Florin Tufan, Veridion: "It's easier to build a strong startup team in Romania"

The documentary "Romanian Startups: Roaring Tigers of Europe", made by the start-up.ro team, spans across 33 years of history, from the first entrepreneurs in the transitional years to the initial technology company transactions that brought Romania into the international spotlight.

Romanian Startups: Roaring Tigers of Europe - The Extended Series will present the people who built the Romanian ecosystem and who discussed with the VideoCorp and start-up.ro team for this documentary. In this series you will find the extensive interviews and find out the stories of those who built entrepreneurship in Romania.

Veridion is a big data vendor that specializes in Firmographic Data. They maintain a weekly-updated database of over 80 million Company Profiles. Their data covers every aspect of a business from identification, locations, and classification to product offerings, ESG topics, and more.

Veridion uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology to analyze billions of web pages per week to build and maintain a truly accurate, global-scale database of business data. The databases thus obtained can then be used by companies to find suppliers, automate underwriting processes, risk modeling, market research.

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In 2023, Veridion secured $6 million in funding from European investment funds, bringing the total amount of funding from venture capital investors to a total of $7.5 million.

Veridion started as a side project, while all three founders were working for other companies, tells us Florin Tufan in an in depth interview for the Romanian Startups: Roaring Tigers of Europe documentary, which premiered at the beginning of this year.

”What we really cared about is that we do something that's a technological breakthrough, something that other people don't make. We had no interest in being the Romanian version of something that already exists in London”, Florin tells us.

The story begins with three tech-savvy founders who started Veridian as a side project while working at tech startups. They weren't initially aiming to build a business, but when they identified a common pain point from past experiences, they decided to explore its potential further, especially when an angel investment offer came along.

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In our in depth discussion for the Romanian Startups: Roaring Tigers of Europe documentary, Florin told us more on how Veridion was built and developed over the years, the investments they received and about the challenges to develop a startup in Romania compared to the opportunities of the region.

Challenges of getting a startup off the ground

• The early stages were filled with challenges and uncertainties, like figuring out the technical feasibility of their idea, hiring and product development priorities, and taking the leap from stable jobs to startups.

• Despite these hurdles, their past experiences in startups helped them navigate the initial stages with the support of mentors and angel investors.

• They learned quickly that timing is critical in startups. Making hires or landing big clients at the wrong time can be detrimental.

• Mistakes were made, particularly with hiring too early, but they learned valuable lessons that helped them grow.

• Funding was an interesting journey. They expected to find investment in Western or Central Europe but were surprised to find that investors in Eastern Europe, even in Romania, were willing to take technological risks with them.

Make an impact

• This led to a rapid funding round, although subsequent rounds were tougher due to economic downturns.

• Florin stressed the importance of making a significant technological impact rather than just replicating existing solutions.

• They aimed to create something bold that addressed international market opportunities without simply catering to local needs.

• Enterprise sales posed challenges, but they overcame them by leveraging partnerships and relationships with existing resellers.

• This strategic approach enabled them to get their product into larger companies sooner than if they’d gone it alone.

• The evolving ecosystem for startups primarily in Eastern Europe is noted for having more available funding and better connections than before.

• Despite this, there is a call for diversity in startup ideas beyond the typical models that involve automation and enterprise solutions.

Regional strenghts

• The experience with investors has been mostly positive, emphasizing long-term thinking and patience.

• There's a shift towards more connected investors who add value through their networks and introductions.

• Unlike the competitive Silicon Valley, Romania offers less competition for talent, making it easier for startups to form strong teams.

• Regional strengths like resilience and a strong engineering mindset are identified as advantages.

• Florin believes that more young people will try startup ventures leading to more unicorns emerging in the next few years.

• Finally, Florin discussed cultural differences in startup development, like a lack of focus in early stages, and the cost challenges that come with rising salaries.

• However, the tenacity and ability to tackle complex problems among Romanian startups are seen as a comparative strength.

Roaring Tigers of Europe is a production by start-up.ro and Videocorp, part of the Romanian publishing company InternetCorp, active for almost 20 years on the market. The documentary was made with the support of partners BCR, Orange, and 2Performant. Community partners included Guran Consulting Global, How to Web, Launch, Impact Hub Bucharest, Flaviu Simihaian, Rubik Hub, SoftServe, and the Romanian-American University.

Watch the entire documentary in the video below: