Sparking Capital obtains the authorisation from the Romanian Financial Supervisory Authority as a fund and manager of alternative investment funds

Sparking Capital obtains from the Romanian Financial Supervisory Authority the authorisation approval as an alternative investment fund in order to strengthen its operating framework on the local capital market.

Both Sparking Capital’s request for registration as an A.I.F.A. alternative investment fund manager and the registration in the A.S.F. public register, as well as the authorisation as an A.I.F. alternative investment fund have been approved.

As a result, Sparking Capital is the first venture capital fund, which invests in technology companies, registered by A.S.F in Romania, in accordance with the new legislation in force.

Vlad Panait, Managing Partner & Founder Sparking Capital – “We are happy to have succeeded in completing the A.S.F authorisation process and to be the first venture capital fund registered in Romania, investing in technology companies. We aim to continue our investment plans locally and to constantly contribute to the development of the local start-up ecosystem. By mid-2023 our main target is to reach 4-5 new investments and invest an additional amount of €3.5 million.”

Since its inception, the company has invested around €3 million in local technology start-ups, adding €6 million invested by the co-investors.

Cristian Negruțiu, Founding Partner Sparking Capital – “The authorisation received from A.S.F Romania represents a step forward to our company and further evidence that we would like to contribute to the development of the Romanian entrepreneurial environment in the most sustainable way. We expect the authorisation process and the legislation to be simplified, so that more and more venture capital funds choose to register in Romania. Last but not least, we would like to thank the A.S.F. team for their openness and understanding, as well as our partners at Boanță, Gîdei and Associates for their legal support in the authorisation process.”

Sparking Capital’s mission is to contribute to the development of the local entrepreneurial ecosystem through constant investments, transfer of know-how and skills, coaching and mentoring for the founding teams, carried out directly or through partners, in order to reach their full potential. At the same time, the company aims to provide investors with gross returns, which are above other asset classes.

Vlad Sarca, Partner Sparking Capital – “We intend to invest in teams of entrepreneurs who have developed truly innovative products and who actively support the international expansion of software products developed in Romania. Most of the companies we have invested in so far provide software solutions to customers in Europe, America, Asia, Africa and even Australia, and the investments they have received have contributed to their accelerated growth and the facilitation of over 130 jobs opportunities”

Sparking Capital’s portfolio currently includes 12 local start-ups from different industries such as travel-tech, consumer-tech, marketing-tech, fin-tech, prop-tech, smart automation, fitness-tech, AI speech recognition technology, circular economy, and other verticals. These include Questo, Evertoys, ProductLead, Symphopay, Bright Spaces, EcoTree, Instant Spaces, Bankata, Vatis Tech, Sypher, KFactory and Hyperhuman.

In addition to investments, Sparking Capital is constantly analyzing and assessing the potential of the local start-up ecosystem. Thus, according to Sparking Capital specialists, among the most promising categories where local start-ups can innovate and grow in the coming period are cybersecurity, robotic process automation (RPA), gaming and fin-tech.

“In Romania we have skilled human resources in the area of RPA, cyber security, gaming, crypto, fin-tech and more. The technical skills of the programmers are aligned with the European standards, however at much lower costs than in Western Europe. All these aspects meet the global trends that have been noticed for some time. The automation of repetitive processes  with limited human assistance (RPA) is an acute need for companies looking to increase productivity, cyber threats accentuated even more by the conflict at Romania’s borders  which require additional protective measures, children are digital natives since early stages which offers new prospects for the gaming industry, and higher bank costs, fees and underserved segments of population and businesses create the proper environment for developing new fin-tech solutions.” added Vlad Panait, Managing Partner & Founder Sparking Capital

For further details about Sparking Capital’s business, please visit www.sparkingcapital.com.

###

Sparking Capital is a venture capital investment fund which finances start-ups in their early stages and is based in Bucharest. Sparking Capital makes pre-seed and seed investments in innovative tech companies from consumer-tech, fin-tech, supply chain-tech, property-tech, marketing-tech, smart automation, cyber secuirty and sustainability verticals.

Founders

Vlad Panait, Managing Partner, Founder Sparking Capital, Associate Professor ASE. Vlad Panait has acquired over 20 years of international commercial experience with leading multinational companies in different industries, countries, and continents, having top management positions and board memberships. His corporate experience is complemented by  the entrepreneurial experience in the venture capital industry as CEO and Founder of Sparking Capital.

Cristian Negruțiu, Founding Partner Sparking Capital, Associate Professor ASE. Cristian Negruțiu has a vast experience gained in various executive positions since 2000. He has managed large and diverse teams and developed several local and regional projects, being responsible for the strategy and the results of his division. He is currently in the stage of completing his PhD dissertation, a research on entrepreneurship and supply chain.

Vlad Sarca, Partner Sparking Capital is a serial entrepreneur with experience in international expansion, managing to grow his own company in over 10 countries and making 2 successful exits. His practical experience is complemented by extensive postgraduate studies at Said Business School – University of Oxford, Kellogg Business School – Northwestern University Chicago or WHU Düsseldorf.