The Bulgarian IoT company for remote consumption monitoring of water, gas, and electricity ThingsLog raised close to €1M in a seed round led by our fund manager Morningside Hill. The round was joined by the US-based ReconArt. The investment will be used for further product & technology development and marketing activities. ThingsLog service now has a mobile application in several languages ​​- Bulgarian, English, Russian, Greek, German and Spanish. The company works with major local partners, including Sofiyska Voda AD and Telenor Telecom. 

The financial instruments unit fi-compass at the European Investment Bank featured the story behind the Sofia-based company Nasekomo as a good example for the successful deployment of innovation and circular economy. The Bulgarian agrotech utilizes the incredible biological abilities of the larvae of black flies (the so-called Black Soldier fly) to turn organic waste into protein animal food. Two venture capital fund managers of the Fund of Funds – Morningside Hill and New Vision 3 have supported Nasekomo with resources under Operational Programme “Innovation and Competitiveness” 2014-2020. The investment supported Nasekomo to deploy its proprietary robotized insect rearing technology and move from a pilot- to a semi-industrial production line. Don’t miss out on the video!

The outsourcing sector in Sofia is expecting yet another global player – the Indian Tata Consultancy Service, which will open a shared services center in the city through its subsidiary Tata Consulting Company Bulgaria EOOD. The investor is part of the multinational conglomerate Tata Group, owner of Jaguar and Land Rover. The company plans to open 300 new IT jobs in the next three years, commented Invest Sofia’s CEO Dr. Maria Hristova for Economic.bg. The shared services unit in Sofia will cover a wide range of activities in the field of IT, including services and software development.

Evelix Bulgaria, the local subsidiary of the Swedish Ewellix, will continue to increase its production in Bulgaria. After production lines from Sweden, Switzerland and Germany were relocated to its plant in Sofia, Ewellix now plans to transfer products from its production unit in France, Capital newspaper reports. The company started operations in 2019 and already has a team of 160 people. Evelix Bulgaria manufactures electromechanical drives, lifting columns and linear drive systems for components in various industries. See more about the expanding production capacity of the plant near “Iliensko Shosse” in the publication here.

The Sofia-based company

The largest IT community in Bulgaria DEV.BG has launched a new project – a survey called “The Voice of IT”, that aims to hear the insights and ideas of at least 5,000 IT professionals and to outline the latest local trends that are shaping the industry. We invite all Sofia-based companies, IT professionals and active participants in the technology community to get involved and share their vision.

The initiative aims to bring out latest data and key trends for the benefit of all professionals, companies and organizations that are part of this industry of key importance for Sofia and the country. In order to gain as much insight from the active ecosystem players, DEV.BG has chosen to conduct the survey not by filling out a questionnaire, but by conducting short live online face-to-face meetings with anyone who is actively involved in the development of the IT sector in our country. Thus, the organizers want to map out the best route for the industry by hearing the voice of the people who participate on a daily basis in its life and development and to get vision and useful ideas that will support its future directly from the ecosystem representatives.

Participants can have their say on where is the Bulgarian IT sector going, is there a vision for the industry and what is it, what is needed to continue and strengthen the growth from outsourcing to high added-value products and services and Rn’D activities.

If you have at least one year of experience in the sector as a developer, QA, DevOps, SysAdmin, Architect, Team Lead, Project manager, Data Scientist or another role closely related to technology, spare some time and have your say in the study. The DEV.BG team has opened a calendar to allow anyone to schedule an online meeting at a convenient day and time. The meetings take place in Google Meet.

The DEV.BG platform is the largest IT community in Bulgaria. During the six years since its launch, more than 800 events have been held, completely free, from specialists to specialists in the sector, with nearly 55,000 attendees so far. DEV.BG has established itself as a major data source with information for the companies in the sector by maintaining detailed profiles for over 900 IT enterprises in Bulgaria. Part of the platform is also a job board section for open positions with over 5,500 job offers from companies, as

Sofia ranks sixth in the world in the 2021 City Water Optimization Index, developed by Economist Impact, part of The Economist Group. The news was announced by Sofiyska Voda AD. The Index examines how successfully today’s cities apply the necessary policies, what is the state of water infrastructure and whether measures are implemented to optimize the use of water resources so that each end-user has access to safe, affordable and reliable water.

The Index compares 51 cities around the world and covers 47 quantitative and qualitative indicators divided into three categories – reliability, accessibility and sustainability. The study reveals interesting insights on water usage, public mindset towards recycled water consumption, the correlation between wellbeing and water quality, and more.

