Hidden Champions of Romania

The Romanian hidden champions were born in an economy that is catching up with the rest of the EU member states in terms of GDP per capita and productivity. The three hidden champions presented in this chapter are operating in industries with fast technological changes. They define the interconnected society that we all live in production of electronic devices with communication technologies, production of software, and provision of digital services for the marketing of companies. Their competitiveness in Romania represents a solid foundation for international expansion, all of them having proved their competitiveness on a global scale. Electra is selling electronic devices in Germany, Grapefruit is selling digital services to major global companies like Renault, Philip Morris or Pepsi and Romsoft is selling software to one of the world’s leading companies of lab medical devices. Although they have advantages in terms of labor costs, these are not the current drivers of competitiveness, as the companies rely more on the technical know-how of employees and the internal dynamics that rapidly generate new products or services, allowing the continuous expansion and growth of the business. All three hidden champions are direct beneficiaries of the simplicity of trading across borders in the EU and stand apart in the Romanian economic landscape in terms of human capital, business sophistication, and innovation.