Entrepreneurship organization Endeavor has opened a branch in Romania, having the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) among its founders.

The EBRD supported the opening of Endeavor’s local branch by extending a EUR 450,000 grant from the Turkey-EBRD Cooperation Fund, which is backed by Turkey’s Ministry of Treasury and Finance, the institution said.

Supporting entrepreneurs at the ‘scale-up’ stage, Endeavor operates in more than 30 countries in Latin America, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and the US. It currently supports more than 2,000 entrepreneurs, providing a world-class network and services to help them grow. Last year, Endeavor entrepreneurs generated more than USD 20 billion in annual revenues and created over 4.1 million jobs, EBRD explained. 

“Endeavor will offer Romanian entrepreneurs a best-in-class seal of approval, an unrivaled personal and professional network, frictionless co-investment capital, and peer-to-peer exchange of ideas in a truly global setting,” Mihnea Craciun, managing director of Endeavor in Romania, said.

“Our aim is to select, mentor, and dramatically accelerate the best high-impact entrepreneurs by helping them to think bigger, make better decisions by accessing talent, investors, and global markets, and multiply their impact by becoming role models, mentors, and investors in their local ecosystems.”

EBRD joined forces with DIY chain Dedeman and Globalworth, a real estate company active in CEE, “to amplify the boost for Romanian entrepreneurs that Endeavor will provide.”

EBRD also helped identify and select a board of directors for Endeavor Romania. The local board of directors is chaired by Marius Stefan, CEO, and co-founder of Autonom Group, and includes Monica Cadogan and Calin Fusu, the co-founders of Vivre, Vargha Moayed, Chief Strategy Officer of UiPath, Tiberiu Moisa, Deputy CEO at Banca Transilvania, Voicu Oprean, CEO and founder of Arobs, Andrei Dunca, co-founder and CTO of LiveRail, and Costin Taracila, Managing Partner of RTPR. Dan Lupu, Partner in Early Bird Venture Capital, will join as Senior Adviser. Also in the board are the representatives of the three founding partners, Karina Paval of Dedeman, Dimitris Raptis, CEO of Globalworth Group, and Mark Davis, the EBRD Regional Director for Bulgaria and Romania.

(Photo: Kotist/ Dreamstime)

simona@romania-insider.com