www.business-review.eu Business Review | February 2021
26 ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Local startups building funding positions in pandemic economy Tech-focused Romanian startups offering products and services adapted to the pandemic economy have continued to raise funding in the past year as people are relying more on technology for work, school, and entertainment. Local entrepreneurs have the power to create startups that can shape the post-pandemic period, joining a plethora of companies that influenced the development of the global economy in the aftermath of the 2008-2009 financial crisis. By Ovidiu Posirca
During the pandemic crisis, local startups were inclined to look at healthcare and various apps for remote operations
F
very scalable, without being available to ev-
2020 and is expected to jump back by 3.5
process automation player UiPath, who got
eryone. In other countries, the FinTech field
percent this year, according to World Bank es-
USD 225 million as it prepares to go public in
is a champion, but in our country it still has a
timates. In the last crisis, Romania’s economy
2021.
long way to go,” Ionut Patrahau, co-founder
fell by 7.1 percent.
ive startups founded by Romanians
not in a specific field, although SaaS (soft-
designed to limit the spread of coronavirus.
raised at least USD 1 million in fresh
ware as a service – e.n.) platforms are usually
Romania’s GDP contracted by 5 percent in
funding last year, aside from robotic
The average funding round stood at EUR 552,000 and around EUR 7.8 million was raised through crowdfunding, according
and chief innovation officer at SeedBlink, the crowdfunding platform for startups, tells BR. Entrepreneurs have been able to raise
THE FUTURE OF UNICORN STARTUPS BORN TODAY
to data from professional services firm EY
money in a truly challenging environment.
As this period bears some similarities to the
Romania.
Significant parts of the economy suffered
aftermath of the previous financial crisis,
because of the lockdown and other measures
also marked by instability, we might see the
“Right now, the opportunity is in volume,
