The awards were presented for the 11th year in a row and their purpose is to highlight stimulating examples of successes in the fight against the informal economy and to enchance leading institutions and individuals with an active position and contribution in limiting the gray economy. The ceremony was attended by the Chief Executive Officer of Invest Sofia, Maria Hristova PhD.
Bozhidar Bozhanov, a deputy from PP-DB took the prize in the category for a normative act or administrative practice that leads to the limitation of the gray economy. A group of people’s representatives received the award for the changes in the Labor Code, starting the transition from a paper to an electronic occupational license. The Bulgarian National Bank was awarded for an organization that contributes to the restriction of the informal economy. And the general director of the Bulgarian News Agency – Kiril Valchev took the prize in the category of journalist and media that contributed to changing public attitudes towards the informal economy.
The event “BUSINESS MASTERY – the platinum rule in business” is part of ActionCOACH’s latest program for managers and business owners, which combines the advantages of a unique business club, training program, business consulting and networking at the same time. The goal is to help business owners achieve real results while enjoying the process of running a business. For the last 4 years, the business consulting company has worked with over 120 businesses and 5 large municipalities in the country.
The event took place on March 20th in Sofia Tech Park. One of the presenters at the event was Viktor Goussev – head of the “Investment Analysis” department at Invest Sofia who presented the business ecosystem in Sofia. The CEO of the Agency, Maria Hristova PhD , also attended the event.
PechaKucha is a global movement that started 11 years ago and events of this format are held in over 1,200 cities around the world. Their main goal is to connect professionals from different fields to exchange ideas, create new contacts and opportunities. About 1,000 people participated in the event in Sofia, among them representatives of startups and established companies in the creative sector. All presentations will be available on the YouTube channel of the organizers https://www.youtube.com/@pknsofia
“Together we are stronger” – this was the motto of the event organized by Invest Sofia and the Bilateral Chamber of Commerce Bulgaria – Romania (BCCBR), where students from the University of Economics in Bucharest met and talked with representatives of Bulgarian and international companies with offices in Bulgaria. “It is our pleasure to host this event.One of our main goals is exactly the support of foreign companies that want to set up business in Sofia,” stated the CEO of Invest Sofia, Maria Hristova PhD at the opening of the meeting. “The idea of this meeting is to find out what is happening in Bulgaria from a business point of view. It may be important for you to know how cooperation and bilateral relations contribute to the development of entrepreneurship in Bulgaria and Romania,” said the president of BCCBR Doru Dragomir.
The young entrepreneurs from the Bucharest University of Economics, which is the largest of its kind in Southeast Europe, were most interested in business development opportunities and finding partners in Bulgaria. A large number of them have start-ups or work in family companies. Among the young people were those with start-up businesses in the field of material recycling, companies for the creation of solar parks, for security in rail transport, hotels and restaurants and real estate trade.
Kristin Dermendzhiev a chief expert from the “Investment Analysis” department at Invest Sofia, presented to the students the various initiatives of the Agency in support of companies that want to establish or develop their business in the Bulgarian capital, as well as Invest Sofia’s partner network, which can provide support to new entrepreneurs. One of the companies that is part of the Agency’s network – Easy Consult was presented by the Managing Director – Alexander Georgiev. The company has over 20 years of experience in the field of human resources, has 2 offices in Romania and has been working on the local market for several years. Vesselin Mavrodiev – Head of Business Unit Transformers
at CERB Group presented the activities of the company, which has 75 years of experience in the energy sector and is developing its business in Romania as well. Radoslav Nedelchev – Country Manager of the global marketing and communication network Dentsu and Chief Client Officer South East Europe told the students about the importance of understanding cultural differences when establishing partnerships and developing business in
On March 8th the Konrad Adenauer Foundation organized the event “Women in Focus: New Paths, Equal Opportunities”. It was attended by Dr. Maria Hristova and Radostina Belcheva, chief expert at Invest Sofia. The meeting was opened by the ambassador of the Republic of Germany in Bulgaria Irene Maria Plank, the main speakers were the CEO of the Insurance Company “Bulstrad” Svetla Nestorova, Tanya Georgieva from the German-Bulgarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Kristina Baksanova from bTV and the co-founder of the research center “Trend” Evelina Slavkova.
