The BBC has published in the business section of its website a story on the Romanian-born cybersecurity brand Bitdefender and its founders, Florin and Mariuca Talpes.

The feature traces the story of the now global brand to the 1989 Romanian revolution and the moments afterwards, when the two founders did not know if they could keep their jobs in the government's computer research institute.

The couple decided to quit their state jobs and start their own company as early as January 1990. While the mother of Mariuca Talpes opposed the idea, her actor father provided USD 300 to help get the business going.

In its early version, the business was called Softwin and its first client came from France. The BBC article details the learning process of moving to a free market and the transformation into today’s Bitdefender, a provider of cyber-security and anti-virus software with annual revenues of more than USD 120 million. The company is evaluated at USD 600 million.

The feature also touches on some of the perceptions the two founders had to overcome for coming from Romania but also the good reputation that Romanians have within the IT industry.

The BBC article on Bitdefender can be read here.

Last year, Bitdefender bought French company Profil Technology in a move to accelerate its growth on the enterprise segment.

Romanian IT group Bitdefender brings American and Brit to develop sales channels

Bitdefender moves production from China to Northern Romania

editor@romania-insider.com