This article series tells the stories of the 15 finalists selected in the Made in Romania 2023 program. Made in Romania is the flagship program of the Bucharest Stock Exchange dedicated to the development and promotion of the Romanian entrepreneurial environment. The program’s goal is to select and promote Romanian companies that have the greatest growth potential and high chances of becoming impactful players in the local and even regional economy. As of 2024, the Made in Romania program has been rebranded BVB Arena.

Ascendia (stock symbol: ASC) was founded in 2007 driven by the dream to change the education system with the help of technology. The founders of Ascendia, Cosmin and Alex Mălureanu, come from a family of teachers and, growing up in the academic environment, they felt that things could be significantly better. They saw an urgent need in the market for modernizing the learning process and making it more efficient, which motivated them to develop technological solutions in this area of digital education - e-Learning.

“With Ascendia, we set out to change the way people learn and teach. We have developed services, platforms and e-Learning applications that provide access to high-quality educational resources, in an interactive and personalized way”, says Alex Mălureanu, co-founder of Ascendia.

An important moment in the company's history was the listing on the Bucharest Stock Exchange in 2016, under the symbol ASC, which increased transparency and provided the company with additional opportunities for growth and development. This event marked a turning point in Ascendia's history, strengthening the confidence of investors and partners.

“We constantly work with over 62 leading companies in Romania to which we offer our e-Learning products and services. We are very interested in the quality of the solutions offered, that is why we also organically increase the number of our customers. We have also expanded our market presence through strategic partnerships such as those with Microsoft and Samsung. Currently, in Ascendia, we are a team of 59 people who are specialized only on e-Learning projects”, adds Cosmin Mălureanu.

Company identity

One of the main goals of the company was to make education more accessible and flexible. The Ascendia team has created interactive and adaptable content so that employees can learn at their own pace and especially according to their own needs. At the same time, it provided business professionals, teachers, and educational institutions with powerful tools to create and deliver educational content, as well as monitor student and employee progress.

“We believe very strongly in the impact of products. Proprietary products can help a company scale much more healthily globally, maintaining and even increasing the quality of deliverables as they grow. We provide modern e-Learning solutions for various educational areas such as public education, corporate training, health education and edutainment. Our core values include «innovation», we offer advanced digital learning solutions integrating emerging technologies, «quality», we focus on developing high-quality products and services that meet the real needs of the educational sphere and «accessibility», we aim to make more accessible education through easy-to-use technological solutions”, says Alex Mălureanu, co-founder of Ascendia.

Secrets of success

Shifting the company's focus from services to products was an extremely important factor. One of Ascendia's strengths has been starting the development of educational products since the middle ages of digital education in Romania. The company started by building CoffeeLMS for the companies area and the EduTeca Collection for the kindergartens and schools area, which significantly contributed to the company's success. On the other hand, Ascendia has effectively responded to rapid changes in technology by integrating artificial intelligence into its educational platforms and applications. So OpenAI GPT-4 has been integrated into the LIVRESQ and CoffeeLMS products.

“The listing has also influenced our long-term business strategy. Access to capital has enabled us to invest in new growth initiatives, explore new markets and develop innovative products. We have been able to accelerate development plans for our educational platforms, such as LIVRESQ (already available in 14 languages of international circulation) and CoffeeLMS, and strengthen strategic partnerships both locally and internationally. The IPO was a defining moment for Ascendia, allowing us not only to expand our operations, but also to strengthen our commitment to innovation and excellence in e-Learning. LIVRESQ is now in over 6,400 educational institutions in Romania and the Republic of Moldova and recently, part of the largest project to modernize the educational sector in Romania – EduLib”, adds Cosmin Mălureanu, co-founder of Ascendia.

Future plans

The company's long-term vision includes expanding its presence in international markets and strengthening strategic partnerships with important educational and technological entities.

Ascendia is dedicated to continuous innovation within its products, with a strong focus on integrating AI technology to facilitate the process of creating educational content and provide more personalized and effective learning experiences. The company is committed to developing new products and services that align with emerging trends in education and technology, thus staying at the forefront of the e-Learning sector.

“We believe in the growth of the local ecosystem of companies and for this reason we are involved in the project «Skills in advanced technologies for SMEs» launched by the Authority for the Digitization of Romania. The consortium led by Ascendia is one of the partners that will form over 2000 small and medium-sized enterprises by strengthening the digital skills of employees”, says Cosmin Mălureanu, co-founder of Ascendia.

In the next three years, the company also plans strong expansion in other European markets. It has already started to take steps in this direction, already signing a framework contract with the Council of Europe.

“This contract is not only a recognition of the expertise and quality of e-Learning solutions offered by Ascendia, but also a significant step in international expansion. By collaborating with a prestigious institution such as the Council of Europe, Ascendia positions itself as an important player on the European digital education scene. This partnership will allow us to bring our expertise and innovative solutions to a much wider audience and contribute to the formation of the next generation of educational tools at the European level”, explains the co-founder of Ascendia, Cosmin Mălureanu.

What it means to be a “Made in Romania” brand

The e-Learning market in Romania is far below the international average. Reluctance to technology in education remains high. However, in recent years, Ascendia's founders have noticed a positive change in perception and a growing openness to e-Learning. This was also accelerated by the needs imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which demonstrated the importance and effectiveness of digital education. Currently, the Romanian market is gradually starting to align with international standards, with an increase in demand for innovative and personalized educational digital solutions.

“It is important to note that although progress is evident, there are still some challenges specific to the local market, such as limited technological infrastructure in some areas and the need for greater awareness of the benefits of e-Learning among educational institutions. At Ascendia, we have focused our efforts to respond to these challenges by developing educational solutions that are accessible, easy to use and adapted to the specific needs of the Romanian market”, says Alex Mălureanu.

By far, the most important markets for Ascendia are Romania and the Republic of Moldova. The company has a consolidated presence and a well-established network in these regions, has been able to develop and implement e-Learning solutions that meet the specific needs of these markets.

*The Romanian version of this article was published in the Made in Romania 2023 booklet, which gathers the stories of the 15 finalist companies selected last year in the Made in Romania program. A new edition of the program, now branded BVB Arena, started in April 2024. More details about the program are available here.