The Romanian private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) sector has demonstrated significant contributions to job creation and economic growth, as highlighted by the Romanian Private Equity Association (ROPEA)’s annual report detailing the performance and results of the Romanian Private Equity and Venture Capital market for the years 2022 and 2023. Net job creation in private equity-backed companies increased by 7.1% (4,027 more employees in 2022 versus 2021), compared to the overall economy's increase of 2.3% in 2022, while the turnover in this category increased by €5.2 bln during the period 2019-2022. The report* was produced by ROPEA in collaboration with Deloitte Romania, based on data provided by Invest Europe, one of the largest global associations of PE and VC, and on publicly available information.
The report reveals that despite facing significant challenges due to limited local capital, the Romanian PE and VC sector has demonstrated a real potential to develop local and regional players and an increased appeal to international investors. During 2022 and 2023, the sector’s evolution was impacted significantly by the macroeconomic and geopolitical factors, and so Romania continues to be positioned among the last territories in European Union considering that the Fundraising per GDP and Investments per GDP ratios are still among the lowest. The lack of local capital (public, institutional and private) continues to be the key reason for such under-performance. However, the sector is estimated to significantly takeoff in the context of the Recovery Equity Fund (REF), a €400m Fund of Funds managed by European Investment Fund, set-up by Romanian Government under National Recovery & Resilience Plan.