The November edition of the Catalyst Romania Newsletter
We are excited to share updates on our latest activities and insights from our team and from our portfolio companies. Stay tuned for more news on our investments!
Catalyst Romania was proud to participate in the official launch of Clean European Futures and its flagship initiative #CleantechSouthEastEurope in Bucharest this month. The event brought together innovators, investors, policymakers, and financial institutions to kick off a multi-stakeholder, long-term, partnership-oriented dialogue aimed at unlocking the region’s cleantech innovation potential.
Marius Ghenea, Managing Partner at Catalyst Romania, also participated in the event as a keynote speaker, sharing his insights on scaling cleantech startups, investment trends in Southeast Europe and the role of innovation in driving sustainable growth across the region.
”Honored to deliver the keynote speech at Cleantech SouthEast Europe in Bucharest, an important milestone for elevating Southeast Europe’s role in Europe’s cleantech landscape. I spoke on behalf of Catalyst Romania about the need for stronger founder–investor–policymaker collaboration to unlock the region’s true scaling potential. The presence of the EIC/EISMEA leadership and Minister Dragoș Pîslaru highlighted the strategic importance of this initiative, while the discussions throughout the day showed how much momentum the region is gaining. Thank you to the organizers and participants for the inspirational exchange. Catalyst Romania remains committed to supporting the growth of impactful cleantech innovators across SEE.”, Marius Ghenea said.
Alina Georgescu, Investment Director at Catalyst Romania, participated this month in the opening panel of the ZF IT Generation Summit (powered by Ziarul Financiar), where she shared insights on Romania’s evolving investment landscape and the outlook for AI startups.
During the discussion, Alina covered how Romania’s investment ecosystem has evolved, what makes an AI startup truly defensible, the growing importance of data quality, what investors are looking for in 2025 and practical advice for founders raising their first round.
Alina highlighted the continued support of the European Investment Fund (EIF) for the local ecosystem, noting that EIF has also been an anchor investor in both Catalyst Romania Funds. She emphasized the strong potential of companies that can scale across borders whether geographically, through innovative technology, or by creating vertical platform products tailored to specific industries and expressed hope to see more startups modernizing traditional markets in this way.
Watch the full panel here!
Footprints AI Named a Winner in the 2025 Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Central Europe Awards
Footprints AI has been officially recognised as one of the Winners of the 2025 Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Central Europe Award, a programme that highlights the fastest-growing technology companies in the region. The ranking evaluates revenue growth from 2021 to 2024 and celebrates companies that demonstrate consistent innovation and scalability.
Being included in this year’s cohort marks a significant milestone for Footprints AI. The distinction reflects the company’s commitment to shaping the future of retail through AI-driven insights, measurement and monetisation. Footprints AI continues to focus on transforming real shopper behaviour into actionable intelligence that supports retailers and brands in growing responsibly, profitably and sustainably.
This recognition is both an achievement and a motivator. With Deloitte’s acknowledgment reinforcing their momentum, Footprints AI is preparing to accelerate expansion across Europe and beyond, further advancing their impact in the retail media and analytics ecosystem.
October Retail Reality: Demand Didn’t Drop, It Shifted
Footprints AI prepared an analysis of over 150 million real, anonymized transactions across online and in-store channels shows in order to assess the shopper behavior. The data signals a clear shift: consumers didn’t reduce consumption, they reallocated it. Brands and retailers that align campaigns with real missions, time-of-day patterns and seasonal needs are best positioned to win. In retail, habits don’t vanish when seasons change, they move. Retail media delivers impact when it follows them.
📎 Adservio launches LearnMate:
A Responsible AI Learning Partner 📎
Adservio takes a distinctive approach to AI in education. Instead of creating chatbots with broad conversational access, the team of Adservio built LearnMate, an AI assistant focused strictly on helping students and teachers navigate the school curriculum. The tool is currently being tested in 12 schools and is among the first of its kind in the country.
According to Alexandru Holicov, Founder & CEO of Adservio and one of the creators of LearnMate, the assistant is deliberately designed with strict limitations. It draws information only from Adservio, used by more than 2,000 schools in Romania, and guides students step by step through learning tasks. If a user attempts a non-educational prompt, the system simply does not respond. Holicov explains that the goal is to offer a safe learning companion that students can access from their phone or laptop.
LearnMate presents lessons, suggests exercises, tracks progress and uses gamification to keep students engaged. Parents gain real-time insights into their child’s learning habits and teachers can explore statistics or generate ideas for quizzes and experiments. Alexandru Holicov believes the tool can support personalized learning and, in some cases, even complement or replace tutoring for motivated students.
