Bulgaria Innovation Hub, Inc.

12/03/2024

This Giving Tuesday, we’re excited to share the release of the 2024 Impact Report from Bulgaria Innovation Hub (BIH) and Future Unicorns Accelerator! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D_UgnpfNfCrnyPW28O0DkkfI8RkxgOkN/view?usp=sharing

Check it out to explore our journey from BIH’s inception in 2019 to the expansion of the Future Unicorns Accelerator, and our role in propelling the growth of the CEE startup ecosystem.

Key highlights from our impact:
🌱 61 startups have participated in our cohorts.
💼 Over 2,000 jobs were created by our alumni.
💰 These startups have raised over $200M in funding, with more than $50M raised in 2024 alone. 6 exits in total so far.

But this success wouldn't have been possible without the incredible support of our partners and sponsors, including America for Bulgaria, Payhawk, Eleven Venturess, Ventures, AMPECO, SME Promotion Agency, Hill Capital Management, Invest, Sofia Angels Ventures, Endeavor Bulgaria, SiteGround, Bulgarian Bank, Appolica StorPool Storage many others.

Today, we’re counting on the support of such ecosystem builders to help us raise the final $7000 of our $15, 000 campaign goal! https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/support-the-growth-of-cee-startup-ecosystem/

Remember, GlobalGiving is matching all donations for the next 12 hours – making your contribution go even further.

💡 How can you help? Join 70+ supporters and donate now to help us continue building bridges between CEE and Silicon Valley, enabling startups from Central and Eastern Europe to thrive in the US market.

Your generosity today will help us expand opportunities for the brightest startups and innovators across CEE.

👉 Donate Now: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/support-the-growth-of-cee-startup-ecosystem/

We believe that entrepreneurship and innovation drive positive social and economic change, create jobs, elevate communities, and improve lives. Our project supports CEE innovators who are passionate and determined to solve global challenges and build resilient communities. We create a two-way bridge...

09/20/2024

🎉 We’re thrilled to announce that Konstantin Kunev has joined Bulgaria Innovation Hub as our new General Manager!

With over 15 years of experience in the Tech sector, including 10 years of leading Learning & Development and HR functions in product and services Software Development organizations, he brings both solid expertise & passion for building talented, high-performing teams.

He is a dynamic leader who has consistently emphasized the importance of leadership development and fostering a strong community within the organizations he's served.

His commitment to excellence aligns perfectly with the values we uphold at Bulgaria Innovation Hub. We are confident that through his activity we will continue to empower visionary founders across the CEE region to scale their startups globally and achieve unprecedented success.

We are excited about the journey ahead. Welcome aboard, Konstantin!

09/12/2024

Connecting with local experts and getting practical advice on how to best launch and establish presence in the US are key components to help you scale successfully: https://hubs.la/Q02PGRwS0.

With extensive background in marketing and an impressive portfolio of renowned customers, Lora Kratchounova is also actively involved in the startup community. Read the full interview & get to know our stellar mentors!

08/27/2024

Leanid Tsurankou participated in our latest cohort and is the founder and CEO of QIBUS, a platform that connects cars and remote drivers.

The Qibus technology works on any modern vehicle to enable driverless operations, and is a very ambitious project aiming to change the way we connect to the automotive industry from the within.

08/14/2024

Radinela Dimitrakova from Vodar by Mindset Design spoke about her experience as a with our acceleration program. She participated in our latest cohort, and we couldn't be prouder of their mission of empowering young athletes to unlock their full potential.

07/25/2024

Time to see our program through the eyes of another , Saga.

A collaborative workspace for connected notes, docs and tasks, Saga focuses on speed, simplicity and useful AI that helps individuals and teams organize and make sense of their knowledge.

Focused on enhancing deep work within the organization, by empowering people to spend less time organizing and more time doing, Saga offers powerful integrations and a minimalistic interface, while amazingly fast and allowing teams to collaborate in real time.

07/12/2024

🎙️ Our interview with Tytus Cytowski is out: https://hubs.la/Q02GlWts0.

📣 Join us in this conversation as he shares his extensive expertise on the critical role of legal preparedness for tech startups, offering valuable insights on navigating the web of fundraising, intellectual property protection, and contract negotiations.

07/04/2024

🎆🇺🇸 Happy 4th of July! 🇺🇸🎆

As the US celebrates independence and innovation, we reflect on the meaningful connections we created between Southeast Europe and the US.

💫 We've witnessed remarkable transformations driven by the power of ideas and relentless innovators who put their passions ahead of everything else.

🥂 Doers, dreamers, outliers, this is your day! May you stay true to your visions and bring them to life, your independent thinking fuels our mission.

🎈Happy Independence Day!

07/02/2024

Pluria is a future of work startup that bring teams together in hudreds of co-working spaces across Iberia and Latin America.

The B2B SaaS platform recently participated in our latest cohort, and Andrei Cretu was kind enough to speak to us about their experience.

06/21/2024

🦄 EmailTree.ai is an AI-powered platform designed to streamline email management and enhance productivity for organizations by leveraging natural language processing and machine learning.

🚀🎙️ Casius Morea participated in our latest cohort, and has spoken to us about his experience.

06/19/2024

StartupBlink’s Global Startup Ecosystem Index in 2024 was published, and you can check it out here: https://hubs.la/Q02CqHy10.

We joined this initiative as partners on behalf of Bulgaria, as we firmly believe that a solid understanding of our own background is one of the keys to ecosystem growth.

Here are some of the report’s relevant numbers regarding the evolution of Bulgaria’s startup ecosystem:

📌 Bulgaria continues to lead the Balkans by expanding the total score gap with its closest ranked regional contender, Romania;

📌 With 3 cities in the global 1,000, with one more ranked city in the Index - Plovdiv - and all of them have improved their positions since last year;

📌 Sofia improves by 2 spots to rank in the 117th position globally, completing a 6-spot climb in two years;

📌 Sofia is now the runner-up in the Balkans, surpassing Athens.

06/12/2024

In the name of transparency and celebrating entrepreneurship done right, we've published a new piece covering the BIH alumni updates since our last Impact Report: https://hubs.la/Q02BwmbC0.

Fostering innovation means creating a space that can accommodate growth in new businesses in the ecosystem, and we do this through world-class mentorship and facilitating powerful connections that can fast track a startup's path to global scaling.