On February 24, Innovation Explorer 2022 gathered over 600 guests from 12 countries. The annual innovation forum took place at Sofia Event Center. The event was hosted by Innovation Starter Agency in partnership with Capital.bg. At the invitation of the organizers, Invest Sofia was part of the event with the participation of the Chief Executive Officer Dr. Maria Hristova during the opening session. “The team of Invest Sofia aims to support local and foreign companies and help them set up and grow, here in Sofia. One of our missions is to support the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the city. We know that every startup team needs not only funding, although it is very important, but also expert assistance, project management support, and perhaps most of all it needs personal attitude”, Dr. Hristova said.
Innovation Explorer 2022 was 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 focused on the different perspectives on the consequences and results that today’s societies bequeath to future generations. The forum addressed the advanced knowledge on innovation and the latest breakthroughs in technology. As part of the agenda of the event, early-stage companies in the field of climate action presented their innovative developments.
The technology sector has tripled growth in recent years and currently is the most rapidly developing sector in Sofia. The country shows promising signs to become leader in SEE due to several local strengths, including strong institutional support toward access to funding mechanisms and know-how. For example, in Bulgaria there are 17 private equity and venture capital funds, as well as incubator / accelerator programmes, covering all stages of the business life-cycle.
These are some of the key findings of a study by the global entrepreneurial network Endeavor, which examines the Sofia’s tech sector and snapshots the main challenges and opportunities for its development.
The study was funded by Invest Sofia, the Fund of Funds, the Bulgarian Development Bank and was supported by BESCO.
Tech entrepreneurs give an extremely positive assessment of the development of the sector in Sofia. Nearly 96% of them state that they have positive expectations for the future of the sector in the capital. Along with established fintech and outsourcing companies, Sofia has been chosen by companies that develop cloud and blockchain technologies. At the presentation of the study, Minister of Innovation and Growth Daniel Lorer said that there is no doubt that innovation is the most powerful engine for growth in the country. He stressed the importance of active and useful dialogue between institutions and business representatives.
“As a city with a strong focus in the tech industry, we are working to further help, support and maintain a friendly business environment. That is why we established the municipal investment agency Invest Sofia. Together with the team of the Agency, we have developed several instruments aimed to support both large companies and smaller start-up companies”, Mayor Yordanka Fandakova said.
“Recently, the Invest Sofia Agency presented its new service called “Green Card for administrative services”. Soon, we plan to launch yet another initiative for start-up companies, that aims to challenge them to find smart solutions related to urban issues. The results from such direct assignments will be useful not only for Sofia Municipality and the municipal companies but also for the young companies”, Invest Sofia CEO Dr. Maria Christova said.
According to Endeavor’s study, Bulgaria has a chance to position itself as a pillar of innovation in Southeast Europe. Its good positioning is due to several local strengths, including a strong ecosystem, well-functioning structures, and strong founder-to-founder connectivity. “A very important factor is the consistent policy of
On December 2, Invest Sofia presented its new initiative Sofia IS. This is the first of its kind city initiative that aims to unite the efforts of the city administration and Sofia-based companies towards integrated services for investor inquiries and free assistance in the process of establishing business operations in Sofia.
Sofia IS gathers independent international consulting companies operating in our city whose expertise covers the full range of necessary initial steps and activities such as research and data on the business environment, opportunities of Sofia as an investment destination, consultations on finding the best talents for the local team, among others.
The Executive Director of Invest Sofia Dr. Maria Hristova and the Head of the Public Relations and Marketing Department Aneta Petkova welcomed the guests and partners of the Sofia IS launch event. “The expertise of our partners so far forms a rich portfolio of over 80 local and international companies from all sectors of the economy,” Dr. Hristova said and presented the step-by-step process of the implementation of the new initiative. She also outlined the short and long-term goals of the programme in the coming months. During the discussion, various future initiatives emerged related to how Sofia IS tools could better and faster reach and support future potential investors.
