Invest Sofia is seeking partner cities for our “City-to-City” and “Sofia Meets…” programmes. “City-to-City” and “Sofia Meets…” aim to facilitate business cooperations between partner cities. We offer information and access to contacts. Furthermore, we help Sofia-based entrepreneurs in growing their business in partner cities and support entrepreneurs from partner cities to establish in Sofia.
COOPERATION WITH OTHER CITIES
CITY-TO-CITY PROGRAM
The City-to-City program provides business support to companies that want to start operations in the partnering cities participating in the initiative. Currently, Sofia is in such a cooperation with Vienna.
The City-to-City Agreement between Vienna and Sofia is valid as of October 22, 2018. The Agreement is between Vienna Business Agency/Wirtschaftsagentur Wien and Sofia Investment Agency. In Sofia, our local partners are Regus Sofia, Puzl CowOrKing, Cosmos Coworking, Resonator co-innovation hub, and others.
WHAT IS OFFERED
Vienna Business Agency & Invest Sofia will provide the following services to selected businesses coming from Vienna to Sofia and from Sofia to Vienna under the City-to-City program. These services include:
By Vienna Business Agency*
– Desk in a co-working space up to 14 days
– Expenses for accommodation up to 14 days
– Expenses for flights Sofia-Vienna
*For Sofia scale-up companies meeting the criteria for participation in the program, Vienna Business Agency reimburses 50% of the expenses up to EUR 2 500.
By Invest Sofia
– Discounts for participating in local incubators and co-working spaces
– Discounts for accommodation and short-term rentals
– Discount for the public transit network
– Discounted access to tourist attractions
For both Vienna Business Agency and Invest Sofia:
– Soft-landing services and access to networking and local business advice
IN ORDER TO BECOME A PART OF THE CITY-TO-CITY PROGRAM:
– Prepare a brief description of your business – activity, team, current results, ambitions
– Prepare a presentation of your product as well as a plan for its market development
– Please indicate whether you have already benefited from funding opportunities provided by the City of Vienna
– Send your inquiry to the ‘Investment and Business Development’ Department at nadia.soultanova@investsofia.com and ana.georgieva@investsofia.com
Our team will contact you about the next steps.
USEFUL LINKS:
For Sofia-based business-owners and entrepreneurs planning to set up in Vienna:
Vienna Business Agency at a glance
Start-up services provided by Vienna Business Agency
Targeted services for start-ups and young companies in Vienna
For Vienna-based business-owners and entrepreneurs planning to set up in Sofia:
Support services offered by Sofia Investment Agency
SOFIA MEETS INITIATIVE
The Sofia Meets events aim to:
– promote bilateral relations and establish and enhance commercial ties between Sofia and the partnering city
– promote cooperation between entrepreneurial hubs
– connect businesses and institutions
– raise awareness of the business opportunities that are available in Sofia and the partnering city
Sofia Meets events take place in two stages:
– businesses and partnering organizations from the partner city travel to Sofia to present business opportunities in their city
– Sofia-based companies and partner organizations travel to the partner city to present business opportunities in Sofia
Sofia Meets initiative facilitates knowledge exchange and B2B relationships between companies operating in one of Sofia’s priority sectors: ICT, high-value added manufacturing, life sciences, creative industries and others.
Access the full project presentation here or visit the webpage of the first successful Sofia Meets event between Sofia and Oslo.
Contact our team to identify common priority industries for Sofia and your city.
For more information on how to become a Sofia Meets partner city please contact us: contact@investsofia.com.