Made in Romania, the program of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) for Romanian companies, will run under the name of BVB Arena starting in 2024.

BVB launched the program in 2017 to identify and promote top companies in Romania.

“When we are talking about an arena, we think first of all about a competition. BVB Arena will not be about competing but about building a community that brings together local companies, helps them grow, helps them develop,” Radu Hanga, the president of the BVB board, explained.

“When we think about the stock exchange, we think about capital. When we talk about Romanian companies, I think the visibility that a platform like BVB and its entities can offer a local company is equally important. We are changing our clothes but remain the same at the core,” he added.

At the 2023 edition of the program, BVB received 483 applications, from which 386 valid nominations were made. From these, the program’s nomination committee selected the 50 semifinalist companies. Fifteen companies were named finalists, three of them selected through a vote of the public on the platform www.investingromania.com. The finalists of the 2023 edition are listed here.

Now, the 2024 edition of BVB Arena has kicked off, with the nomination phase open until May 31. After this date, the members of the nomination committee will select the 50 semifinalists, from which the public will pick three favorites. The three companies most voted by the public will be the first finalists of the program. After the end of the public vote in July, a jury will select the 12 other finalists. The 15 finalists will be announced and awarded this fall. As it happened this year as well, a book outlining the stories of the winning companies will also be published.

In the six years of the Made in Romania program, there were 237 semifinalist and 90 finalist companies. A total of 37 financing rounds of the companies in the program took place, namely 13 share issues and 24 bond issues.

The announcement of the renaming of BVB's program for Romanian companies coincided with the launch of the sixth book on the companies included in the 2023 edition of the Made in Romania program - 15 Companies for the Growth of the Romanian Economy and their Success Stories.

(Photos: Andrei Zafiu, courtesy of BVB)

simona@romania-insider.com