The April 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!

🤖 Exploring the Future of Robotics with Diana Baicu, Co-Founder of Adapta Robotics 🤖

Over the years, we’ve had the chance to meet and work with many passionate and visionary founders—people who combine deep technical expertise with the drive to build meaningful, lasting solutions. One of the best examples is Diana Baicu, Co-Founder at Adapta Robotics.

Diana Baicu has also been featured in the 2025 Forbes Europe 30 Under 30 list, in the Manufacturing & Industry category—a well-earned recognition of her vision, dedication, and the tangible impact Adapta is making in the robotics space. 

In her recent interview with Beaumont Bailey, Diana shares the story behind Adapta’s mission and growth. With a focus on solving real-world operational challenges through automation, Adapta is developing robotics solutions that are both smart and practical—designed to integrate seamlessly into industries like retail and manufacturing.

👉 Read the full article here 👈 

Congratulations, Diana! We’re proud to see your work acknowledged at this level and look forward to supporting you and the team as Adapta continues to grow. We’re proud to be part of Adapta’s journey next to you! 🎉

🐯 Catalyst Portfolio Companies Recognized Among Romania’s Most Innovative at Tigers Summit 2025 🐯

On April 15, Tigers Summit 2025, organized by start-up.ro, brought together founders, investors, and ecosystem leaders for a fresh take on innovation—through thought-provoking debates and dynamic conversations. This year’s edition focused on challenging ideas and redefining what innovation means in today’s context.

We were proud to have two Catalyst Romania colleagues present at the event, which opened with the release of the Innovation 35 Report—a national ranking of the most innovative companies in Romania.

We’re thrilled to announce that three of our portfolio companies were featured among the top 10:

  • Adapta Robotics, creating intelligent automation tools for real-world industrial challenges
  • Adservio, building digital solutions that transform the education experience
  • dotLumen, developing assistive technology that empowers the visually impaired

Each of these companies represents what we look for at Catalyst: visionary founders, strong execution, and technology that creates measurable impact.

Congratulations to dotLumen, Adapta, Adservio—and to all the companies included in the Innovation 35 ranking. And a big thank you to the organizers for sparking meaningful conversations on the future of innovation in Romania. You can also read more about the report here.

⚡Catalyst Romania at the CEE VC Summit 2025⚡

On March 25–26, the fourth edition of the CEE VC Summit, powered by Vestbee, was held in Warsaw, bringing together more than 250 fund managers and investors from across Central and Eastern Europe and beyond.

The summit featured a well-curated program of panel discussions, roundtable meetings, and networking opportunities, offering a valuable platform for exchanging ideas and exploring emerging trends in the regional investment landscape. A key moment of the event was the launch of the Central and Eastern European Startups – 2025 report, which provided up-to-date insights into the CEE startup and venture capital ecosystem.

Marius Ghenea, Managing Partner of Catalyst Romania attended the event, actively engaging in discussions and connecting with peers from across the region.

”I was quite impressed to see that anybody who is somebody in the CEE VC business was present at the event, so I think that we need to be back here, as Catalyst Romania, at any of the future such events in Warsaw. Of course, for us at Catalyst, having our colleagues from 3TS Capital Partners with an important office in Warsaw, we were also represented well at past Vestbee events, but it is important to be there directly and to understand what is moving and shaking in our industry for all the countries in the region. I had good talks with similar or earlier stage funds from Bulgaria, Romania, Western Balkans, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland and this was great networking for us helping our geographical scope which, with every new generation of Catalyst VC funds, gets broader in its investment geography, as we now already cover the entire Balkan area plus other EE countries, while our first fund was exclusively for Romania. ”, said Marius Ghenea, Managing Partner Catalyst Romania.

We would also like to acknowledge the support of the European Investment Fund (EIF), whose continued contribution plays a vital role in the growth and resilience of the CEE investment ecosystem.

🍟 Footprints, one of Catalyst Romania’s newest portfolio companies, wins at IAB MIXX Awards 🍟

We’re proud to share that Footprints, one of the latest additions to the Catalyst Romania portfolio, has been awarded in the Retail Media category at this year’s IAB MIXX Awards, organized by IAB Romania.

