A major tech hub is emerging!
10,000 kilometers away from Silicon Valley there is a rather small country with a population of just over 7 million. Interestingly enough, the same country happens to be 1st in Europe in terms of certified ICT specialists per capita and 8th in the world in absolute numbers according to Brainbench Global IT IQ report. Unsurprisingly, the same country is one of the top IT outsourcing destinations in the EU with abundance of talent, low taxes (10%) and cheap operational costs (compared to rest of the EU). But guess what, beyond outsourcing there is a mythical land called entrepreneurship. The tech community in Bulgaria, aware of its full potential, is starting to get tired of exporting services, human capital and profits. A huge innovation wave is on the horizon.
The startup ecosystem in Bulgaria has definitely been on the rise in the last few years and all the necessary pieces are now falling into place in order to turn a great outsourcing destination into a prime innovation hub. Presence of skilled, disciplined and motivated tech-minds? Check. Human capital is definitely the country’s biggest resource. Government support? Check. The municipalities of local IT hubs like Plovdiv and Sofia have recognized the opportunity and are taking an active part in the development of the ecosystem by supporting events, organizations and universities. Inspiring success stories? Check. Telerik made a $262.5M exit in 2014 while a number of startups were able to scale internationally all the way to Silicon Valley. A growing investor community? Check. Over the last 5 years we witnessed the establishment of a few seed and growth stage VC funds such as NEVEQ, BlackPeak Capital, Eleven and LauncHub. While it may be too early to talk about returns and multiplicators, there is no doubt about the exponentially increased investment activity in the region. The EIF has been extremely valuable in stimulating VC activity, however until recently there was a huge piece missing in terms of access to capital, more specificaly the pre-seed, angel funding available to aspiring entrepreneurs. The guys at Sofia 2.0 are now filling that gap with KOWN, a mobile investment platform which represents a community of angel investors and provides pre-seed stage startups with the much needed access to capital. So what’s still missing?
The political and economical mishaps of the past had greatly suppressed the entrepreneurial spirit of the population. In addition, the very same circumstances led to a significant export of human capital and brain-drain. The tech community in the region is definitely bringing a positive change in that aspect with the invaluable help of municipalities, investors and corporates. A plethora of co-working spaces were born over the last 5 years, hosting startups, networking events and workshops on a mission to create an environment where entrepreneurial minds are flourishing. The community is growing by the day creating an entrepreneurial buzz which was once forgoten. This trend is easily noticed just by the number of tech/startup events popping up. Sofia 2.0 hosted the first Investor Summit in Sofia on the 30th of November, while GarGarage brought local tech experts, entrepreneurs and investors under one roof at TechOrigin Plovdiv on the 1st of December.
Again, a huge innovation wave is on the horizon. Get in touch if you feel like surfing.
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