Monthly Recap - October Edition

The full business season started again this autumn, and this past months is full of neck turners, so make yourself cozy and let’s go through the newsworthy headlines:?

Updates from Endeavor Romania?

We celebrated 3 years of activity in Romania?

We started our celebration with an insightful talk with Endeavor Entrepreneurs Sergiu Negut ( FintechOS ), Liviu Dragan ( DRUID AI ) and Dan Oros ( Creatopy ), moderated by Mihnea Craciun .

Endeavor exists as a catalyst for meaningful entrepreneurship, and the entrepreneurs who were selected to become a part of our network are the best mirror of the ethos of our activity. This somewhat informal conversation was centered on entrepreneurship being often simultaneously a lonely avenue and a community-fueled ambition.???

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We attended How to Web?

With this occasion, we hosted a Fireside Chat as a How to Web side event in partnership with Metis Ventures and Google, featuring Dan Oros and ?a?r? Sel?uklu on Scaling companies from Emerging Europe.

This conference is always an inspiration, as it’s a recurring opportunity to get the real pulse of the regional start-up ecosystem, to catch up with founders, investors and community partners and to celebrate achievements big and small.?

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We held our first ‘immersion’ experience

Tabitha Amondi from Endeavor Kenya joined us for an entire month as part of an exchange that all of the 42 Endeavor offices are encouraged to engage in, whose purpose is to identify good practices that transcend our different geographies, and to put into perspective the way in which we support entrepreneurs through the activity of our network.?

We’re very grateful to her for being such a source of inspiration throughout her stay in Bucharest, especially since we were so lucky to have hosted her during one of the most intense months in terms of entrepreneurial events.?

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We hosted a Business Breakfast with Marius Istrate

Marius Istrate is chairman of the board at TechAngels and an employer branding expert with lots of insights on common pain points that entrepreneurs face when scaling their businesses.?

From attraction to retention, top talent is difficult to tackle and organizational culture is one of the key factors that can make or break a business when scaling.?

From authenticity over ‘culture fit’ to leadership and decision making, this talk was designed to cater to the very specific (and demanding) needs of Romanian entrepreneurs.?

We co-organized Spotlight on the Romanian Startup Ecosystem 2024

Along with RUF - Romanian United Foundation , Romanian IT and Activize.Tech , we organized an online event with over 130 investors, founders and representatives of the Romanian diaspora in an attempt to bridge innovation capital between the local ecosystem and larger global trends.?

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We attended Bright Labs Demo Day by Make IT in Oradea

Real investment in the growth of local communities is the foundational ground of healthy business development, which is why we were very excited to see so many ambitious founders with real vision and mature ideas with global application.?

Every Bright Labs cohort moves the city of Oradea forward by nurturing growth strategies, facilitating access to capital and creating a launchpad for entrepreneurial talent.?

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Local Updates?

Romanian founder Ana-Maria Constantin attracted $3.75M from Google and other investors for her AI start-up, in the US

Ana-Maria Constantin has degrees in astrophysics and computer science, is 31 years old and founded the Cascade AI startup with her co-founder Pulak Goyal in the US two years ago. In October, the company announced that it had raised $3.75M in seed investment led by Gradient, with participation from venture capital funds Myriad Venture Partners and Success Venture Partners.?

Adapta Robotics raises €2M from Catalyst Romania for their robotics start-up

Adapta was founded in 2015. At first it operated as a corporate robotics department, but in 2021 it became an independent start-up.

Adapta Robotics provides solutions in various industries, including medical, automotive, consumer electronics, manufacturing, research and development, gaming, and refurbishing equipment and electronics.

DRUID AI allows all employees to create an AI agent without requiring technical skills?

DRUID AI announced the launch of DRUID Conductor at Symbiosis, the company's third annual conference. DRUID Conductor integrates and manages the interaction between various autonomous agents and existing systems within companies, offering both employees and customers a single friendly interface adapted to daily activities.

Pago App finalizes €2.3M investment for international expansion?

Pago, the payment service that simplifies the management of invoices and recurring services for users, has managed to raise €2.3M on SeedBlink , from a total of 225 individual investors. In addition to SeedBlink, Pago had investment from Mozaik Investments.

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Operational leasing company Moov Leasing , sale of €5M for 10% to increase the share capital

The transaction, backed by existing investors, strengthens equity, estimated to reach €15 million by the end of 2024, and places the company at a €50 million valuation, just 1.5 years after launch.

Results of Early Game Ventures Fund I - 28 start-ups and 4 exits

Early Game Ventures, the most active venture capital investment fund in Romania and one of the most active in CEE, announces the performance of the startups of its first fund - Early Game Fund I. The annual revenues of the invested companies reached over €43M.

Global Updates?

Endeavor Catalyst Ranked #1 in VC Fund Returns?

Kauffman Fund Returners Index was published in October, with great news for our 12 year old fund. According to Allen Taylor , Managing Partner of Endeavor Catalyst: “We believe venture capital is truly going global and great founders can be found in markets you might not expect. These non-traditional markets are leading the way, proving incredible things are happening elsewhere”.

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Turkish martech unicorn Insider. raises $500M series E?

This is the largest investment ever secured by a female-founded martech company globally. The company achieved unicorn status in 2022 with a $121M raise, followed by an additional $105 million in 2023, which increased its valuation to $2B.

Endeavor Ukraine opens its office?

Endeavor is where and when is needed. It is hard to imagine a place where support for entrepreneurs, for reconstruction, development, and growth is more necessary these days than in Ukraine. With an already sizable footprint in the global innovation ecosystem, counting founders of PayPal , WhatsApp , Revolut , Grammarly or Creatio , it’s a hotbed for some of the best developers in the world.