From start-up nation to growth nation – Perspectives for the Romanian tech ecosystem

When thinking about the Romanian start-up ecosystem, now might be the best time to launch something. Especially compared to, say...10 or 15 years ago. There is quite some capital available, a few accelerators, and the mindset, by itself, has developed in such a way that young founders can start a company here and scale it to global levels in the next 5-10 years. We’re really becoming the “start-up nation”.

But why not a “growth nation”?

The deployment of private capital for Romanian companies is increasing but so is the need for it. I’ve witnessed this evolution firsthand. Having just joined the Fortech Investments team, I am in awe of what I see in our start-up ecosystem. The new generation of founders brings a new life into the market. So much that they might be shaking some of the beliefs that more experienced entrepreneurs held so strongly. They learn that the era of one-man show companies is ending, they learn that their company is not their baby, and even that private capital might be the solution. Well, a solution that they weren’t looking for, in the first place.

Most of my previous experience comes from working with entrepreneurs in the worst stage of their company lifecycle, maybe even the worst stage of their life – the stage of distress. While some say that it’s “the best business school”, I think that not everyone has to go through it. Especially nowadays, when resources and knowledge are so available and so widespread.

After making this switch from one extreme to another, I understand more about this emerging ecosystem of ours, by looking at it through a wider lens. And the more I understand about it, the more I am starting to notice a gap that has only gotten bigger, especially in the past few years. I am talking about the gap between early-stage start-ups and growth-stage tech companies. This gap means that there are too many little players in the market, making it too fragmented. I think that only by closing this gap, we can become a “growth nation”.

I believe that part of this gap is due to timing. Established tech companies who are now in the growth stage simply didn’t get to ride this new wave of start-ups, venture capital, high growth, and the hunt for unicorn status. Because of this, they took a different path. A good path, but a more cautious one. They bootstrapped, worked hard to become profitable, and are now doing good. But they can do better. They can aim higher.

Don’t get me wrong, this experience holds a lot of valuable lessons for young founders, and most of it is about balance – balancing a growing team, while maintaining company culture, balancing the expansion of operations, while maintaining quality and consistency, balancing short term goals with long-term vision and balancing cashflow, while revenue may fluctuate.