Romania’s tech founders are getting better at solving harder problems. Credit infrastructure, eCommerce or field operations aren’t easy categories to build in, but they’re exactly where the next wave of Romanian startups is gaining ground. However, the challenge of creating a mature growth infrastructure for scale-ready businesses remains.
That’s where the EBRD’s Star Venture programme comes in. Five Romanian startups were selected to receive strategic support as they move from traction to scale in the 2025 cohort: Aqurate, FieldOS, Lendox, Sales Partner and Synaptiq. We already covered the last two in a previous story. In this piece, we’re speaking to the other three co-founders about what they’re building, what they’re up against, and how targeted support at the right time can shape the difference between scale and stagnation.
What problem are you solving, for whom, and what makes your solution defensible in a crowded market?
Vlad Marincas, Aqurate: “We help ecommerce shops grow through personalized product recommendations: showing the right item, to the right person, at the right time, and soon, at the right price. Our AI engine works across touchpoints like websites, emails, and mobile apps, boosting both conversion rate and average order value. What sets us apart is our seamless integration, strong customer support, and a focus on first-party data models that deliver measurable ROI. We’re targeting mid-sized to large online retailers in Romania, Greece, and the DACH region.”
Sandra Ehigiator, Lendox: “SMEs struggle to access credit, and most banks still rely on outdated manual processes to assess them. We replace that with AI-powered credit intelligence tools that let banks and NBFIs make faster, more accurate decisions. Our flagship product, a credit intelligence platform, empowers financial institutions to make faster, data-driven lending decisions. This leads to quicker loan approvals, reduced default rates, and greater confidence in SME lending portfolios.”
Ion Gavrilescu, FieldOS: “2.8 bln. people – Eighty percent of the global workforce is deskless, yet most of the tools available to them are pen and paper, phone calls, or spreadsheets. FieldOS is a field service and maintenance management software that can match 95% of a field service company workflow. We’re building mobile-first software for maintenance and field service operations: streamlined workflows, just-in-time task visibility, and role-based information. It’s highly customizable and still easy to use on a smartphone. That’s a rare combination. Most field service software is either too simple for small teams or too complex and expensive for mid-sized companies. We hit the sweet spot.”
Why Star Venture, why now? What specific gaps are you hoping the programme will help you close?
Vlad Marincas, Aqurate: “With proven traction and ROI for our clients, we’re ready to scale, amplifying this success internationally. But doing so effectively requires targeted support, capital, and strategic expertise, and the EBRD Star Venture Programme aligns perfectly with our current needs and growth trajectory.
Sandra Ehigiator, Lendox: “Lendox stands at a critical inflection point: our proprietary credit intelligence platform has validated demand, a working business model, and strong early traction with banks and NBFIs. To scale efficiently and deepen our market penetration across the region, we need access to tailored mentorship, strategic partnerships, and growth capital. The Star Venture programme offers a unique combination of technical expertise and regional insight that aligns perfectly with our next phase of growth. As for the gaps, we want to perfect our go-to-market strategy in new regions, as well as to obtain access to these markets and to unlock new capital.”
Ion Gavrilescu, FieldOS: “We’re in the process of expanding internationally and want to increase our inbound lead flow, especially through our website. Until now, most of our sales came through referrals, angel investors, and partners like Seedstarter. We would like to focus on the next 12 months of increasing leads received from FieldOS website and are looking forward to working with the EBRD mentors to do this. Gap-wise, through this programme we’re targeting access to leads from external markets.”
Which single metric will you watch most closely during the programme to judge whether the needle is moving?
Vlad Marincas, Aqurate: “The MRR reflects how well we are growing our business by turning interest into paying customers and expanding existing accounts. It shows whether improvements in our sales strategy, product offering, and market positioning, supported by the programme, are translating into real, measurable business results. As a SaaS company, MRR is the most relevant metric to track during this phase.”
Sandra Ehigiator, Lendox: “Number of signed commercial contracts with financial institutions: This KPI reflects both the strength of our value proposition and the effectiveness of improvements we’ll make with support from the programme, across sales strategy, product fit, and operational readiness.”
Ion Gavrilescu, FieldOS: “Money earned or saved by working with EBRD. I would say the importance of money by priority is: money earned by selling, money saved for example by free access to Azure cloud, and money earned by raising capital from Angel Investors or VC funds.”
Supporting Romania’s ScaleUp Economy
Programmes like the EBRD Star Venture are helping high-potential companies turn validated products into scalable businesses. The journey from traction to transformation is shaped not just by their tech, but also by the right access to mentorship, capital, and international markets at the right time.
The EBRD Star Venture Programme is active in 26 of the Bank’s countries of operation, having helped over 550 early-stage companies. In Romania, the programme is funded by the TaiwanBusiness-EBRD Technical Cooperation Fund through the EBRD’s Small Business Impact Fund (Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and the TaiwanBusiness-EBRD Technical Cooperation Fund).
