Teodor Ivașcu is the founder of Kloth Invest, one of Romania’s most dynamic consulting firms specializing in non-reimbursable funding. He founded the company in April 2022, at just 20 years old, while still a law student, with no prior experience but a clear mission: to bring tangible value to a market often characterized by skepticism and a lack of transparency through a different approach. Four years later, Kloth Invest manages projects worth more than €33 million for entrepreneurs, companies, and public authorities, guided by a commitment they have publicly embraced: “We Dare to Succeed”—from the initial assessment to the final document.

C&B: How would you describe yourself in a single sentence to capture the attention of someone who doesn’t know you?

Teodor: I am the entrepreneur who started from failure: my own non-reimbursable funding project did not succeed, and instead of stopping there, I turned that experience into a business that today helps entrepreneurs and public institution representatives navigate grant funding correctly and secure the financing they need for growth—with transparency, professionalism, and determination.

C&B: Looking back, what has been the “common thread” guiding your professional journey?

Teodor: That common thread begins with that very failure and what it triggered. Frustration led me to research, research revealed how poorly understood this market truly is, and the desire to change the experience I had personally gone through became my first step into entrepreneurship. That is how Kloth Invest was born.

Since then, one principle has remained constant in every important decision: refusing to accept that “this is how things are done in the market” is a valid argument. Every time I had to choose between the easy path and the right path, I tried to choose the right one, even when it came at a higher short-term cost. I believe that consistently making this kind of choice is what separates a business that endures from one that merely gets started.

C&B: What was a difficult moment or failure that truly changed you?

Teodor: You might expect me to say “the initial failure,” but the truth is that it was only the catalyst. The truly difficult moments came afterward, from within the business itself. Grant consulting is an extremely competitive field where cash flow is difficult to manage, skilled professionals are even harder to find, and the difference between a successful and an unsuccessful project often comes down to a single detail. During these four years of activity, I have experienced challenges with a much greater impact than that first failed project.

What has never changed is my refusal to give up. In every difficult situation, I focused on solutions, results, opportunities, and building something that would work and stand the test of time. I learned to draw lessons from every experience, good or bad, to surround myself with the right people, and to part ways with those who held us back. Real growth comes from continuous learning, perseverance, and hard work, while always keeping the mission, vision, and long-term goals in sight.

C&B: What is one bold—or perhaps counterintuitive—decision that significantly influenced your career path?

Teodor: Taking out financing and redefining our business model during a period when things were not going according to plan or expectations.

Conventional wisdom says that when times get tough, you should cut back, scale down, and wait. I did the opposite: I invested and rebuilt because an objective assessment of the situation showed that the greatest risk was not taking on financing—it was remaining trapped in a business model that no longer worked.

It was not an isolated episode. There were several key moments when, instead of giving up, we looked for ways to adapt, reshape our direction, and test solutions until we found the right path. The result of those decisions is the company we have today: a business that has grown organically while taking on increasingly large-scale projects.

C&B: How have you evolved over time as a leader and as a professional?

Teodor: Every challenge has gradually transformed me into a more resilient version of myself—better prepared for the future and even more determined to pursue the vision we established from the very beginning.

In the period immediately after launching Kloth Invest, I made decisions quickly, on my own, and often based on instinct. That was simply the survival mode of a startup. Today, I make decisions differently: I rely much more on my team, on ongoing discussions, on carefully analyzing every situation, and on structures that do not depend on a single person.

The pressure has not disappeared. In fact, the size and complexity of our projects have only increased it. However, I have learned to manage that pressure through clarity of direction and by surrounding myself with the right people, rather than simply working longer hours.

Perhaps the most important change is that I replaced the need to solve everything myself with the responsibility of creating an environment where others can perform at their best.

C&B: What do you think the people who work closely with you would say about you beyond your public image?

Teodor: Based on the frequent and very open conversations I have with my team, I believe people have experienced my constant presence—as a source of support, leadership, problem-solving, and someone who keeps moving forward together with the team, regardless of the circumstances.

I always strive to remain approachable and balanced, to make the necessary decisions while continuing to learn from every experience and interaction. I certainly do not have all the answers, and there have undoubtedly been situations I did not handle perfectly.

At Kloth Invest, however, I believe we have built a team in the truest sense of the word. Everyone contributes where and when they are needed, and during difficult times we have always found solutions together. There is mutual respect, appreciation, and professionalism among us—exactly the kind of culture Kloth Invest needs to achieve outstanding results.

C&B: What truly sets you apart in the way you build and lead?

Teodor: I believe the difference begins with the fact that I was once sitting on the other side of the table.

I was the entrepreneur who was given high expectations but very little value in return, who did not understand the process and ultimately paid the price for it. That experience shaped the way I build and lead. I have never forgotten what it feels like to face a lack of transparency and support, so I made humanity, authenticity, and professionalism not just marketing messages but a personal way of working—one that I later embedded throughout the entire company.

C&B: How has today’s context—technology, AI, and the economy—changed the way you work?

Teodor: Technology has helped us address one of the industry’s real challenges: communication and process transparency. A funding project spans several years and involves dozens of deadlines, documents, and clarification requests. Among the most common causes of delays are seemingly simple situations: the client was unaware of a deadline, missed an email, or did not fully understand what was required and by when.

That is precisely why we developed our own client portal and a mobile application through which beneficiaries can monitor their projects, documents, and deadlines in real time. For us, digitalization has had one clear purpose: eliminating exactly those situations that, in practice, lead to missed deadlines and compromised projects, while also standardizing the consultant-beneficiary collaboration.