Dr. Lilyana Zagorcheva from InfoGraffiti , the most recently joined partner of the initiative, presented digital marketing opportunities for promoting the work of the new programme, as well as pro bono services that can be provided to new investors. Dr. Zagorcheva has over 20 years of international experience in the field of corporate, crisis and institutional communications.
Dr. Georgi Georgiev, a leading expert in the field of EU programmes for innovation in education and urban environment, presented the opportunities that he and his company can provide to each of the participants and partners in the programme. Dr. Georgiev is also part of the external partners of the Agency.
During the discussion, specific next steps were outlined for the communication of the programme. The head of the Investment Analysis Department of the Agency Viktor Gusev shared best practice examples of joint projects between the city administration and the local business.
The team of Invest Sofia would like to thank all our partners: ADECCO BULGARIA, ARS Bulgaria, Cushman & Wakefield Forton, Coworking, Easy Consult, EuRA, PWC, RIR and HRS, for being part of the
OSM International Group is a global management consulting company offering unique analysis and support tools for human development and human potential. In Sofia, the company presented a comprehensive personality testing tool, the I-Profile Analysis. The test contains 242 questions designed to review the strengths and weaknesses of a candidate’s personality and is like an “X-ray” of a person’s behavior and potential.
The I-Profile Analysis was developed by OSM and certified in the USA with one of the highest reliability coefficients. It can reveal previously unsuspected talents in an employee, whether a person is suitable for his position or predict great potential for another position in the company.
In addition, the tool identifies the real reasons for having underperforming employees and whether this is due to mismanagement by the company’s leaders or problematic issues stem from personal reasons. It also shows whether employees have reached their limit and no longer contribute to the development of the company or department.
The participants in the event had the chance to take advantage of OSM’s I-Profile analysis free of charge. “We believe that OSM International Group can be a reliable partner for small and medium entrepreneurs in Bulgaria in helping them further develop their business and optimise the most important resource in the company – the people”, CEO of Invest Sofia Dr. Maria Hristova said.
Web Summit 2021, Europe’s biggest tech conference, was held in Lisbon, Portugal from 1 to 4 November. The event was attended by over 1,000 speakers, 1,250 startups and more than 40,000 people. The conference gathered representatives from Bulgaria, Ukraine, France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Portugal, USA, Canada, Brazil, Mexico and experts from various fields and industries, including IT, software, digital and marketing companies, government organizations. Strutting the main stage were the likes of Amazon Vice President Werner Vogels, Chief Marketing Officer of Mars Inc. Jane Wakeley, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement Ayo Tometi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering Craig Federighi, Microsoft president Brad Smith and many more.
During the roundtable discussion, we had the opportunity to discuss the most complex and challenging tech, business and social issues. The masterclasses gave us the opportunity to exchange contacts and acquire new knowledge from leading global companies and organisations such as Siemens, Shell, Boston Consulting Group, the European Commission, and many more.
Invest Sofia plays a key role in promoting and developing investment opportunities in Sofia and improving the city’s business environment. Web Summit 2021 gave us the opportunity to establish new contacts for close cooperation with institutional and corporate representatives from different countries and sectors. Our goal is to support Sofia to develop as a modern, innovative and sustainable city; an attractive and preferred place to start and grow.
Funding opportunities for Bulgarian companies provided by the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund (3SIIF) were presented during the virtual conference „Equity for Infrastructure“. The event was organized by the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Investment Council at the Chamber and the Bulgarian Development Bank.
The Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund consists of 9 development banks, Bulgarian Development Bank being among them. The Fund has already made its first investments aimed at improving transport, energy and digital connectivity in the Black, Adriatic and Baltic Sea regions.
So far, The Fund has raised almost EUR 1 billion and is actively working to attract private capital with a target of between EUR 3-5 billion. Up to EUR 10 billion is the total investment amount expected to be generated.
The Fund’s main objective is to invest in target sectors such as transport, energy efficiency, and digital and information technologies along the north-south axis and narrow the gap among EU regions.