Romanian tech company LIFE IS HARD increases its profit by 55% and prepares LIH Ventures – an insurtech investment vehicle

LIFE IS HARD (LIH), a Romanian technology company listed on The Bucharest Stock Exchange’s AeRO market, increased its net profit by 55% in the first nine months of this year, reaching RON 4.34 million (EUR 0.88 mln), while EBITDA recorded an increase of 30% compared with the same period of 2021.

During the same period, the company has improved its liquidity, reduced its debt ratio, and is in a stable financial balance, holding total assets that cover almost three times its liabilities.

In terms of turnover, LIH recorded a 15% increase in the first three quarters, to RON 18.45 million (EUR 3.75 mln). The ITC & Telco business line has the largest revenue share, 53%, while the Insurance division generates 34%. Moreover, 13% comes from other projects - mainly software development for SMEs.

“All of LIFE IS HARD's financial results improved in Q3 by double digits compared to the same period in 2021, and the foundation on which we are building LIH has become more stable. Although the current macroeconomic context generates higher expenses, including those for companies, we look with confidence to the end of this year and to 2023, when our target is investments in insurtech startups,” says Cătălin Chiș, CEO and President of the LIH Board of Directors.

Moreover, a strategic decision regarding the internal team was operationalized in the first 9 months of the year: the Stock Option Plan (SOP) 2021 program became active at the level of the entire organization so that all LIFE IS HARD employees became, starting from 2022, shareholders in the company.

“It is an important premise for increasing staff retention - in the context where the labor market in the IT area is extremely competitive, and geographical location is no longer an impediment, considering remote work”, mentions Cătălin Chiș.

Regarding the end of the year, LIFE IS HARD is preparing to operationalize a new strategic approach recently approved in the AGM: LIH Ventures, a new company fully owned by LIFE IS HARD, which will operate on a holding structure.

“LIH Ventures will invest in innovation for insurance and related domains so we can create a strong ecosystem in Romania and on a regional level. The company will be oriented toward startups that develop scalable digitization products, based on new technologies (Big Data Al/ML). It will contribute through pre-seed investments to the development of startups and young-growth companies in Romania first and foremost, and afterward in Southern-Eastern Europe. The initial investment capital amounts to 1 million euros, and the project is in an advanced phase: we set up the action plan to be ready in the next 2 months, we have the operational team under construction and we are already studying several startups in which we could invest,” says Erik Barna, LIH Founder, and Board Member.