А Startup Association Was Set up in Sofia
The “National Representation of the Bulgarian Entrepreneurial Community” Association was established and hosted by the initiative of the Ministry of Economy. The aim of the initiative is to represent the interests of startups and help them gain more publicity and protection. The new Association will be an active participant in different consultative and governing structures of the Executive authorities.
The founding meeting was attended by Lyubomir Ganchev, Advisor to the Ministry of Economy, Stamen Yanev, Executive Director of the Bulgarian Investment Agency, Natanail Stefanov, Member of the Initiative Committee of the Association and a representative of the startup community and another 35 representatives of over 20 entrepreneurial organizations – NGOs, coworking spaces, investment funds, etc.
Lyubomir Ganchev pointed out that one of the most serious challenges for the startups is the access to funding and presented the current funding opportunities, currently managed by the Ministry of Economy – Operational Program “Innovation and Competitiveness” /OPIC/ and the resources of the Bulgarian Development Bank.
Stamen Yanev from the BIA stated that the Agency recognizes startups as projects of crucial importance, which are looking for their big investors and are the driving force for boosting investments in the country. On behalf of the startup business, Natanail Stefanov stressed on the need for unification of startup organizations in the country and explained that the main goal of the newly established association is to represent the entrepreneurial community and to serve as an efficient communication channel between state institutions and entrepreneurs.
The founders emphasized their intention to attract a maximum number of participants in the newly founded association, so that entrepreneurial organizations and startups have a broad representation.
