Are you an investor seeking the next big thing in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) tech scene? The Recursive has curated a list of “15 Bootstrapping CEE Startups to Watch” founded in the past year or two and led by promising founders who are serial entrepreneurs, business professionals, tech specialists, and academic experts.
From innovations in fintech to advancements in AI and cybersecurity, these bootstrapped companies have already gained traction and are poised for growth.
Romania
Name: dMonitor
Year founded: 2022
Founders: Radu-Vladimir Rauta (Institutional Affairs Expert) and Daniel Georgescu (Regional Account Executive – FintechOS)
About: A platform that helps regulated companies in Romania to smoothly mitigate the risks associated with politically exposed people (PEPs). dMonitor provides KYC and AML solutions to financial institutions, insurance companies, real estate agents, and gambling operators to improve the monitoring of PEPs.
Name: Vintello
Year founded: 2022
Founders: Diana Enachescu
About: A peer-to-peer marketplace for clothes and accessories resale. The company is a participant in the Black Sea ClimAccelerator 2022.
Greece
Name: AlongRoute
Year founded: 2022
Founders: Georgia Kalantzi, Eduardo Pena Vina, Stergios Diamantopoulos
About: A maritime technology startup that uses AI to produce marine forecasts and help shipping companies better manage their sailing, saving fuel and reducing air emissions.
Name: Promilist
Year founded: 2022
Founders: Demi Kalogeropoulou, George Koureas, Grigoris Nitas
About: Promilist is an AI software that identifies the optimal routes for a ship to take, taking into account weather satellite data to reduce fuel consumption and emissions.
Bulgaria
Name: Gigs Remote
Year founded: 2022
Founders: Plamen Tsekov, Stefan Bumov, Aleksandar Stankov
About: GigsRemote connects companies with tech freelancers from Eastern Europe with the aim of building a flexible workforce with trusted IT gig talent.
Name: Enbank
Year founded: 2022
Founders: Nick Gospodinov, Alex Bonin
About: Enbank is developing a plug-and-play platform for account-to-account payments and is building on its already launched service for low-fee payments for e-commerce platforms.
Name: Truvity
Year founded: 2022
Founders: Alex Tzankov
About: Truvity is an intuitive web platform for background checks with information from various data sources combined in a single entity profile. The startup uses AI to provide businesses with Anti Money Laundering solutions.
Name: Asystly
Year founded: 2022
Founders: Pavel Nikolov
About: Asystly is an AI-powered business assistant mobile app that provides a comprehensive platform for managing all aspects of small business operations in one place. The app is designed to help business owners streamline operations, automate tasks, and drive growth.
Name: Team GPT
Year founded: 2023
Founders: Ilko Kacharov, Iliya Valchanov, Yavor Belakov
About: Team-GPT is a SaaS platform for team collaboration with AI chatbots like ChatGPT. The platform offers shared threads, quick searches, and premade templates, enabling teams to work seamlessly together while leveraging the power of AI for improved productivity.
Serbia
Name: Homation
Year founded: 2022
Founders: Mike Avdeev
About: Homation is a smart home startup that installs, configures, and integrates smart home devices and technologies.
Name: Ralph AI
Year founded: 2022
Founders: Jovan Milovanovic, Luka Cubrovic, Nikola Curcic
About: Ralph is an Al copywriting tool for email, blog posts, and a variety of LinkedIn content needs such as LinkedIn InMails, Connection Requests, and Messages.
Name: Airlius
Year founded: 2022
Founders: Aleksa Milosevic, Aleksandar Stojkoski, Tristen Larsen
About: The company develops an advanced anti-scam blockchain detection software Blockem that can analyze more than a billion Ethereum transactions per second.
Croatia
Name: The Walnut Fund
Year founded: 2020
Founders: Lazar Milosevic, Milan Zikic
About: The Walnut Fund is the first online agriculture investment platform that allows individuals to invest in fully managed walnut plantations.
Czech Republic
Name: Trackdesk
Year founded: 2021
Founders: David Pelán, Alejandro Albi
About: Trackdesk is an affiliate management platform for businesses that helps them integrate, communicate with partners, launch affiliate programs, and gain comprehensive insights.
Name: Robosize ME
Year founded: 2022
Founders: Stephen Burke
About: RobosizeME is a process automation specialist for the global hospitality industry. The startup uses virtual robots to automate manual yet operationally vital processes at hotels, freeing staff to focus on higher-value work.
