BalRec conference gathered investors and experts from the real estate sector for the 15th consecutive time to discuss and analyze the investment environment in Sofia and the country and the development and trends of the residential, hotel, retail and office space market. BalRec 2017 was opened by the Mayor of Sofia Yordanka Fandakova and was organized in 4 discussion panels with representatives of consultancy, investment and construction companies and investors. According to the main conclusions of the conference, the market is currently active and has stable prices, and this steady growth is expected to continue in 2018.

Investment deals for a total record amount of EUR 850 million have been signed since the beginning of 2017. A major contribution has been made by the sale of several large malls. It is expected that the interest of funds from South Africa, the UK and the USA will continue, not only for commercial but also for office buildings, hotels, multi-functional complexes, etc. The investors believe that Bulgaria is attractive due to low taxes, EU membership, state support for large projects, affordable prices of construction sites and labor force.

During the discussion on the hotel sector it was noted that more and more international hotel chains are entering Bulgaria, which has an overall positive impact on the level of service in the sector and the image of the country as a tourist destination. Investments are mainly concentrated on the Black Sea coast and in Sofia. Furthermore, the employment and average price per night in the capital are expected to increase due to the record tourism boom in business or holiday trips, the upcoming presidency of the Council of the EU and the entry of new international hotel brands.

The residential market is mostly active in the capital and the big cities. Sofia records 10% growth of housing deals, registering a major interest in two and three-bedroom apartments. Half of the deals have been funded with credits at historically low interest rates of 3.3 to 3.8%. Most of the deals have been concluded at prices between EUR 800 and 1 200 per square meter and significant changes are not seen in 2018, according to experts. It is also believed that the increased interest for closed multi-functional complexes will continue, which puts forward the construction of good transport infrastructure in the peripheral residential districts of Sofia, where such sites are mainly built.

Retails space market

Sofia Investment Agency published its “State of the IT Sector in Sofia 2017” report earlier this month. Listed below are some of the main highlights of the report.

• The IT Sector Accounts for 5.7% of the Sofia Economy, a growth of 50% between 2011 and 2015 from 3.8% to 5.7%. The growth can be explained with the fact that the sector is almost entirely export-oriented.
• Between 2012 and 2015, export revenue of IT sector enterprises in Sofia (defined as income from services offered to foreign clients) grew by 78% to reach 1.2 billion BGN.
• Employment in the IT sector has increased considerably: The total number of employees  in the sector grew by 51% between 2011 and 2015, from 26.8 thousand to 40.4 thousand people. One in every 20 employees in Sofia is in a profession connected with IT.
• Both pay and labor productivity have outpaced those in most other sectors, with salaries considerably higher than the country’s average. The average monthly salary in the sector is 2,688 BGN.
• High salaries are the result of the sector’s high productivity: over 57 thousand BGN in value added per employee in programming.
• The unemployment rate in the sector is extremely low – less than 2%.
• The key challenge before the sector is finding qualified workers to ensure continued growth.

Company Demography, Employment and Working Conditions

The number of large companies with over 250 employees grew from 15 to 20 between 2011 and 2015. The total number of people employed in such companies is now over 12 000 people, or an average of 623 employees per company.

Almost as many people were working in the 107 medium-sized companies (50-249 employees)  in the sector. A little less than 10 000 people were employed in the 441 small firms (10 to 49 employees).

Micro-companies (up to 9 employees) accounted for  89% of all IT companies in Sofia. The number of micro-companies grew by 55% in 2015 compared with 2011, to reach a total of 4,810 firms. A total of 7,703 people worked in micro-companies in Sofia, or an average of 1.6 people per company.

The total number of employees  in the sector grew by 51% between 2011 and 2015, from 26.8 thousand to 40.4 thousand people. The number of people employed in the IT sector makes up 6% of all employed people in the city and 62% of the people employed in the

Bulgarian outsourcing sector claims a 3.6% share of GDP for 2016 and shows a continuous double-digit growth for seven years in a row, shows data from the Bulgarian Outsourcing Association (BOA) annual industry report Bulgarian Outsourcing Industry Report 2017. The sector’s share in GDP in 2015 was 3.4% and 2.8% in 2014.

Bulgaria’s BPO sector remains the leading segment with a share of 53% of the total turnover of the outsourcing industry in 2016. The ITO sector accounts for 47% of the sector turnover but stands out with the higher profitability. The BPO sector share in 2015 stood at 58% versus 42% ITO share. HRO and FAO segments are also growing with great potential for growth in the future, the report showed.

