Moldova Invest, 2023: the Iași office, Publicis and physical devices

Short interview with Moldova Invest at the end of the event where Tremend officially announced its office in Iași, 2023. Published 1 September 2023. I spoke as co-founder of Tremend. Topics: why the office was made official only then, why Tremend joined Publicis Groupe, the engineering profile Tremend brought to Iași, the projects behind the company’s recognition, ghiseul.ro among them.

In Romanian. The quotes are translated, with the original alongside.

§Here to stay, to build and to grow

“So what we are saying now is not only that we are here to stay, but that we are here to build, to grow and even to help the community.” („Așadar, ceea ce spunem noi acum nu este doar că suntem aici să rămânem, ci și că suntem aici să construim, să creștem și chiar să ajutăm comunitatea.”)

Why the public launch came only then: the company put the accent on getting the work done, and until then the focus had been on crystallising the team in Iași, until it took shape and became stable. Then came the moment to confirm the presence officially, especially with plans for very large growth there. The Iași team works together with the teams in Brașov, Cluj and Bucharest, and has somewhat more projects with the European Commission.

Elsewhere. Digitalio, 2023, on the same announcement: “Iași is a very vibrant tech hub.” („Iașiul este un hub tehnologic foarte vibrant”)

§Why Tremend joined Publicis: partners to grow with

“The reason we joined is that we wanted it to help us find partners to grow with in the coming period.” („Motivul pentru care ne-am alăturat este că ne-am dorit să ne ajute să găsim parteneri cu care să creștem în perioada următoare”)

That would not change the way the company works. For colleagues with the same worry, a car: “when you get a good car, you don’t want to tinker with it because it already runs well, it has everything it needs” („atunci când îți iei o mașină bună, nu vrei să umbli la ea pentru că merge deja bine, are tot ce-i trebuie”). Publicis Groupe let Tremend keep developing on the same path, and imported many of the things Tremend had developed and invented into its own culture, exposed to the whole global team, “to tens of thousands of people” („la zeci de mii de oameni”).

Elsewhere. January 2022, at the acquisition: “The first part of our journey at Tremend has been a blast, the second part is just starting!” (The second part of the journey is just starting)

§Not only apps, physical devices

“We don’t only make apps, but also physical devices.” („Noi nu facem doar aplicații ci și device-uri fizice.”)

Iași’s visibility in tech: Iași already has an inclination toward engineering, and Tremend is oriented more toward engineering products than other companies already present in the city. If that spirit is brought there, I hoped it would underline Iași’s strength even more.

Elsewhere. Ziarul Financiar, 2020: “In the past, we have also built IoT solutions. A labour of love was the medicine box, for which we built a platform on a smart box, and the platform detected the correct intake of medicines.” („În trecut, am mai construit soluţii IoT. Un proiect de suflet a fost cutiuţa de medicamente pentru care am construit o platformă pe o cutie inteligentă, iar platforma detecta consumul corepunzător de medicamente.”)

§ghiseul.ro and the IT Company of the Year award

“applications like ghișeul.ro, into which people put a lot of heart because they wanted to do something for Romania.” („aplicații precum ghișeul.ro în care oamenii au pus mult suflet pentru că își doreau să facă ceva pentru România”)

Behind the IT Company of the Year title Tremend received at the PIN awards: the projects done over time and the way the company grew, the work with clients in Romania and beyond, and the presence in Publicis Groupe. “I wanted us to grow, but I did not expect us to get this far.” („îmi doream să creștem dar nu m-am așteptat să ajungem până aici”)