Turkish VC firm buys stake in Romanian form-building startup to help it boost presence in the US

Turkish venture capital firm 212 will buy a stake in Romanian online form-building software startup 123 Form Builder, founded by local entrepreneur Florin Cornianu, for an undisclosed sum. The new shareholder will also hold a seat on the Romanian company’s board.

212 will join existing shareholders Catalyst Romania and Adrian Gheara, as the startup looks to solidify its presence in the US with the opening of a new office. 123 Form Builder says it has become a revenue positive, profitable company this year as its revenues increased significantly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

123’s online form-builder allows companies to create secure GDPR and HIPAA compliant forms, and the demand for its forms has surged as more businesses transition to or are stepping up their online sales functions. With the ability to integrate these forms with more than 80 of the internet’s most popular tools, including WiX, Salesforce, Square, Zendesk, and others, 123 Form Builder is very well positioned to grow exponentially in the near future, the company says.

After initially addressing SME clients, 123 is now gaining traction in the highly competitive enterprise market. HILTI, RTE, Unilever, UEFA, The European Tour, and ThyssenKrupp are now among the company’s 35,000+ customers. With more than 50% of customers centered in the US, the company is looking to open a base there in 2021.

“At 212, we’re always looking for opportunities to take proven business models and help them grow. We saw with 123 an opportunity to take an incredibly robust product and help them gain greater exposure to bigger markets. There are very few tech startups that can say they’re profitable, have seen a positive effect on revenue since the start of the pandemic, and have been around for more than 10 years,” said 212 Partner Maher Hakim, who will join the company’s board.

“The last ten years have been a long journey and have included an incredible amount of hard work from our amazing team. Now with 212 joining us, we have reached a major milestone in that hard work paying off. The team and I are incredibly excited to have the brains at 212 join us and help us as we look to scale up the team; yes, we’re hiring and ready to solidify our great product offering in the US and beyond!” added 123’s founder and CEO Florin Cornianu.

Romanian law firm RTPR has advised 123 Form Builder and its shareholders, Catalyst Romania, Florin Cornianu, and Adrian Gheara, in the deal with 212.

(Photo source: courtesy of the company)