Being 6th in the overall ranking, Sofia stands ahead of London, Copenhagen, and Calgary. The leader in the overall ranking is Los Angeles. In the subcategories, Sofia ranks 4th in the Reliability category and 7th in the Accessibility category. The city lags behind its peers in the Top 10 in the Sustainability category.

In the rankings by region, the capital of Bulgaria stands 2nd in Western and Eastern Europe and ahead of London, Copenhagen and Madrid. Lisbon hits the top position.

The Water Optimization Index aims to help local city governments that face various challenges but make progress by implementing smart local solutions and policies, and exchange good practices. The full text of the Index is available here – 

https://impact.economist.com/sustainability/project/water-optimisation/

Despite the crisis in 2020, Sofia’s economy maintains its competitive advantages. The transformation of the city’s economy will continue to be led by the development of digital services, as information and communication technologies have the prospect of becoming Sofia’s largest economic sector. The three leading sectors in terms of output of non-financial corporations in Sofia in 2021 are trade (21%), construction (19%), and information and communication technologies (15%). The data are from the Institute for Market Economics and are part of our annual report “Sofia Municipality: economic and investment profile”, prepared by the IME on behalf of Invest Sofia. The report is available on our website here.

A pilot project of Sofia Municipality’s “Sandbox for Innovation” initiative was allowed implementation beyond its initial scope. The Kanari air quality monitoring system, piloted in the 76th Kindergarten “Sarnichka”, has attracted the attention of Tryavna Municipality and has already been submitted for testing. Discussions are underway for implementing the system in the building fund for public services managed by Tryavna Municipality. In addition, Bulgaria’s largest mobile operator has expressed its interest in including the Kanari system in its ICT / IoT portfolio. Thus the project will be able to join other municipalities in the country. Requests for testing and implementation of the system have also been made from public and private hospitals. Find out more about the project.

Medical University – Sofia ranks first among Bulgarian universities in the 13th edition of the Spanish research organization SCImago’s International Institutions Ranking. The 2021 ranking includes a total of 4126 universities, assessed by indicators such as active research, innovation, impact on society, and others. Medical University-Sofia ranks 513rd in the world in the overall ranking and is the best represented among Bulgarian universities. It is followed by Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, which is in 524th place. The list includes a total of 13 Bulgarian universities, five of which are in Sofia. Higher education institutions from Varna, Veliko Tarnovo, Ruse, Blagoevgrad, and Plovdiv are also included.

Sofia is 6th in the world and second in Europe in the 2021 City Water Optimization Index, Sofiiska Voda AD have announced in an official statement. The Index is developed by Economist Impact, part of The Economist Group, and covers 47 quantitative and qualitative indicators divided into three categories – reliability, accessibility and sustainability. In the overall ranking, Sofia comes 6th out of

With public resource, contributed by the Fund of Funds, and additional private capital, Vitosha Venture Partners Fund to invest in eight new companies. Seven of them are Sofia-based startups. The supported local projects are: Elka.Bg and its software that compares  electricity suppliers, Dexicon and the platform for fast and cheap creation of mobile applications with no professional experience needed from the users, Noviotic and its probiotic products, Info Smart and the platform for subscription for content by experts in health, beauty and personal development and self improvment, Opto Smart Solutions – the mobile app for ophthalmologists, Softmedline and the platform connecting healthcare specialists with patients, and Black Sea Film – an innovative media production company for home entertainment and series. The investments range from BGN 176,000 to over BGN 1 million, which the startup companies will use for prototyping, laboratory activities, product development and marketing. The total value of the investments amounts to BGN 3.1 million, of which BGN3 million are public funds from the Fund of Funds under the Operational Program “Innovation and Competitiveness” 2014-2020. find here.

The Bulgaria and U.K. based online casino game developer Silverback Gaming becomes part of the American GAN Limited – a leading provider of SaaS solutions for online gaming and betting. Silverback Gaming develops casino games. It is headquartered in Sofia and has a second office in London. Among the studio’s proven titles are Aztec LuckTM and Mystery StacksTM, currently distributed across European regulated markets to more than 100 B2C operators of iGaming. Silverback is soon to launch four new titles. With the acquisition of the Sofia-based company, GAN aims to increase the number and variety of interactive slot games in its portfolio and reach more customers in the US and Europe.