The platform is part of a larger digital ecosystem developed by Adservio, which already provides Romanian schools with free modules for daily activity reporting, digital gradebooks, school management and legislative monitoring. Additional tools include a reporting platform where students, parents or teachers can anonymously signal incidents such as bullying or inappropriate behavior. A wellbeing module also helps track students’ emotional status and offers psychologist-reviewed resources.
These initiatives are currently supported through Adservio’s partnership with Microsoft, ensuring free access for schools, teachers, parents and students.
A Constructive Dialogue on the Future of Education
At the invitation of the Presidential Administration, Alexandru Holicov participated in a working meeting in Iași between the local business community and President Nicușor Dan, joined by the Minister of Health, Alexandru Florin Rogobete and the Minister of Economy, Digitalization, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, Radu Dinel Miruță.
The nearly three-hour discussion covered a range of strategic topics essential to the development of Moldova and Romania. Alexandru Holicov highlighted several priorities for strengthening the country’s education system:
- Ensuring proper funding for education, rather than treating it as a symbolic priority.
- Introducing performance-based compensation to support and motivate teachers.
- Allocating dedicated budgets for digitalization, enabling schools to adopt educational management platforms aligned with their needs. This mirrors the practice in many European and global systems, where schools have clear budgets and autonomy in selecting digital tools, while the Ministry of Education provides a standard API for secure data transmission to a central system.
Such a framework would give the state a unified, real-time overview of the national education system, strengthening data-driven policymaking and long-term planning.
The meeting reinforced the importance of a genuine partnership between the state and the private sector, with the business community playing a vital role in Romania’s development.
evomag closed this year’s Black Friday campaign with one of its most efficient operational performances to date. The success was powered by a well-designed Black Friday Action Plan, coordinated across all departments, from management to logistics, call center, delivery and customer support.
The impact was immediate, all Black Friday orders were processed and shipped within 24 hours, eliminating the need for extended shifts, a recurring challenge in previous years.
Throughout the campaign, evomag’s core values were visible in action: teamwork, leading by example, responsibility, initiative and a clear focus on getting things done. The alignment of these principles translated directly into fast, tangible results.
With a fully stocked warehouse and an energized team, evomag now shifts its focus to the upcoming holiday season.
Evomag was also highlighted in a PRO TV news feature, increasing its visibility.
at Gamechanger Ljubljana 2025 ✨
Leanpay made a strong mark at the sold-out Gamechanger Ljubljana Conference, where industry leaders gathered to explore the future of financial services.
Janko Medja joined the panel “The Future Without Bank Counters – Neobanks, Embedded Finance, and the New Era of Financial Services”, contributing insights on how digital-first financial products are redefining customer expectations. The discussion highlighted the rapid rise of neobanks, the acceleration of embedded finance and how these shifts are reshaping the way consumers and businesses access financial solutions.
The event also brought a major recognition: Leanpay was awarded Fintech Project of the Year, a testament to its commitment to providing simple, transparent and accessible financing experiences.
This milestone reflects the continued trust of Leanpay’s partners and clients and the dedication of the entire Leanpay team. Together, they continue to push forward innovation in consumer finance, shaping a more seamless and customer-centric future.
ESX closes November 2025 with a major achievement: a nationwide network of more than 700 sports and fitness centers, marking another strong year of growth and impact. What began as a business idea has evolved into a market-leading platform and a key advocate for a healthier lifestyle in Romania.
Through its continuous expansion, ESX makes sport more accessible than ever. With a single membership, users can choose from a wide range of activities, from swimming and tennis to yoga sessions or personal training, enjoying flexibility, diversity and a consistent push toward balanced, active living.
As highlighted by Marius Ghenea, Managing Partner at Catalyst Romania, this milestone reflects both vision and execution: “It is a source of pride to see how this idea has become a solid business, a market leader, and a promoter of healthy living. Congratulations to the ESX team for the dedication and professionalism behind this growth. 2025 is just another step in a journey that will continue to inspire and set new standards in Romania’s fitness industry.”
With the foundation stronger than ever, ESX continues shaping the future of wellness, one member, one workout and one milestone at a time!
ESX
ESX is hiring an Assistant for Strategic Partnerships to support and grow collaborations across its national network of 700+ sports and fitness centers. If you’re organized, proactive, great with partners and eager to work in a dynamic, fast-growing environment in the sports & wellness industry, this role is for you! More info here.
SmartDreamers
SmartDreamers is looking for a Customer Success Manager to help global brands optimize recruitment marketing through our SaaS platform. In this role, you’ll work closely with customers to understand their goals, guide platform adoption, and ensure long-term value. More info here.
Omniconvert
Omniconvert is hiring an Account Executive to lead the full sales cycle and help eCommerce brands boost conversions and customer lifetime value. If you have SaaS sales experience and a passion for digital marketing and data-driven growth, this role is for you. Learn more here.
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