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JEREMIE-financed and 3TS-backed Catalyst Romania invest over €1 million in cloud software business 123ContactForm
Bucharest, 15th June 2015 – Catalyst Romania, the leading private equity growth and venture capital fund dedicated to Romania, which supports SMEs in Technology-Media-Telecom (TMT) sector, has acquired a minority stake in 123ContactForm, a Timisoara-headquartered business which provides web forms and surveys for companies and NGOs globally. This capital increase will help 123ContactForm to develop new products, increase marketing efforts, and expand its team of 42 people.
123ContactForm started in 2010, developing an easy-to-use software for form builders. The initial team consisted of Florin Cornianu (CEO) and Tudor Bastea (CTO). In 2011 the company raised an angel investment from Adrian Gheara, who joined as an advisor and board member. Based in Timisoara, 123ContactForm provides simple tools for building web forms with rich functionalities, ranging from design options to payment and data management. Distributed as cloud-based SaaS (Software as a Service), the solutions are used by clients mainly in the English-speaking markets of USA, Canada, UK and Australia, and Spanish language markets across the globe.
“123ContactForm is a solid, well-managed, fast-growing company and has great potential to grow further globally. The investment represents a great fit for Catalyst Romania, supporting a high growth Romanian technology company with established global sales of bespoke software products. We are happy to support 123ContactForm’s further growth and have confidence in its continued success,” stated Marius Ghenea of Catalyst Romania.
“We have managed to grow and double the turnover year by year, all with our own resources and by bootstrapping. However we understand that a strong venture capital investor can help us to maximize our potential. Therefore we are very pleased to have the experienced team of 3TS Catalyst Romania joining us, sharing the risks, providing financial support, expertise and strategic guidance,” concluded Florin Cornianu, founder and CEO 123ContactForm.
Catalyst Romania is the first Romanian private equity fund and venture capital fund mainly funded by the European Investment Fund (EIF), through the JEREMIE initiative, as part of the Sectoral Operational Programme “Increase of Economic Competitiveness” 2007-2013, co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund.
Prior to 123ContactForm Catalyst Romania Fund has invested in www.avocatnet.ro, Simartis Telecom, www.elefant.ro and Green Horse Games. The fund targets local SMEs active mainly in the TMT sectors with investments ranging between 500.000 EUR and EUR 2 million. Along with the EIF, whose contribution through JEREMIE makes it the largest investor, BT Asset Management (BTAM, member of BT Financial Group), 3TS Capital Partners, and other private investors have made capital commitments to Catalyst Romania Fund. The Fund is advised by 3TS Capital Partners (www.3tscapital.com), which is one of the leading private equity and venture capital firms in Central and Eastern Europe.
“We are very happy with the expansion of the investment portfolio of Catalyst Romania. And we are confident the new investment provides a positive signal to the SMEs that the JEREMIE financed fund is a valuable resource for financial support and strategic guidance, available to help businesses grow in technology, media and telecommunication industries”, added Hubert Cottogni, Head of Mandate Management at EIF European Investment Fund.