LatticeFlow announced its plan to open an office in Sofia. The Zurich-based startup plans to hire a team of 50 experts in the next two years. LatticeFlow is a spin-off of ETH Zürich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), founded by two Bulgarian researchers. The company focuses on safe and secure artificial intelligence systems. LatticeFlow  was founded in 2020 and has raised $ 2.8 million in fundingin 2021. LatticeFlow recently became one of the Top 3 AI startups in Switzerland. “We are excited to expand our engineering team to Sofia, a home of top tech talent offering an incredible opportunity for faster team growth,” the company said in a

According to data from the National Statistical Institute for the period January – November 2021, Bulgaria’s exports increased by 23.3% compared to the same period in 2020. Exported goods amounted to a total of BGN 61,992.4 million. 26.3% and value of imported goods of BGN 69,356.5 million.

Trade with EU countries and third countries

Exports of goods from Bulgaria to the EU increased by 24.1% and amounted to BGN 37,006.8 million. The country exports mainly to Germany, Romania, Italy, Greece, France and Belgium. These countries account for 68.9% of Bulgaria’s exports to EU markets. The highest growth was noticed in the sectors ‘Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes’ (117.8%) and ‘Mineral fuel, lubricants and related materials’ (69.8%). A decrease was recorded only in the sector “Soft and alcoholic beverages and tobacco” (17.1%).

Imports of goods to Bulgaria from the EU increased by 25% and amounted to BGN 37,318.2 million. The largest volumes of imports were from Germany, Romania, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands and Hungary. The largest increase was recorded in the sector ‘Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes’ (134.6%). No decline was observed in any of the sectors.

NSI data on exports and imports to the EU is for the period January – October 2021 and is a comparison with the same period for 2020.

The latest data of the Institute for Import and Export to Third Countries cover the period January-November 2021. Exports of goods from Bulgaria to third countries increased by 20% and amounted to BGN 20,593.9 million. Bulgaria’s main trade partners are Turkey, China , USA, Serbia, United Kingdom, Republic of Northern Macedonia, Russian Federation and Ukraine. Exports to these countries formed 58.9% of the total volume. The largest increase was in the sector ‘Mineral fuel, lubricants and related materials’ (35.9%), and a decrease was observed only in ‘Beverages and tobacco’ (10.9%).

For the same period, January – November 2021, the import of goods in Bulgaria from third countries increased by 27.8% and amounted to BGN 27,522.2 million. The largest are the amounts from Turkey, the Russian Federation, China and Ukraine. The largest increase was reported in the sectors ‘Mineral fuel, lubricants and related materials’ (63.8%) and ‘Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material’ (38.1%), while there was a decrease reported in the sector ‘Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes’ (9.1%).

“Green Card for Administrative Services” is the new service that Sofia Municipal Privatization and Investment Agency (Invest Sofia) will provide to investors in Sofia. The Green Card aims to provide assistance for tailored administrative services on the territory of Sofia Municipality both to noncertified but eligible investors and already certified under the Promotion Investment Act investors. Special emphasis is also placed on innovative startups, for which the legislation does not provide general incentive measures. By issuing a Green Card for startup companies Invest Sofia positions startups next to strategic investors in Sofia.

The first four Green Cards were presented by the Mayor of Sofia Yordanka Fandakova and Georgi Georgiev, Chairman of the Sofia Municipal Council. The total investment of the companies amounts to BGN 65 million.

“In these challenging years of the pandemic and many crises, Sofia continues to be a competitive investment destination and this is due to the entrepreneurial spirit of both strategic companies and startups. It is the startup innovative companies that create the ecosystems in our city, give young people reason to live and work in our city and it is very important for us to support them,” Ms. Fandakova said while presenting the “Green Card” certificates to Sofia Med AD and the startup Elka.bg.

“We highly appreciate the outstretched hand of the administration, it is important for every business to have predictable environment and support,” Sofia Med CFO Sergey Vlaykov said. The company is a manufacturer of a wide range of rolled and extruded products of copper and copper alloys with great application in a number of industries and in construction. A new investment project for 20 million euros is forthcoming for Sofia Med. Expanding the production in the field of green solutions is part of the planned investment activities.

Elka.bg is a web-based platform that compares electricity prices and allows customers to choose the best supplier and save money. According to one of the founders of the startup Kremena Stoyanova, the support at the early stage of a company’s development is of crucial importance for further growth. 

“Legal certainty and predictability is what investors need most. This is what the “Green Card” stands for, Chairman of the Sofia Municipal Council Georgi Georgiev said at the certificate presentation to Key Bio Industry Bulgaria Ltd., which will build the high-tech industrial park “Hemus” in “Kremikovtzi” and to the startup company Dexicon Ltd., which offer a fully

A pilot project of Sofia Municipality has received an opportunity to expand beyond its initial scope. The air quality monitoring system Kanari, which was implemented in the 76th Kindergarten “Sarnichka”, has attracted the attention of Tryavna Municipality and has already been submitted to the local administration for testing.