The largest cities in the country – Plovdiv, Burgas and Varna – together with Sofia have developed into leading outsourcing destinations. Main factors influencing the attractiveness of the cities remain the availability of human resources and educational institutions, well-developed infrastructure, high-class office buildings and strategic geographic location. Bulgaria is a leading outsourcing destination in Europe and worldwide. A number of international companies set up offices in Bulgaria and continue their business expansion. New investors are also entering the Bulgarian market. Major foreign investments come from the UK, Netherlands, USA and Germany.

Bulgaria’s main advantages remain its geographical location, the flat tax, which is appreciated by the investors and, last but not least, the well-developed human resources with knowledge in language and IT training, said Svetoslav Ivanov, CEO of BOA in an interview for Bloomberg TV. Watch the full interview for further insights from the report.

Funds to be allocated by the Fund Manager of Financial Instruments in Bulgaria EAD

A BGN 1.2 billion of unused funds under operational programs will be available to the Bulgarian business following December 2017. The money comes from the European Structural Fund for the programming period 2014 – 2020. A single body – the, so called,  “Fund of Funds”, will manage the amount available under different programs. The funds will be directed to projects and businesses through financial intermediaries – banks, funding funds, legal and natural persons.

Until now, departments to the relevant ministries have managed the funds, under the individual programs. They have been non-repayable, but have hardly reached the beneficiaries. Under the new allocation procedure, the system will aim at absorbing as much of the European money as possible. In general, the documentation procedure is what holds documents burden applying for operational programs and there is no opportunity to apply online. This repels entrepreneurs who consider the application procedure for an investment fund easier. It is precisely under the principle of an investment fund that investment through intermediaries of the “Fund of Funds” will occur. The main difference between funds and operational programs is that the funds received are repayable and a return might be expected – after the agreed period, the investor may expect an interest rate on the profit or shares in the enterprise.

The procedure for selecting financial intermediaries for the Fund of Funds was open until November 6, and the selection of fund managers will take place in the beginning of December.

For more information, visit this website.

Funds under OP “Innovation and Competitiveness” for 2018

Next year  BGN 290 million will be allocated under the Innovation and Competitiveness Operational Program. Just over half of this amount, or about BGN one hundred and fifty point six million, will be for growth of small and medium-sized enterprises. The application process will be open from April to June 2018. Funds will help to acquire assets, introduce quality and business management systems. The eligible funds for allocation will be between BGN one hundred thousand and BGN one million

BGN 107.6 million will be allocated for research in innovation and is intended for both small and medium-sized companies. However, large ones will also be considered. The call for proposals will be open at the end of this year until February 2018 and the amount of the

Dynamo Software, the premier provider of configurable, cloud-based investment management software for the alternative asset investment industry, today announced a majority investment from Francisco Partners, a global, technology-focused private equity firm. The investment from the US-based fund will provide Dynamo with a capital partner to support the company’s continued growth and product innovation.

Terms of the deal were not fully disclosed, but it was announced that members of Dynamo management and employees will retain significant ownership stakes in the company and that the CEO Krassen Draganov will remain in the executive management of the company. Draganov will be responsible for key accounts and product strategy. Paul Wheeler, Operating Partner at Francisco Partners will join the Board of Directors.

We are extremely excited to announce this investment by Francisco Partners. Thanks to their prior investments in the alternative asset management software market, they bring to bear highly relevant experience and are uniquely suited to help us accelerate our growth from here forward., Krassen Draganov said for the official press release of the company.

We're proud to announce an exciting new growth investment from Francisco Partners: https://t.co/VV9XkyP4La pic.twitter.com/nUfm5ug9gs

— Dynamo Software (@DynamoSoft) October 3, 2017

In recent years, Dynamo has witnessed significant growth as alternative asset managers due to the increased interest to cloud-based solutions in investment process management. Dynamo serves a list of over 400 customers, including private equity, venture capital, real estate, and hedge funds along with institutional investors, operating with $3 trillion in assets. Dynamo’s end-to-end platform allows its customers to automate workflows, enhance decision making, and manage heightened regulatory requirements.

The news is not surprising as few years ago experts from the sector outlined the forthcoming trend of stable growth in investment deals in the Bulgarian ICT sector. In 2014, Telerik’s acquisition hit a record $ 262.5 million deal. This year the aircraft processing platform Vayant Travel Technologies, was bought for $ 35 million.

