Catalyst Romania, one of the most important venture capital funds in the region, announces it has invested €2 million in evoMAG, one of the most active eCommerce retailers in Romania, to support its accelerated development. It’s the first significant round for evoMAG and it confirms the path it has followed in its 17 years of existence on the market.
“This capital infusion will allow us to take evoMAG to a new level in its development, both on the Romanian market, online and offline, but also outside the country. We are happy to have attracted alongside us a strong partner with proven experience in the eCommerce industry to support our transformation and who shares our vision for the future”, says Mihai Pătrașcu, CEO of evoMAG.
This round will support the expansion of evoMAG on the online markets in Romania and internationally, through the presence in as many marketplace platforms as possible, the acceleration of offline development, through the inauguration of two evoMAG showrooms, in the next two years, as well as the annual doubling of the product portfolio in the next 3 years. Also, evoMAG is looking to develop new product categories, to expand its storage space and the efficiency of operational processes to support this anticipated growth.
“Mihai Pătrașcu and his team managed, by their own efforts, to build a great company in the Romanian eCommerce space in the last 17 years, proving agility, continuous innovation and always putting the customer first. We are happy to join the evoMAG story and we believe that, together, we will succeed in accelerating the company’s development plans”, says Alin Stanciu, Partner at Catalyst Romania.
Last year, evoMAG recorded sales of 34 million euros, up from 2020, when the company marked a 46% growth – the highest in recent years, in an atypical period and amid the acceleration of online trade at general. Analyzing the evolution of evoMAG over the last 2 years, the company had an average annual growth of 25%.
The company is counting on a turnover of around 40 million euros in 2022, with sales peaks in mobile phones, TVs, PC components and electric vehicles segments. Home and garden products are a separate category, for which evoMAG predicts significant growth this year.
To support sales growth, evoMAG will invest, this year, in reducing delivery times. Currently, 90% of all orders are delivered within 24 hours of placing the order and at the end of the year, evoMAG’s target is for more than 95% of all orders to be delivered within 24 hours, the rest within 48 hours.
With the objective of doubling the product portfolio and reducing the delivery time of orders, evoMAG aims to increase the team to over 100 employees. By the end of the year, evoMAG aims to recruit new people in key positions and departments, such as: warehouse, customer relations, documentation, marketing, programming, showroom, product management.
About evoMAG
evoMAG is one of the most important companies in the eCommerce industry in Romania. The online store sells tens of thousands of IT&C products, household appliances, sport & fitness (including escooters and accessories for escooters) and for home and garden. Last year it opened the first service for electric scooters, becoming the first online store in Romania to provide such a service.
evoMAG.ro is visited daily by over 60,000 people, and over 80% of customers would recommend the store for the quality of the services offered.
evoMAG, a company with 100% Romanian capital, was founded by Mihai Pătrașcu, who continues to hold the position of general director.
About Catalyst Romania
Catalyst Romania is a leading venture capital investor in Romanian technology companies that have the potential to become regional leaders or global challengers. Catalyst was the fund manager who raised the first Romanian venture fund backed by the JEREMIE Romania initiative in 2012. The fund manager will continue to primarily target investments in high growth sectors including Technology & Internet, Media & Communications and Technology-Enabled Services. Catalyst Romania is an affiliate of 3TS Capital Partners, which serves as an extension of the Catalyst team and provides international expansion support for portfolio companies in Europe and the US. For further information, please visit www.catalystromania.com. Catalyst Romania Fund II SCSp (“Catalyst Romania” or “Catalyst Romania Fund II”) is an alternative investment fund managed by Catalyst II GP S.à.r.l. acting as an alternative investment fund manager, both companies being organized under the Luxembourg law.
About InnovFin Equity and JEREMIE Holding Fund Romania
Catalyst Romania Fund II is supported by (i) the JEREMIE Holding Fund Romania, an investment programme between EIF and the Government of Romania whereby EIF acts on behalf and in the ultimate benefit of the Government of Romania and invests reflows generated by operations implemented under JEREMIE Holding Fund Romania during the eligibility period 2007-2013 and (ii) InnovFin Equity, with the financial backing of the European Union under Horizon 2020 Financial Instruments and the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) set up under the Investment Plan for Europe. The purpose of EFSI is to help support financing and implementing productive investments in the European Union and to ensure increased access to financing.
About EIF
The European Investment Fund is part of the European Investment Bank Group. Its central mission is to support Europe’s micro and small and medium-sized enterprises through access to finance. The EIF develops venture capital and growth instruments, guarantees and microfinance instruments, which specifically target this market segment. Through its role, the EIF promotes EU objectives in support of innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth, and employment.