The Kanari system is a pilot project of the Sandbox for Innovations initiative of Sofia Municipality and its unit for digitalization, innovation, and economic development Innovative Sofia. In August 2021, it was implemented in Sofia’s largest kindergarten. In each of its 20 groups devices were installed that measure and display air quality. The devices have indicators of relative humidity, carbon dioxide, and fine dust particles in the air. Children learn about the state of the environment from the reaction of an electronic canary, which changes its mood on the device’s display. The real-time information helps both teachers and children by providing them with data on the state of the air in the bedrooms and study rooms, and it also helps kids to develop habits and attitudes towards the environment.

So far, Tryavna Municipality has given positive feedback on the system’s application. Talks are underway to implement “Kanari” in the public service building fund managed by the city administration.

Apart from testing in another Bulgarian municipality, the project has the potential for further application in the private sector. Innovative Sofia reports that the largest mobile operator in the country has shown interest in including the Kanari system in the operator’s ICT / IoT portfolio. Public and private hospitals have also requested to test and implement the system. 

“We expect even greater proactivity this year from start-ups that can solve urban challenges. We are ready to offer them administrative support and help them prototype and test their technology. The Digital Transformation Strategy for Sofia requires the Municipality to be the first client and validator of digital services and smart solutions developed by local companies, thus supporting the ICT business ecosystem of Sofia and creating opportunities for further applications outside the city,” Deputy Mayor for Digitalization and Innovation Gencho Kerezov commented.

The French-Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has launched the third edition of its Innovation Awards. The competition aims to promote the most innovative projects developed in Bulgaria, and for the first time, the competition is open to external companies, non-members of the Chamber. All companies registered in Bulgaria for at least 18 months, with at least 5 employees, regardless of their sector of activity, who have implemented an innovative local project in Bulgaria, can apply for the Innovation awards of the CCIFB.

Applications are accepted in four categories: “Investment”, “Businessman”, “Businesswoman” and “Corporate Social Responsibility”. The applications for each category will be reviewed by an independent jury. Apart from the winners in each category, one project from all four will be nominated to compete for the Special Jury Award. Applications are accepted until February 28.

SMEs can now apply for the exclusive eBay Growth Program, in which the e-commerce giant will provide a package of exclusive services to the companies:
Personalized growth program
Customized training program for setting up online activities on the eBay platform
High sales limits for rapid growth
3 months free eBay subscription

Retailers must have more than 100 items for sale. The inclusion of Bulgarian companies in the eBay Growth Program is locally supported by the Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency (BSMEPA). Applications are accepted at: https://export.ebay.com/en/new/?utm_source=BSMEPA

Companies with urban mobility solutions have have now the chance to test their ideas in real urban conditions through an EIT Urban Mobility project – an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). The project partner the cities of Toulouse and Milan, which have already presented specific mobility challenges that need to be addressed. During the implementation of the project, the pilot initiatives will be tested in parallel and entirely in a real urban environment. EIT funding and administrative support from the cities’ administrations for the implementation of the pilots will be provided. Find out more about the specific challenges posed by Italian cities and how to apply for pilot testing here. The deadline is February 8, 2022.

Through the network of the International Economic Relations Center to BIA, a Germany-based research institute is looking for a partner from Eastern Europe and the Balkans for their Horizon Europe project proposal “Digital tools to support the design of a circular economy”. The Institute is looking for partners with semi-automated production, interested

The 9th edition of Innovation Explorer will take place on February 24 at Sofia Event Center, hosted by Innovation Starter Agency in partnership with Capital.bg. At the invitation of the organisers, Invest Sofia will be part of the event with a welcome speech by CEO Dr. Maria Hristova during the opening session. 

Innovation Explorer 2022 will be held under the “Think Further!” motto that refers to John M. Keynes’s essay titled “Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren”. Keynotes and discussions this year will focus on the different perspectives on the consequences and results that today’s societies bequeath to future generations.

The event will feature more than 20 international speakers  – university professors, visionaries, futurists and business experts, and unfold under three panels:  Mathematical angle of almost anything, Think Further, Strong Civil Society, Economic Possibilities, and Climate Actions.

For the first time, the “Innovator in Bulgarian Society” award ceremony will be part of the agenda. It will reward mayors of small municipalities in Bulgaria for projects, aimed at sustainable development and investment in support of society.

Full agenda and speakers are already announced on the website of the event. The early registrations for Innovation Explorer 2022: Think Further! are open by the end of January.