The award-winning campaign was developed in partnership with Intersnack Romania and implemented in Profi stores, showcasing the power of retail media to drive measurable business results for brands operating in highly competitive environments.

For Chio Chips, Footprints designed and executed a fully omnichannel strategy, combining:
• AI-powered dynamic delivery across in-store, on-site, and off-site touchpoints
• Behavioral profiling for advanced audience segmentation and targeting
• A creative mechanic that transformed each bag into a “ticket to fun”

The campaign led to outstanding results:
✔ +12% increase in sales volume in participating stores
✔ 48% of digital conversions driven by retail media
✔ 16x return on ad spend compared to other channels

This achievement further validates Footprints’ unique approach to performance-driven, data-centric retail media execution—and reinforces our confidence in the team’s vision and capabilities.

🏆 Mihai Pătrașcu, CEO of evoMAG, named in Capital’s Top 100 Managers 🏆

Mihai Pătrașcu, founder and CEO of evoMAG—a Catalyst Romania portfolio company—has been included in the prestigious Capital Top 100 Managers list, recognizing outstanding leadership, consistency, and vision in the Romanian business landscape.

With over 20 years of entrepreneurial experience, Mihai continues to steer evoMAG as one of the country’s leading eCommerce players in an increasingly competitive market. His inclusion in this ranking highlights not only his individual achievements but also the strength and dedication of the team he leads.

In his public message, Mihai emphasized that this recognition belongs to the entire evoMAG team—a group of professionals who challenge, support, and grow together every day:

“Every leader’s success is, in reality, the result of a strong team—so I share this award with everyone who has been and continues to be part of this beautiful story called evoMAG.”

This distinction reflects a leadership style built on trust, resilience, and long-term impact—values we at Catalyst are proud to support through our partnership with entrepreneurs like Mihai.

Congratulations, Mihai, on this well-deserved recognition!

 

⚙️ Adapta Robotics joins TBDC Sprint Week in Toronto, exploring expansion to North America ⚙️

At the end of March, Adapta Robotics took a major step forward in its international journey by participating in Sprint Week, a high-intensity program hosted by the Toronto Business Development Centre (TBDC) as part of the Horizon Program.

Adapta was one of five European startups—alongside Oruga, Ogre AI, RepsMate, and Evopath—selected to explore the Canadian and North American markets through a hands-on immersion into the local ecosystem. The experience offered invaluable insights, real-time feedback from potential customers, and access to a growing network of mentors and partners.

This experience marks an important milestone for Adapta, whose intelligent robotics solutions are already gaining traction across Europe. As the company continues to scale, entering new geographies like North America becomes a natural next step—and programs like TBDC’s Sprint Week accelerate that path by providing the tools, contacts and context needed to make informed decisions.

Founded in 1990, TBDC is one of Toronto’s leading startup accelerators, supporting global entrepreneurs through access to mentoring, capital, and business expansion resources. Their Horizon Program is specifically tailored for European startups looking to explore and enter the North American market.

 

🏅 EFTA 2025: ESX awards the winners of this edition 🏅

Our portfolio company, ESX, continues to champion a healthier, more active Romania—by making fitness more accessible and empowering those who guide others toward a better version of themselves.

As part of this mission, ESX recently concluded the second edition of the ESX Fitness Trainers Awards (EFTA), a unique national competition dedicated to celebrating the most committed and impactful personal trainers in the country.

This year’s edition saw a record number of applicants, with over 100 fitness professionals from all across Romania entering the competition. The response from the community was outstanding, with thousands of votes cast and high engagement across social platforms—further proof that fitness is becoming an essential part of daily life for more and more people.

While the winners were celebrated, the real impact of EFTA lies in the growing visibility and appreciation of the personal training profession—and in the increasing number of Romanians who are choosing to invest in their health.

EFTA is also closely connected to ESX’s Personal Trainer Network (PTN)—an “Uber-like” digital platform that helps users find and work with verified personal trainers, anytime and anywhere in Romania.

With each edition, EFTA not only recognizes excellence, but also builds a stronger, more connected fitness community across the country.

 

📝 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.


If you want to be up to date with news from the Catalyst Romania portfolio, visit our LinkedIn page!