123FormBuilder: simplifying online forms

Florin Cornianu and Tudor Bastea, founders of 123FormBuilder, originally worked as engineers for multinational companies while developing software in their free time ‘for the extra buck’. In the process of creating websites for clients, they designed an online tool that gave users the ability to create forms for different purposes with no need for any sort of expertise. The product had potential and people liked it, so they took the leap and dedicated themselves full-time to this project.

“We realized this was useful for small businesses, service providers, event organizers, website owners and many others”, explains Florin, CEO. “It was a simple, easy-to-use solution. That’s why we initially named the company 123ContactForm and later 123FormBuilder”.

Based in Timisoara, 123FormBuilder offers a software tool that works as an online platform where clients can login, design a form, and easily embed it onto their website. The ease-of-use and functionality of 123FormBuilder’s solutions meant the business quickly expanded, as more clients adopted the software.

“In mid-2015, we started looking for investment to fund this growth and get more expertise to push the business forward”, explains Florin, “we turned to Catalyst because we knew and trusted them. They provided us with good insights in many areas of the business.” Catalyst Romania is the first private equity and venture capital fund designed for Romania, with backing from EIF.

The investment went mostly into developing R&D, marketing and sales, with the company growing organically across all departments and the team expanding from around 30 employees to 85. “Without the investment, we would have been limited in both size and ambition. Most of the knowledge we gathered over the last few years would be missing.” The company has since quadrupled revenue, with most of its customers being international and the United States representing 60% of sales.

Company: 123FormBuilder (Romania)

Financial Intermediary: Catalyst Fund

Type of business: ICT

EIF financing: JEREMIE Romania

For further information about EIF intermediaries in Romania, please refer to: http://www.eif.org/what_we_do/where/ro