What options do Romanian entrepreneurs have when developing their international expansion strategy?
Romanian entrepreneurs have several options when developing their expansion strategy, ranging from starting a small regional business to entering countries with a Romanian diaspora or even going further on an international level. To provide insights on this topic, iBanFirst, together with Ziarul Financiar and Pi2 PR agency, is organizing the second edition of the Regional Summit “How can CEE companies expand internationally?”. The event will take place on Thursday, May 25, 2023, at the JW Marriott Hotel in Bucharest, as well as online.
“Romanian companies are extremely well-positioned to expand into neighboring countries such as Bulgaria, Hungary, Serbia, and even Ukraine once the war is over. For other companies, international expansion might be oriented towards countries with a Romanian diaspora, such as Spain, Italy, and the UK. Last but not least, there are fields, especially in technology, where Romanian entrepreneurs can go even further into more competitive markets where they can add value. If we look at the Polish case study from the last decade, they first started with the regional part, then followed their diaspora, and continued to build internationally based on their competitive advantages,” says Johan Gabriels, Regional Director for Southeast Europe at iBanFirst.
The event will feature 17 entrepreneurs and executives from Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and France who have successfully expanded in the region and can share their experiences.
Lucian Baltaru, CEO of courier company Sameday Group, believes that in an open European market, international expansion is a norm for dynamic companies with an accelerated growth rate.
What options do Romanian entrepreneurs have when developing their international expansion strategy?
“Sameday has consistently recorded double-digit growth in recent years thanks to our partnership with our clients, online stores, team, and technological ecosystem we have built. Launching our operations in Hungary in 2020 and in Bulgaria in 2022 was a natural response to Sameday’s customers’ growth expectations. The digital infrastructure has significantly contributed to overcoming the inherent challenges of operating in new markets and creating delivery solutions loved by online stores and shoppers. Easybox, the delivery solution we launched in 2018 in Romania, is rapidly growing in popularity in all the countries where we are present, and the easybox locker network now numbers over 4700 units in Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria. For us, international expansion has had three solid cornerstones: innovation, courage, and team agility,” he says.
Despite the challenges we currently face, Daniel Spiridon, VP of Business Development & CEO eMAG Hungary, believes that now is a favorable time to accelerate expansion plans.
“With a potential for long-term double-digit annual growth, online commerce is evolving in the shopping preferences of customers across the entire Eastern European region. Indeed, we are going through a period with many challenges, but our solid investments in recent years make us confident, and if there is a time to accelerate growth directions, it is now. Technology helps us understand the customer better than ever, and the international expansion path is simpler thanks to the cross-border development mechanisms we have created, which allow us to take Romanian entrepreneurs to the markets in Hungary and Bulgaria and vice versa,” he states.
What options do Romanian entrepreneurs have when developing their international expansion strategy?
George Moroianu, co-founder of the refurbished phone marketplace Flip Technologies, adds: “As entrepreneurs and startup founders in the CEE region, we need to think about international expansion early, perhaps as soon as we find a suitable market for our product. In most cases, we cannot afford the luxury of accessing large markets by operating only at the national level, so we need to look carefully across borders to reach the next wave of growth. This comes with various challenges but also extraordinary opportunities. One of the advantages is the possibility to be inspired by companies from the US and Western Europe to take from their knowledge and apply it in our region.”
The event agenda will include the following topics: Panel 1 – Why do optimistic entrepreneurs succeed? Panel 2 – Raising capital – financing options and future perspectives Panel 3 – How regional executives are growing their businesses in the current economic context
The event speakers include:
- Johan Gabriels, SEE Regional Director, iBanFirst
- Daniel Spiridon, VP of Business Development & CEO eMAG Hungary
- George Moroianu, Co-Founder, Flip
- Lucian Baltaru, Co-Founder & CEO, Sameday
- Ivailo Gospodinov, Managing Partner, BlackPeak Capital
- Elvin Guri, Founder & CEO, Invenio Partners
- Claudiu Corcodel, Partner, ACP Group
- Sandor Erdei, Founder & CEO, DBH Group
- Rudolf Vizental, CEO, ROCA Investments
The event will be moderated by Cristian Hostiuc, Editorial Director at Ziarul Financiar, Ivaylo Ivanov, Director for Eastern Europe at Founder Institute, the world’s largest startup accelerator, and Marton Orosz, Head of Content at the financial newspaper Portfolio from Hungary.
As a company that helps other companies expand internationally, iBanFirst will provide an overview of the main macroeconomic indicators in the region, the risks and challenges posed by local currencies when a company expands abroad, and what international payments look like in the 21st century. With the support of fintech companies like iBanFirst, doing global business has never been easier. International payments and currency conversions are now much faster, simpler, and more efficient. Additional costs are eliminated, and exchange rates are very competitive, benefits that only large corporations had access to until recently.
This article was published on Business Magazin.