The September 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!
Carfix, the SaaS platform that interconnects insurers, brokers, auto repair shops, dealers, leasing companies, and end-users into a 100% online ecosystem, announces the closing of a strategic €1.25 million investment from Catalyst Romania, one of the most prominent Venture Capital funds in the region.
Carfix develops digital solutions for complete claims management, automatic cost estimates, configurable authorization flows, real-time monitoring of interventions and preventive maintenance, as well as an integrated marketplace for evaluations and transactions. Carfix saves time for its clients, reduces operating costs by up to 60%, decreases CO2 emissions by up to 30%, and lowers personnel dependency by 75%.
Alin Stanciu, Partner, Catalyst Romania: “Carfix represents exactly the type of innovation we are looking for – a solution that fundamentally transforms a traditional sector through full digitalization. The team has demonstrated a deep understanding of market needs, building not only a digital auto solution but also an aggregator that changes the way companies manage their fleets, services, and auto costs – promoting transparency, efficiency, and sustainability. This financing will support Carfix in its European expansion and strengthen its role in Romania as a reference player in the digitalization of the automotive industry. This announcement marks the eleventh investment from Catalyst Romania Fund II, further consolidating the Fund’s mission to support growth and innovation in the technology ecosystem of Romania and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).”
With September marking the return to classrooms across Romania, schools face familiar challenges. In this period, Adservio steps in as a digital ally, helping schools, teachers, administrators and parents work smarter.
In a recent webinar organized by Adservio in partnership with Edupedu.ro, school directors shared vivid examples of how switching from paper-based processes to digital management has eased their load. One school director recalled having to physically count over 1,500 absences to report attendance records each month. The exhaustion, frustration and error potential were visible.
With digital tools, those same schools report:
- Greater transparency: Teachers, parents, school leaders all have real-time access to attendance and grading information.
- Reduced absenteeism and school abandonment: Where the electronic catalog and attendance systems were used, schools saw significant drops in student absences and early school leaving.
- Debureaucratization: Administrators no longer spend countless hours on manual record-keeping. The time saved can be reallocated to pedagogical work, supporting students or teacher development.
Adservio has launched its School Digitalization Package 2025-2026, which gives schools that have not yet adopted its platform some key modules for free, including:
- Electronic grading
- Attendance tracking
- PDF-ready printable catalogs compliant with Romania’s official educational regulations
- Direct reporting to the Ministry of Education and Research
Also, the platform isn’t just for primary and secondary schools: there are features tailored for kindergartens, letting educators report daily on things like meals, naps, mood or well-being and preparing transition reports for children moving on to primary grades. Another notable feature is the “Red Button” module for confidential incident reporting (bullying, harassment, etc.), designed to be fully compliant with norms and allowing anonymous submissions.
Revendo AG now guarantees the quality of the used smartphones it sells with its own quality label. Each device is thoroughly tested using new software and results are accessible via a QR code, giving customers full transparency into the refurbishment process.
Since July, Revendo has also relied on automated testing with MATT, the robot developed by Adapta Robotics, a Catalyst investment. This innovation enables the company to standardize evaluations, reduce human error, and provide consistent quality assurance for every device it refurbishes.
“The market for used smartphones is growing rapidly, but there is still no clear standard that customers can rely on,” said Aurel Greiner, co-founder and CEO of Revendo. “With our quality label, we are setting an example: every device is tested, transparently documented, and delivers on our promises.”
Beyond quality assurance, Revendo is also experimenting with self-service smartphone purchasing via its REbox demo stations, already installed in select Media Markt stores in Switzerland.
This moment highlights how Adapta Robotics’ technology is directly shaping real-world industries. By powering Revendo’s testing process, Adapta is helping to establish trust and transparency in the fast-growing refurbished smartphone market, being a strong example of how Catalyst’s portfolio companies drive both innovation and sustainability.
Into Value-Based Growth 🛍️
Retail media is booming, with budgets shifting rapidly toward this channel. Yet the real opportunity for brands does not lie in generating more impressions. Growth comes from increasing the long-term value of the shopper base. According to Dan Marc, CEO of Footprints AI, this requires a shift in mindset: away from short-term outputs and toward value-based growth.
For many brands today, retail media reporting is still dominated by metrics like impressions, clicks, or temporary sales spikes. These are useful indicators, but they do not answer the fundamental questions: which shoppers will continue to drive value tomorrow, how resources should be balanced between loyal customers, new buyers, or those at risk of churn, and whether campaigns are effectively nudging shoppers into higher-value behaviors. Without such a lens, retail media investment risks chasing activity instead of building growth.
The framework that enables this shift is RFM segmentation—Recency, Frequency, and Monetary value. Recency reflects how recently a shopper has purchased, with longer gaps signaling a higher risk of churn. Frequency highlights how often purchases occur, separating occasional buyers from those who have built habits. Monetary value measures how much shoppers spend, the clearest signal of their contribution to a brand’s growth. Taken together, these three dimensions create a value-based map of the shopper base, showing not just who the customers are, but how valuable they are today and how their value can be expanded tomorrow.
Read the full article here!
