- EUR 3.3 million invested in total in H1 2022, up 10% compared to H1 2021
- EUR 900,000 investments in Q2, representing 37.5% compared to Q1 2022
- 35 new startups met in pitches
- 50% new funding, for 25 startups, the rest of the investments, follow-on rounds
- Facilitating pitch opportunities for Romanian startups, in the European networks of EBAN and BAE investors
- Open sessions specifically for startups in Ukraine
- 128 members of TechAngels, the most extensive in Romania
- 80% of investors are concerned about the local economic environment and how the global market will evolve
Bucharest, 11 July 2022 – TechAngels members invested EUR 3,3 million during the first half of 2022. TechAngels is the largest network of private investors, focused on investments in the Romanian tech startup ecosystem, owns over 240 startups in the aggregate portfolio, has 128 members and 9 years of experience on the local market.
The amounts invested by TechAngels members in the first semester (H1) of the year are 10% higher than those in the first half of last year and the volume structure per quarter is reversed compared to the corresponding period of 2021. In the second quarter (Q2) of 2022, the amounts allocated by investors were EUR 900,000, 37,5% compared to the first quarter of the same year. In the previous year, investments in the second quarter were double compared to those in the first quarter.
On the market as a whole, according to the monitoring of the public data carried out internally, it follows that the amount of the open financing rounds, announced publicly, was about EUR 200 million in the first half, almost double the volume invested in the whole of 2021. Not all the rounds announced as open have been completed, as such, the estimate is gross but confirms the growth of the entire ecosystem, the diversification of types of investors, the participation of new players – funds and investment platforms, as well as the availability of funding resources.
“The data aggregated by the TechAngels members survey shows us a level of activity as intense as the one in 2021, a record year, for the Romanian tech community and for the association. In the second quarter, there were signs of increased investor prudence. More than 30% of investors changed their investment strategies, opting either to allocate more resources through VCs, diversify their portfolio with non-tech domains, or to decrease the amounts allocated to investments. About 45% of investors intend to reduce their invested resources”, says Malin-Iulian Ștefănescu, TechAngels president.
The percentage of investors concerned by the current economic context increased from 65% in April 2022 to 80% in June, as a result of the continuation of the war, inflationary pressures and energy market problems.
Funding in the second quarter targeted more than 50 startups, half of which benefited from follow-on rounds. In total, TechAngels met 35 local startups, in pitches organized by the association.
During this period, TechAngels facilitated the presentation of Romanian startups in European pitch sessions. TechAngels is a Member of the Business Angels Europe and the European Business Angels Network, so it used the possibility to recommend the participation of Romanian startups when organizing pitches at the level of European networks of investors.
TechAngels also organized a separate section in the working platform of the association, for the participation of tech startups in Ukraine.
In terms of amounts invested, 20% of investors allocated amounts up to EUR 20.000, 25% invested between EUR 20.000 and 100.000, and 10% allocated amounts between EUR 100.000 and 500.000. 45% of the group opted not to invest during this period of the year, postponing investment decisions for the second half of the year.
The areas covered by startups that participated in the pitches were, as usual, from a very wide range. Automation solutions and those that propose efficient business processes, b2b, and e-commerce, represented almost half of the ideas presented by the startups encountered by TechAngels. The HR, fintech, and automotive fields have especially attracted the attention of the founders. Healthcare solutions accounted for 10% of all pitches. Leisure and leisure solutions and those for managing various aspects of everyday life, from identifying repair personnel, and cleaning, to helping vulnerable people and children, can also be grouped into categories.
“The share of almost 50% of new startups, in the total funding by TechAngels members in Q2, shows that investors’ interest in valuable solutions remains high, despite the general economic environment, which is under pressure. Technology is an important vehicle for cost efficiency and activity in companies as well as simplifying people’s lives, so tech will be a traction field in context. The existence of substantial follow-on rounds demonstrates the trust given to the teams and the serious role played by the angel investor partner. It remains a challenge to recruit new employees, especially for start-ups, whose recruitment resources are smaller than large companies, looking for programmers for internal digitization processes,” said Mălin-Iulian Stefanescu.