Cluj-based Fortech Investments, a corporate branch of Fortech, the provider of outsourcing services for software development, wants to support up to 15 entrepreneurs and their startups. The company will offer capital as well as business development, and Joint Venture partnerships. This news comes after the team invested €400K in Telios Care back in July.
While in the last five years Fortech Investments has opened €4M in funds for 13 tech startups based in the US, like AIPERION, the team wants to redirect its attention to the Romanian market. Fortech Group targets a 2021 turnover of €40M to advance this plan.
In the next few years, the company will aid startups at different stages to succeed with their projects in niches like Health, Finance, Education, Transportation, or Production. They will be looking at B2B solutions that address the needs of companies and institutions, like Radiology, Telemedicine, Stock Exchange, Financial management, Production line management, and Facility management.
“We have had the fortune to work with multiple customers in the US that gave us the chance to get involved in their business and support their growth. We created a specialized team that can find opportunities in multiple markets, with Romania as an initial focus. We are proud to be a Romanian company and we believe we can bridge the gap between the maturity of the US market and the potential of the Romanian one,” shared Valentin Filip, Managing Director of Product Investments at Fortech Investments since 2019.
Fortech Investments’s target is to discover problems and opportunities for solution building, as well as promote a new business model. Filip is also responsible for the outsourcing side of the company. He aims to build trust, transfer knowledge to both parties involved, continue to grow with a stable 25% rate year over year, and dedicate a significant part of the profit to investments.
How can startup founders access funds and advice from Fortech?
Startup founders that have shown initial traction with their product can access one of two rounds of financing that Fortech Investments offers, Pre-Seed and Seed. Once they are ready to exit, entrepreneurs can opt to join the Fortech Group. This option will take the hassle out of having to look for resources and instead focus on their business needs.
Experienced entrepreneurs can also access Fortech Investments resources and apply for a Joint Venture partnership. This way, their time, knowledge, and professional network can be put to good use, while the Fortech team will come with capital, software development, recruitment, marketing, and sales.
Valentin Filip wants to encourage Romanian people towards entrepreneurship. If somebody has an idea they believe in, Fortech Investments is also open to seeing the pitch, validating it, and turning it together into a successful product and business.
What should startup founders know?
Filip shared with The Recursive that they will be looking into the startup’s team, as it is the most important asset. The managing director believes that this is important at an early stage because the idea and product are still fragile.
“We are looking for enthusiasm, a crazy drive to surpass the hurdles that lie ahead, openness to feedback, and willingness to ask for help. At the same time, the founder needs to be the type of person that rallies troops around his/her idea, and is not afraid of being the dumbest person in the room,” he explained.
Filip said that he looks at this branch as an Angel Investment Fund, while also bringing the benefits of a CVC fund. They offer the personal touch of the first and the financial potential of the second.
“Our ambition to create products ourselves or through Joint Ventures puts us right into the game, being able to better understand the stages through which startups and founders go through at this moment,” Valentin Filip from Fortech Investments concluded.