This week at Impact Bucharest, the CEO and Co-founder Dan Marc joined Dunja Delic and Andrei Bica, in a panel moderated by Martyna Łuczaj, to discuss the future of retail media in CEE.
The conversation explored how first-party data can drive real insight and measurable sales impact, how retail media can balance quick wins with long-term loyalty and where the industry is heading next with omnichannel orchestration and personalized shopping experiences. Panelists also compared adoption in Europe with the US and APAC, pointing to both challenges and opportunities ahead.
In the European Commission’s recent “From promise to progress: first year in office” report, one Romanian deep-tech startup stands out as a flagship example of innovation backed by EU funding: .lumen.
.lumen, founded by Cornel-Marian Amariei, has developed glasses that leverage advanced AI to help visually impaired people gain new mobility and independence. .lumen secured €9.7 million in funding from the European Innovation Council (EIC), a level of support that the founder himself described as essential: “without the EU, .lumen would not exist today.”
For Catalyst Romania, .lumen represents the kind of deep-tech investment that aligns with our vision: radical impact, global scale, and a strong enabling ecosystem. With its AI-driven glasses, .lumen is not just innovating technology—it’s transforming lives, enabling over 300 million visually impaired people worldwide to access mobility solutions beyond the centuries-old tools of the white cane or guide dog.
Looking ahead, .lumen’s trajectory is tightly connected to broader EU priorities: competitiveness in AI, clean tech, deep-tech innovation and the support of breakthrough startups under programmes like the EIC. As these funding and policy structures mature, so does the opportunity for portfolio companies like .lumen to scale more rapidly.
Read the full article here!
Fundraising can feel like an unfair race. Some founders start with connections and capital, while others navigate a maze of pitch decks, emails and uncertainty. That’s why SeedBlink created CORE: a €50/month platform designed to give every founder the same edge, structure, speed, and visibility to raise with confidence.
Built on SeedBlink’s five years of experience and 15,000 startup reviews (with €78M facilitated and 2% of startups funded), CORE helps founders get discovered, prepare smarter, and launch their rounds faster. Startups create a living Spotlight profile to attract early attention and feedback from investors. AI-powered tools guide founders in refining their pitch decks and storytelling, while simulations help understand dilution, valuations, and funding scenarios before negotiation.
With CORE, founders can open private rounds in 72 hours, track commitments live and rely on SeedBlink to handle the admin, letting them focus on building their company. As Daniel Dunose, CEO of Brainactive, puts it: “Fundraising feels like something you can do on your own terms.”
More than 15 startups are already in Startup Spotlight, gathering feedback, soft commitments, and accelerating their fundraising journey. CORE turns fundraising into a discipline every founder can train for and win.
Alex and Mihnea created a platform connecting people needing help with daily tasks—gardening, ironing, furniture assembly—with those offering their time. The idea came from their own experience: finding help for small tasks in Romania is difficult.
To navigate market reluctance, they turned to Mihai Pătrașcu, founder of evoMAG and backed by the investment made by Catalyst Romania Fund II. Mihai shared actionable advice based on his experience building one of Romania’s largest e-commerce platforms:
- Trust is the most valuable asset. Customers must feel safe letting someone into their homes.
- Invest in insurance and guarantees, and showcase real users through video content.
- Start small, gather fast feedback, and scale gradually.
- Use community-building platforms like TikTok to validate services.
Mihai also stressed testing and experimentation: “At the beginning, act like a machine gun—shoot in all directions until you find what works, then become a sniper.”
With mentorship from Mihai and insights from his experience at evoMAG, Alex and Mihnea are building a platform focused on convenience, safety, and long-term growth.
Press Review In this section, we showcase the latest articles, interviews, and press appearances featuring our team, along with the events we attend to support the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Whether as mentors, jurors, panelists, or interview guests, we are proud to actively contribute to shaping and inspiring the next generation of innovators and leaders.
- Marius Ghenea moderated the VC panel at the “Investments that Empower Entrepreneurship” event hosted by ROPEA and Endeavor Romania
- Alina Georgescu attended TechVillage in Moldova
- Marius Ghenea speaking at the News.ro event
Career Opportunities within the portfolio ESX
ESX is hiring a Senior Marketing Specialist in Bucharest to lead campaigns, influencer collaborations, and content initiatives for Romania’s largest network of fitness centers. If you have 4+ years of marketing experience, expertise in social media ads, influencer management, and event promotion, this is a great chance to shape the growth of a 500,000-member fitness community, learn more here.
Leanpay
Leanpay is hiring a Back Office Associate in Bucharest to manage transaction processing, documentation and financial operations for its BNPL and digital POS finance services. If you have 2+ years of back-office or consumer lending experience, knowledge of credit processes, and strong organizational skills, this is a great chance to join a fast-growing fintech team, learn more here.
dotLumen
dotLumen is hiring a Business Development Project Manager to help scale its groundbreaking Glasses for the Blind technology, bringing Pedestrian Autonomous Driving to millions of visually impaired people worldwide. If you have strong project management skills, a background in economics or finance and the grit to organize fast-moving teams and partnerships, this is your chance to change lives. Learn more here.
If you want to be up to date with news from the Catalyst Romania portfolio, visit our LinkedIn page!