The event was initiated by the Minister of Innovation and Growth – Mrs.Milena Stoicheva, and organized by the European Innovation Council. Its aim was to present the different directions of the Horizon Europe program and to explain the possibilities for supporting innovators and researchers in deep technologies. The head of the “Investment Analysis” department at Invest Sofia, Viktor Gusev, and Radostina Belcheva, chief expert at the Agency, took part in the meeting.
The European Innovation Council is the European Commission’s largest initiative to support innovation throughout the life cycle from early stage research to proof of concept, technology transfer, funding and scale-up for start-ups, small and medium-sized enterprises. Through its three instruments – Pathfinder, Transition and Accelerator, the Council provides funding to scientific organizations, start-ups and SMEs in the form of grants and equity participation or investments of up to €17.5 million per start-up beneficiary. The organization has a budget of 10.1 billion euros for the period 2021-2027.