About Dynamo Software

Dynamo Software, formerly Netage Solutions, has provided premium industry-specific, configurable investment management and reporting software for the global alternative assets industry since 1998, including fund administrators, endowments, pension funds, foundations, private equity and venture capital funds, real estate investment firms, hedge funds, prime brokers, funds of funds, and family offices. Intuitive and highly configurable, the Dynamo™ platform has improved the productivity of fundraising, deal, research, investor relationship, and portfolio management teams worldwide. Collectively, Dynamo’s 400+ clients manage over $3 trillion

Don’t miss out in Sofia in November:

BalRec – Investment and Real Estate Marketing Conference

Sofia Event Center, November 8

BalRec conference is the most influential public platform for discussion in the real estate and investments sector. The event gathers high level representatives from the most active companies within the investment projects in Bulgaria: investors and investment funds, banks, consultants, legal companies, asset managers etc; the main goal is to discuss and analyze the market trends and forecasts of each segment – offices, commercial, industrial, residential and vacation property, the economic climate as a factor for the development of these projects, the challenges, which the investors faced, best practices in managing the assets and current models for market realization.

Part of the topics in the programme:

• ECONOMY AND INVESTMENT ENVIRONMENT IN 2017
• OFFICE SPACE MARKET
• INDUSTRIAL SPACE MARKET
• RETAIL SPACE MARKET
• RESIDENTIAL SPACE MARKET

For more information, please visit balrec.bg/en

Hack4Health Hackathon

Sоfia Tech Park, November 9-11

Hack4Health will be a three-day hackathon designed to reach innovative solutions for a better quality of life in “health” covering all phases of our lives. The hackathon will be held in Sоfia Tech Park, November 9-11, 2017.

The event is initiated from İzmir Development Agency in Turkey under the “Start In İzmir” which is the institutional identity of İzmir Entrepreneurship Ecosystem with the participation of all relevant stakeholders.

11 mentors will facilitate the hackathon days, and 5 judges will evaluate the ideas of the teams. Participants may choose between four main themes:

1. Operational efficiency: Protection of personal data / Transparency / Incorporation of the patient into operational processes / Automated data entry and collection methods / Prevention of errors in health
2. Ecosystem cooperation and integration : Incorporating the patient into clinical processes / Continuous health management / Social networks and disease management / Information sharing
3. Artificial intelligence and artificial learning applications: Artificial intelligence and artificial learning in diagnosis and treatment / Drug use / Efficiency of laboratory tests / New ministry of health data mining
4. Community Health: Managing social health / Preventive and preventive work / Estimation and prevention of epidemic

For more information and registration link, please visit the event website – http://www.hack4healthizmir.com/

DevReach 2017 – CEE’s Premier Developer Conference

Arena Mladost IMAX Cinema, November 16-17

DevReach is a Central and Eastern Europe’s premier developer conference. The conference is intended for IT professionals engaged or interested in

London and Sofia agreed to provide free support to entrepreneurs willing to start a business in the two capitals. The support will include the provision of a free office, assistance with accommodation and transport in the city, promoting and contacts with local businesses. Thus, Sofia entrepreneurs will receive the necessary support in their first steps on the London market and London entrepreneurs will be given the same support when investing in Sofia.

The collaboration was agreed by Vladimir Danailov, executive director of Sofia Investment Agency, and his colleague Tony Margiotta from British agency “London and partners”. The agreement will place Sofia to cities like Paris, Tel Aviv, Lisbon, Los Angeles and San Diego. With these cities the British agency has concluded similar agreements as part of its City-to-City Business Welcome program.

Following the agreement under the City-to-City Business Welcome program, London will be committed to provide Sofia entrepreneurs with an office in a co-working space, introducing contacts with communities in different partner organizations, accommodation during the time of stay in the city, discounts for the transport network, assistance in recruitment of staff. An important part of the commitments is to introduce the entrepreneurs and businesses to local ecosystems and to make specific contacts with relevant partners, business angels, investors and other stakeholders in the British capital. A mentoring team will be offered to startups to monitor progress and provide interim support at the initial stage of establishment. The commitments are bilateral and bind Sofia to provide the same support to investors from London.

The collaboration talks took place during the business visit of Mayor Yordanka Fandakova to London Mayor Sadiq Kahn to discuss how the two cities can work together on different projects. At the meetings, Vladimir Danailov together with Nikolay Stoynev, deputy chairman of Sofia Municipal Council and chairman of the Supervisory Board of Sofia Investment Agency introduced to “London and partners” the opportunities for business development in the capital. At the invitation of Sofia Investment Agency, Rob Wirszycz, executive director of Questers, a British IT company with an office in Sofia, mainly active in the formation of highly efficient teams of technology specialists for companies in Europe and the United States, was included in the presentation of Sofia as a business destination. Based on his personal experience, Rob Wirszycz expressed his positive assessment of Bulgaria and Sofia as a relatively unknown but interesting destination that offers