As for artificial intelligence, our approach is very clear: our consultants work with AI, not instead of AI. Whenever a new funding guide or a corrigendum containing hundreds of pages is published, our team uses AI tools to quickly identify changes and critical points. However, the analysis, interpretation, and decisions made for each client remain entirely the responsibility of our consultants.

Technology gives us speed, but it cannot replace professional judgment. Anyone who believes business plans and funding applications can simply be generated automatically overlooks what truly matters: these documents must reflect real data, solid economic justification, and the beneficiary’s specific circumstances. Evaluators can easily recognize generic AI-generated content.

As for the current economic environment, part of the market is still attracted to grants by the idea of “free money.” However, the direction is becoming increasingly clear: regulations are growing more transparent and more stringent, and the funding system is increasingly distinguishing and prioritizing well-founded, serious projects, including those that combine grants with financial instruments and co-financing.

For us, this evolution is welcome. As standards continue to rise, it becomes even more important for beneficiaries to work with a partner capable of building strong, sustainable projects.

C&B: Is there a habit or routine that has had a significant impact on your performance?

Teodor: I wouldn’t necessarily call it a routine, but there is one habit that has changed my trajectory: I constantly seek organic mentorship from people I genuinely admire—people with proven results who are willing to share their experience.

From time to time, I deliberately step away from day-to-day operations and meet with these individuals. I am fortunate to have many of them in my network, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank every one of them. Very often, a piece of advice received at the right moment, a helping hand, or simply a course correction has been worth far more than weeks of additional work.

It is a gradual transition from the way I approached things in the beginning, when I tried to do almost everything on my own. Over time, I realized that success is always about people—it is about moving forward together. That is the only way to grow in a healthy and sustainable manner.

C&B: What principles guide your most important decisions?

Teodor: On a personal level, I filter every major decision through several principles: being honest, even when the truth is uncomfortable; never committing to something I cannot deliver; and evaluating every choice from a long-term perspective rather than focusing on immediate gains.

These principles were shaped by my own experiences, including my failures, and they have protected me from many decisions that initially seemed convenient but ultimately would have been the wrong ones.

We have embedded these same principles into Kloth Invest, where they have become selectivity, transparency, and continuity. We do not take on a project if we do not believe in its chances of success, we tell clients the truth from the very beginning, and our commitment does not end once the application has been submitted.

C&B: How do you see your industry evolving over the next three to five years?

Teodor: I hope—and I believe—we will see a natural filtering of consulting firms along with proper market standardization. Beneficiaries will increasingly ask for evidence, verifiable portfolios, references, and measurable results, while those who have relied on unrealistic promises will naturally disappear from the market.

At the same time, projects will become more complex. Funding will continue to be available, but primarily for those who are prepared—for those who understand trends, priorities, and real financing and development needs, such as renewable energy, digitalization, cybersecurity, and the proper modernization of factories and production facilities.

As these changes unfold, value will shift away from simply obtaining grants toward structuring financing solutions. Non-reimbursable funding will increasingly become one component of a broader financing mix that includes bank loans, financial instruments, and equity.

The consultant of the future will not be the person who simply writes funding applications, but the one who knows how to structure the entire financing strategy behind an investment.

C&B: What role do you aim to play in that evolution?

Teodor: Our goal is to become an essential partner for companies and public authorities throughout Romania. We know—and have already demonstrated—that we can support any type of project, from investments worth tens of thousands of euros to multi-million-euro initiatives, provided that the beneficiary is fully prepared to access and successfully implement non-reimbursable funding.

To those who do not yet know us or have not placed their trust in us, I would like to extend an open invitation: dare to take the next step. Dare to develop impactful projects, explore opportunities for scaling your business, and discover the right way to access non-reimbursable funding.

The impact we seek is easy to measure: European funds that are put to work in the real economy—in production facilities, technology, and job creation.

C&B: What genuine advice would you give someone who wants to build something meaningful today?

Teodor: I would start with the foundation: define your long-term objectives and mission with absolute clarity. A clear sense of direction is the only thing that keeps you moving forward during difficult times—and those moments always come.

From there, everything comes down to attitude: ambition, patience, and courage, combined with a continuous investment in your own development. Projects and businesses that create real impact require hard work, sacrifice, and resilience.

Most importantly, I would recommend avoiding opportunism in favor of building solid business models that create genuine value. What is gained quickly through shortcuts often comes at a much higher cost later. A business built on authentic value may grow more slowly, but it endures.

C&B: What is an uncomfortable truth about your industry that very few people talk about?

Teodor: The uncomfortable truth is that in Romania, nearly twenty years after joining the European Union, the mechanisms and opportunities related to non-reimbursable funding are still not properly understood or fully utilized. This is not a funding problem—it is an education and trust problem.

What we truly need is a nationwide effort focused on awareness, education, and transparency, for the benefit of everyone: ensuring the full absorption of the European funds allocated to Romania across all funding programs and priorities.

There is another uncomfortable truth that is equally rarely discussed: not every business deserves funding, and an honest consultant must have the courage to say so openly.

Sometimes, the most valuable thing you can offer an entrepreneur is not a submitted funding application, but a well-reasoned “no”—one that saves them from years of pursuing the wrong direction or becoming trapped in an unviable project.

This interview with Teodor Ivașcu, founder of Kloth Invest, provides an authentic perspective on modern entrepreneurship, leadership, and the role of European funding in supporting the growth of businesses and public institutions.

The post Teodor Ivașcu, Kloth Invest: “I turned failure into a company managing projects worth over €33 Million” appeared first on careers-business.com.