www.business-review.eu Business Review | March 2022
20 ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Tech sector may be Romania’s biggest economic strength Investments in startups by TechAngels members more than doubled year-on-year to EUR 9 million in 2021, and a similar performance is expected this year. Malin-Iulian Stefanescu, the president of Tech Angels, talked to BR about the steady growth of angel investments in Romania and the ambition of seeing a Romanian startup grow into a unicorn without leaving the country. By Ovidiu Posirca collaboration through syndicated funds. When it comes to our involvement in startup development, the common understanding is that we invest resources: money, time, knowledge, and network if the startup idea has already been turned into a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Usually, angel investors make a commitment when they see a product’s features and potential, when they identify the demand or market for that product, and when they observe the team’s dedication to the product. Over the past 2 years, we have heard a lot of pitches and screened over 250 startups annually, advising and guiding their teams as much as we could. Additionally, we are now part of the two pan-European business angels associations—Business Angels Europe (BAE) and European Business Angels Network (EBAN)—and thus directly plugged into the European way of doing angel investing.
How many members does TechAngels have and what are their profiles in terms of funding power and entrepreneurial background? What is TechAngels’ investment strategy for Romania’s startup industry and how do you approach the angel funding market? TechAngels brings together a great deal of strategies from individual business angels. It
The invested volume was 60 percent
Our group has 118 members as of January,
higher than in pre-pandemic year 2019, and
57 percent more than we had the begin-
double compared to 2020. For 2022, I expect
ning of 2021. Our members have various
our members’ interest to reach a similar level
backgrounds: founders who have exited
to last year’s.
businesses, entrepreneurs managing their
Having individual investment strategies
own companies (not just in IT&C), as well
is the largest group of angel investors in Ro-
and decisions gives startups a chance to find
as professionals from various fields, from
mania, having had a consolidated contribu-
their best investors because founders who
general managers to top executives in sales,
tion of EUR 9 million to the startup ecosys-
pitch don’t do it in front of a monolith; they
financial, logistics, marketing, and other cor-
tem development last year, as well as some
meet 118 possible investors and mentors.
porate functions. This mix of backgrounds
1,800+ hours of mentorship and coaching.
Startups also can benefit from the group's
also represents an advantage for both the