The CEO of Invest Sofia, Dr. Maria Hristova, participated in the conference “EmpowerHer: Elevate to Excellence”, organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria on the occasion of the International Women’s Day – March 8. The EmpowerHer initiative was launched in 2022 between the American Chambers of Commerce in Europe, the American Chamber of Commerce in the European Union and the US Department of Commerce. The main objective of the event is to increase the economic empowerment of women in the workplace and women’s entrepreneurship. Among the main points of the initiative are improving the business environment for women, identification of opportunities and mechanisms for raising awareness of the depth and significance of the topic among various stakeholders.
The program of the conference “EmpowerHer: Elevate to Excellence” includes a panel discussion “Lead and Inspire” and a presentation of the European initiative “INVEST’HER: Encouraging entrepreneurship among women”, which aims to overcome the imbalance in women’s access to finance for entrepreneurship in the EU countries and to build a network of investors and start-up companies, which through the sharing of experience and knowledge will support the building of capacity, contacts and opportunities for the development of women’s entrepreneurship.
The contribution and leadership of women should be a priority in order to create together an innovation ecosystem that supports creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship. This was said by the outgoing Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maria Gabriel, at the opening of the forum. Ivan Mihailov-the CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce stated that the Chamber is dedicated to promoting equality, inclusion, non-discrimination in all aspects of business and society. The Municipal Councilor from the Metropolitan Municipal Council and Chairwoman of the organization “GERB Women”, Ekaterina Yordanova, addressed the organizers and partners of the event with the words: “Women bring creativity and constructiveness, which have the power to change societies for the better, but today’s forum also shows that all we still need more confidence and more mutual support. I appeal to the representatives of the business organizations, the non-governmental and academic sectors, to the ladies belonging to all political parties with an appeal for common work not only in the month of the Woman, but also throughout the year!”.
The Bulgarian Investment Agency awarded the most significant investment projects implemented in 2023. The official ceremony was attended by the Chief Executive Officer of Invest Sofia Dr. Maria Hristova and Viktor Gusev, Head of the Investment Analysis Department.
The big award “Investor of the Year” was received by “Schneider Electric Bulgaria” and was presented by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maria Gabriel.
The award categories this year were: “Investor of the Year 2023”, “Innovative Product”, “Successful Startup”, “Sustainable Business”, “Municipality in Bulgaria with the most investments for 2023”, “Investment with a low carbon footprint” “, “Investment with a high contribution to development in the region”, “Investment in green”, “Investment in human capital”, “Investment in innovative business” and “Investment in business expansion”. The awardees are companies that have taken a significant step in their development through sustainable and efficient investments, created new jobs and committed to the implementation of high technologies, in accordance with the goal of the Bulgarian Investment Agency to promote smart and sustainable economic growth.
The 29th annual GLOMO Global Mobile Awards ceremony recognized key companies, individuals and governments that are at the forefront of innovation and positive change in the mobile ecosystem and related industries. The CEO of Invest Sofia Dr. Maria Hristova also attended the ceremony.
This year, for the first time, there were awards in several new categories. Among them are:
- Best innovation in the field of artificial intelligence;
- Best mobile innovation to improve the lives of children and young people;
- Best solution for extraterrestrial network;
- Best Private Network Solution;
- GSMA Global Association Innovation Award.
The total number of awards is 30, and the winners are selected by a jury of over 200 leading experts in the industry. See the full list of nominees and awardees here.
The two-day event Createch Summit 2024 gathers representatives of the creative industries from Southeastern Europe in the Regional Center for Contemporary Arts “Toplocentrala”..
