Romania tech hub might not be far away.
Positive Feedback from Participants
The report showcases the story of these start-ups, featuring stories such as Razvan Ranca’s story and the success of Tractable, the first unicorn with a UK-based Romanian founder. It also speaks of challenges past and future in the current climate.
The report, sent to the public just 2 hours before the start of the event was naturally at the centre of discussions leading to great networking opportunities and discussions between participants.
There is great scope for collaboration between UK-Romania, as Romanian builders will scale and look at a global role rather than a regional one. A key takeaway of the report and the networking event was the power of the Romanian tech Diaspora in the UK. Over 1.2 million Romanians currently live in the UK, working, studying or doing business. Entrepreneurship amongst Romanians has always been praised, but the 56 UK startups with Romanian co-founders featured in the report, are a special inspirational success story, with many lessons to learn from for future generations. They have taken the best Romania and the UK had to offer them. We learn from the report that “ in 14 of these companies a Romanian woman is part of the founder teams, while 13 had wholly Romanian co-founder teams… Tractable, with £140m raised skews the statistic, but three other companies- Dexory, Hackajob and Vita Mojo- have each raised in excess of £25m as of March 2024…At least five startups with internationally- based Romanian co-founders – Branch, Databricks, MaintainX, Tractable and Whoop – have achieved $1bn valuations. More are on the way. “
Five Key Takeaways
The Power of the Diaspora: The Romanian tech diaspora in London includes professionals in VC, private equity, finance, law, policy, academia, marketing, and innovative industries. If mobilized effectively, this network can provide investment, connections, assistance, and experience to support startups scaling to the UK and contribute back to Romania through mentoring, talent repatriation, and showcasing entrepreneurial success. This mobilization, currently happening informally, is being structured through collaborations with organizations like Endeavor Romania, How to Web, and Global Tech Connect, with the goal of creating a UK/Romania Tech Hub.
Early-Stage Funding Challenges: Limited access to early-stage funding has been a significant hurdle. However, the evolving funding landscape, with local VC funds and increased international investments, offers hope for the future.
Shift to Product-Led Innovation: There is a growing need for Romanian startups to transition from service-based models to product-led innovation, designing scalable products with a global market in mind.
The importance of creating the multiplier effect : Developing commercially-focused founders, building a culture of mentorship, investment and inspiration are essential for scaling businesses and ensuring the long-term success of the tech ecosystem.
Strengthening UK-Romania Collaborations: Enhanced bilateral programs, diaspora engagement, and leveraging the UK market can significantly bolster the Romanian tech ecosystem.
Quotes from the evening:
“ People don't just want to solve a tiny problem within Romania, they're really going out and conquering the world.”
“We Romanians have the blessing of loving to work with each other so much, and loving the ones that have left the country…that we need external facilitation in order to tie back our connections among ourselves and with where they are, so from that point of view, David thank you for this report and for everything that you're doing, to build that connection of the technology between Romania and the UK.”
“What we suffer from in the less developed ecosystems as the Romanian ecosystems used to be, and still is, to some extent, I mean, definitely less developed than this ecosystem is that we are suffering from the fact that we do not live in an environment that is rich in resources and enriching opportunities. So landing upon that specific richness of opportunities and solutions and connections, and people who know people or people that have worked with people. Therefore, there is a trust relationship that has been built over years, this is something that we are still tapping into. And the bad news is that we're tapping into individually, everyone for ourselves. So there is a massive reason for us to celebrate occasions like this one facilitated by people like David and Mihnea and CMS where I think we have the chance to reconnect and to rethink of how we build our ecosystems in a way that facilitates value creation for everybody.”
“ There are so many connections that we can make together, and so many ways in which we can help each other and that’s what we call at Endeavour the multiplying effect. It is something we can see happening in more mature ecosystems and as ecosystems evolve start-up founders are mentoring, are investing in several other people who are inspired, energised and financed. If we can create this in a few years time, we can be much more united and much stronger. We are happy to have partnered with David. Thank you very much for this opportunity.”
Looking Ahead
The report concludes with a call to action: by fostering stronger UK-Romania business partnerships, the potential for growth and innovation is immense. Five work piorities were set to advance a UK/Romania Tech hub. The event at the Palace of Westminster was, as speakers and organisers agreed just the beginning of what promises to be a transformative journey.
No matter if you are in tech or not, if Romania rings a bell and has a link to you, then this detailed report is a Must Read to you. Download the report at the link below:
https://www.globaltechconnect.org/uk-romania-business
