TLDR:
– Catalyst Romania Fund I successfully exits SmartBill by selling its remaining shares to Visma, marking a successful exit for the portfolio.
– SmartBill, a Romanian provider of cloud-based invoicing services, experienced nearly 20-fold growth since Catalyst’s initial investment.
Catalyst Romania Fund I has recently announced another successful exit, selling its remaining shares in SmartBill, a Romanian provider of cloud-based invoicing, inventory, and accounting services for SMEs, to the Norwegian Group Visma. This exit marks a successful milestone for the fund’s portfolio, as Catalyst Romania Fund I was the first early-stage venture capital fund in Romania, having invested more than €12M in 10 Romanian tech companies in recent years.
The journey of growth with Catalyst as an investor and partner has been remarkable for SmartBill, witnessing nearly 20-fold growth since Catalyst’s initial investment. The company, founded in 2006, raised a €1.1M round in 2016 led by Catalyst Romania and has experienced annual revenue increases ranging from 30% to 60%. The successful exit of SmartBill follows other notable exits for Catalyst Romania Fund I, such as Green Horse Games being sold to Miniclip and Vector Watch being sold to FitBit.
Both the founders of SmartBill and investors from Catalyst Romania highlighted the importance of the partnership and collaboration in achieving the company’s success. SmartBill’s CEO expressed gratitude for the support and guidance provided by Catalyst and Marius Ghenea throughout the journey, while Catalyst’s Managing Partner emphasized the need for fund investors to exit companies at a certain point, given the limited lifetime of investment structures.
Visma’s Business Area Director also commended the growth journey of SmartBill and the collaboration with Catalyst, noting the positive impact of local market knowledge and broad experience in entrepreneurship in shaping the company’s direction and focus. The successful sale of SmartBill’s shares to Visma signifies a significant achievement for Catalyst Romania Fund I and the Romanian tech ecosystem.