Radostina Belcheva, chief expert at Invest Sofia, will also take part in the event. Organizer of the event is the Executive Agency for the Promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises in partnership with the “CreaTech Bulgaria” association. Among the main speakers at the conference are the Minister of Innovation and Growth Milena Stoicheva, Vassilis Haralampidis from the European Network of Creative Centers, the capital’s Deputy Mayor for Culture, Education, Sports and Youth Activities Yana Genova and the director of the Observatory on the Economy of Culture Dr. Diana Andreeva-Popyordanova. “CreaTech Summit South-East Europe 2024” aims to create a wide public debate and to prepare a basis for updating the policies and practices for the development of the creative industries, in line with the current global trends and good practices from Bulgaria and Europe.
The CEO of Invest Sofia joined the discussions, part of the investors’ forum in the largest and most influential European startup event 4YFN, which takes place within the framework of MWC in Barcelona. Dr. Hristova participated in the discussions “Diversity in Venture Capital” and “Sustainable Investments”, the main objective of which was to discuss how capital can be used to address social challenges and help build an inclusive, diverse and sustainable future. Moderators and keynote speakers in the discussion were representatives of leading global funds and venture capital companies. The discussions were focused on the increased attention of investors to companies with good environmental, social and management practices, which globally reflects the awareness of climate change issues and the social responsibility of the business.
MWC Barcelona will once again present the most advanced startup solutions in strategic areas such as connectivity, digital health, fintech, blockchain, artificial intelligence, etc. The annual GLOMO Awards, which recognize innovations in mobile technology and related industries, will also be presented during the forum.
At an official ceremony, the Bulgarian Association of Information Technology (BAIT) honored the winners of the 13th edition of the “BAIT Awards” 2023. There were seven categories, and the organizers also presented their traditional award for “Special Contribution”, which was given to Prof. Silvia Ilieva, director of the GATE Institute at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. Radostina Belcheva and Matei Minev from Invest Sofia also attended the ceremony at “Interpred – Sofia”.
In the first category – “Youth Award” there were 17 contenders. Angel Cholakov a student from Sofia Vocational High School of Electronics “John Atanasov” was awarded for his software development “Digital Accessibility”. Angel has created a product that helps blind people to use the basic functionalities of a computer in the easiest possible way for them.
The BAIT educational award was presented to the “IT Stara Zagora” Association for a project that affirms the active cooperation between IT companies and educational institutions.
Maria Ivanova from Tech.OFFNews.bg became the winner in the “Journalistic contribution” category.
A project from the Chavdar Municipality for the tourist portal of the village was awarded in the “Public Administration” category.
The company “Releva” became the winner in the “Start Up Company” category. The project has high-tech personalization solution, which provides tools for sustainable growth of the online commerce.
The award for best developers was presented to “AMPECO” EOOD for a software solution for managing charging stations for electric vehicles.
In the category “Successful ICT project for the benefit of the Bulgarian economy”, was awarded the joint-stock company “BGK” with “Implementation of a complete IT solution in a start-up for modern trade Minimart”.
Congratulations to all the awardees and congratulations to the organizers from the Bulgarian Association Information Technology, who are handing out the prizes for the thirteenth year in a row.
From February 26 to 29, the Catalan capital Barcelona will host the new edition of the international event MWC – the largest forum in the field of technology in Europe. The event brings together representatives of global mobile operators, device manufacturers, communication technology developers and many other experts in the field. The CEO of Invest Sofia, Dr. Maria Hristova, will participate in MWC for another year in a raw.
The event will host conferences and meetings with experts, opinion leaders and representatives of start-up companies for networking, making the forum a meeting place for investors and entrepreneurs from around the world. Among the goals of the forum is to help companies and investors from all over the world to establish a connection and undertake new business projects together. Part of MWC is “4YFN” – one of the most influential startup events in Europe, which in 2024 celebrates its 10th anniversary. Once again, the event will present cutting-edge startups in strategic areas such as connectivity, digital health, fintech, blockchain, artificial intelligence, and more. The annual GLOMO Awards, which recognize innovations in mobile technology and related industries, will also be presented during the forum.