Romanian tech entrepreneur takes over and rebrands small local bank

Romanian tech entrepreneur Vasile Olimpiu Balas, a programmer who has over 20 years of experience in developing software for the local banking industry, has taken over a 64.6% stake in local lender Banca Comerciala Feroviara.

The bank was founded by local businessman Valer Blidar, who owns the biggest passenger wagon factory in Romania, to support the local industry. The new owner plans to turn the bank into one dedicated to local tech startups.

Thus, the bank will change its name to Techventures Bank.

"Starting with December 2020, we have a new project - Techventures Bank, a bank that will be developed according to the vision of an IT specialist who aims to deliver products and services connected to the latest advanced technologies available on the international market. We want to differentiate ourselves through a technology applied and useful to each client. From January next year, we will start integrating a series of technologies, and we will continue to develop each solution and product through this vision," said Vasile Olimpiu Balas, quoted by Economica.net.

Founded in 2009, Banca Comerciala Feroviara is currently one of the smallest on the local market, with less than EUR 100 mln in assets at the end of 2019.