The percentage of Romanian companies which did not receive a positive answer when applying for finance in 2014 is down 6 percentage points from last year, according to the EY study - Romanian entrepreneurs’ access to funding, which gives a positive signal to entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial companies looking for funding.
This second edition of the study examines the perceptions of 125 entrepreneurs regarding the funding environment in Romania, 56% of them owning companies with a turnover of less than EUR 1 million, 23% companies with a turnover between EUR 1-15 million and 21% of them a turnover exceeding EUR 15 million. Most of the 125 respondents are young entrepreneurs, under the age of 40.
Over half of Romanian companies that accessed funding said they received the latest round of funding last year, while the share of those who received their last funding more than four years ago fell by 3 percentage points. Therefore, companies are beginning to finance their business needs in an accelerated mode, as the funding and investment environment improves.

Funding for investments is booming
Most of the funding obtained by entrepreneurs was directed to investments, exceeding 60% of the total and registering a spectacular increase over last year, of nearly 20 percentage points.

Negative outlook over funding given the 2014 macroeconomic developments
Romanian entrepreneurs are not very optimistic about the prospects of access to funding in the future. More than half of the entrepreneurs who answered the survey consider that the macroeconomics trends of 2014 will not have a positive effect on access to funding.

Bank loans took a downward trend, while European funds increase in entrepreneurs’ funding options
Bank credit continues to remain the most important source of funding for entrepreneurs, but the trend is decreasing (-10 percentage points), falling below 50% of preferences.

The second source of funding considered by entrepreneurs is represented by European funds, whose share has almost doubled in preference compared to last year, reaching 26%.

State aid represents only to a very small extent (1%) an option to fund entrepreneurial projects, despite the Romanian state’s efforts to implement various aid schemes.

Entrepreneur - sponsor relationship
Most companies haven’t changed their sponsor for the last two years, which suggests either a lack of options or the fact that they are satisfied with the terms of the obtained funding. The entrepreneur who changed his sponsor the most compared to the rest of the survey’s respondents said that he made such a change no less than 8 times in the last two years.

On average, Romanian entrepreneurs talk to their sponsor every 10 days, but there are entrepreneurs who consult their sponsor daily, whether it is a bank, investment fund, angel investor or other type of investor.

70% of entrepreneurs are constantly monitoring their level of debt
For 20% of the entrepreneurial companies included in the study, the monitoring of debt level is done by an employee other than the entrepreneur, 9% do not monitor indebtedness, while only 1% said they did not know how they could monitor this indicator.

Attractive sectors
In terms of ease of attracting funding, entrepreneurs believe that the IT sector continues to be in the first position, registering however a sharp drop compared to last year's responses, from 39% in 2013 to only 25% in 2014. Other sectors taken into account - agriculture, green energy and production are all perceived positive regarding attractiveness for sponsors.

The quality of the business plan - the most important factor in obtaining funding
For most of the entrepreneurs, the quality of the business plan remains, as in our previous study, the most important factor in obtaining funding.

The business idea remains last in order of importance, but records the fastest growth, by 5 percentage points, reaching 14%. Between these two extremes responses included the quality of the team and previous experience of business, financial history and quality guarantees.

Independence in business decisions
The decisive factor for entrepreneurs in choosing a funding offer represents, as last year, maintaining independence in business decisions (36% of respondents), followed by the lowest cost (23%) and quality of guarantees (17%).

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About the Study
The second edition of Romanian entrepreneurs’ access to finance study examines the perceptions of 125 entrepreneurs regarding the funding environment in Romania, 56% of them owning companies with a turnover of less than EUR 1 million, 23% companies with a turnover between EUR 1-15 million and 21% a turnover exceeding EUR 15 million. Most of the 125 respondents are young entrepreneurs under the age of 40.



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About EY Romania
EY is one of the world's leading professional services firms with approximately 167,000 employees in 700 offices across 140 countries, and revenues of approximately $24.4 billion in 2012. Our network is the most integrated at global level and its vast resources allow us to help our clients benefit from every opportunity. In Romania, EY has been a leader on the professional services market since its set up in 1992. Our over 450 employees in Romania and Moldova provide seamless assurance, tax, transactions, and advisory services to clients ranging from multinationals to local companies. Our offices are based in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara, Iasi and Chisinau. From 1 July 2013, Ernst & Young becomes EY, the logo has been modified in response to this change and the company's new tagline becomes "Building a better working world". The new visual identity reflects the new strategy of EY, Vision 2020. For more information, please visit www.ey.com.