StartUp World Cup Bulgaria 2023
Startup World Cup Bulgaria is a regional competition that is part of the global Startup World Cup series, taking place in 60+ countries.
The Grand Finale brings all the regional champions to San Francisco where the winning team is awarded with a $1,000,000 investment prize. The goal of this event is to foster innovation and entrepreneurship worldwide.
Startups in all stages and verticals are encouraged to apply – the winner of this event will proceed to the Grand Finale and compete for a $1,000,000 investment.
Bulgaria will select their finalist on June 13th, 2023 in the city of Sofia and we have the honor and pleasure to invite you to be a participant in this major event.
Host of the event
With the support of
Official Airline Partner
General Media Partner
Sponsors
Jury
Bojidar Neytchev
Zlatolina Mukova
Kamen Bankovski
Momchil Vassilev
Elina Halatcheva
Pavel Lisev
Anastas Gogov
Angel Hadjiev
Ivaylo Ivanov
Milen Ivanov
FINALS VIDEO
WINNER 2022
The big winner for 2022 is the startup company Daye. The team aims to raise standards in women’s healthcare by creating sustainable, high-quality products and services. The company designs its products in-house and manufactures them using its own machinery. They modify familiar women’s tampons by improving their absorbent properties and making them environment-friendly using hemp fiber. They are also developing the first pain-relieving tampon infused with clinically tested cannabinoids that soothe menstrual pain.
Daye’s team didn’t just win over the jury. They earned their spot in the global finals, which will be held in San Francisco’s Silicon Valley at the end of September. There they will represent our country and compete for the $1 million prize.
Finalists 2022
Finalists StartUp World Cup, Bulgaria 2021
Final: 19 November 2021, Plovdiv
Bulgaria announced its winner for 2021 at a prestigious event in Plovdiv on November 19, 2021 during Digital4Plovdiv & DiTech Expo 2021.
Startup companies, projects, and ideas are more than welcome to enter the competition, which will take place in the form of a gala evening in Plovdiv as a part of the largest digital marketing events in our country – Didigal4 Plovdiv “Annual Conference for Online Marketing and E-Commerce” on November 18-19 this year.
Bulgaria is ambitiously turning into a major regional technology hub in Southeast Europe and is rapidly growing the number of companies who choose our country for their headquarters or a representative office. Many startups are founded here and innovation is expected to be presented, discovered, and supported.
Startup World Cup Regionals is the final step before the big stage in the Silicon Valley, where the winner will have the opportunity to compete, meet hundreds of potential investors and business partners, but most of all – win the one million-dollar investment prize.
Previous finals have, among its speakers, featured some of the world`s biggest names in tech. Executives from some of the most recognizable and revolutionary companies in the world have attended: Steve Wozniak (Apple), Marc Randolph (Netflix), Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn), John Chambers (Cisco) and many more who you can see on the official website of Startup World Cup. https://www.startupworldcup.io/
The main gala event, held on November 19th, will feature the 10 best startups pre-selected by a prestigious jury. The jury will include international and Bulgarian experts, financiers and investors. During the evening each startup will pitch their company in front of the jury on the main stage, which will then vote forward a winner who will receive the opportunity to travel for the finals in San Francisco.
Every idea and every project is more than welcome to apply for a chance to go on stage and pitch with the opportunity to win.
Among the official guests of the gala evening finals will be representatives of major financial institutions, venture capital, and investment companies, and many more.
WHY ATTEND?
FOR STARTUPS
Network with top tier investors.
Develop corporate partnerships and hear from top industry experts.
FOR CORPORATIONS
Meet innovative startups from around the world.
Create business development opportunities.
Network with other corporate representatives and investors.
FOR INVESTORS
Meet top global startups.
Get access to new deals around the world.
Network with other investors and corporate representatives.
The application form is closed!
The applications are free and can be submitted using the form below!
Application form is closed!
(StartUp World Cup) For any questions: 0886 991 001, Preslav Bobev
Bojidar Neytchev
PwC, CEE Partner
Bojidar is one of the senior partners of PwC in Central and Eastern Europe, joining the company in 1994. He is a Partner since 2004.
His 27 years of experience include advising clients on major private sector transactions and privatizations in the region, market entry and exit strategy analysis for companies, restructuring and turnaround services. He has led projects in a number of countries for clients looking to bring in transformative solutions to their existing businesses by commercializing research developments or by acquiring companies with innovative products / services.
During the last three decades Bojidar has established and developed most of PwC offices in South East Europe by building teams of specialists and through acquisition of competing companies.
Zlatolina Mukova
MANAGING PARTNER AT NEVEQ & NEW VISION 3
20 years of entrepreneurial and management experience
Formerly financial group CEO & Ministry of Transport, Information Technology, and Communications deputy minister
First CEO & shareholder of startup exited to TeleTech
Kamen Bankovski
Founding Member, Vitosha Venture Capital
Kamen is an active participant in the Bulgarian and SEE entrepreneurial ecosystem. He is an investor and a founding member of Vitosha Venture Partners, a Sofia, Bulgaria-based early-stage venture capital fund and has deployed over 12 million euro and financed and supported over 50 start-ups.
Kamen helps various projects, initiatives and start-ups in the SEE, working with regional investors and organizations to provide general support for entrepreneurship. With more than 250 companies mentored, he participates as a mentor and speaker in accelerators, training programs, and tech and startup events and conferences throughout the SEE region.
He has previous operational experience in multiple startups and technology companies and has further background in management consulting and private equity, founding his first company at the age of 21.
Momchil Vassilev
Managing Director of Endeavor Bulgaria
Momchil Vassilev is the Managing Director of Endeavor Bulgaria, a non-profit global organization supporting high-impact entrepreneurship.
Momchil has over 25 years of extensive managerial and business development experience across a wide range of industries. Prior to joining Endeavor in 2016, Momchil held the position of Director Corporate Development at VIA Group, an investment group with projects in aviation, petro-chemicals, mining, construction, and renewable energy. In 2011, Momchil co-founded Proviti – a bio-tech company focused on the development of probiotic products. Previously, Momchil spent over 17 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers where he led restructuring, strategic development, finance and process optimization projects.
Momchil holds a Master of Science degree from the University of National and World Economics in Sofia and is a Graduate of Harvard Business School Executive Education Program “Scaling Entrepreneurial Ventures”.
Elina Halatcheva
Managing Partner, BrightCap Ventures
Elina is a co-founder and managing partner of BrightCap Ventures, a tech-focused VC fund supporting Bulgarian founders with a global vision.
Elina has extensive experience in investment banking, VC/PE investing and new business ventures in New York, London and Sofia. Prior to establishing BrightCap, she was part of the early management team of a B2B procurement start-up, driving its expansion into more than 50 industry sectors. Before returning to Bulgaria, Elina was an investor at Citigroup’s private equity funds in New York ($600m) and London (€1.1bn). Previously, she was a research analyst at Wit Soundview, New York, the first online platform for investment banking and research of emerging technology and e-commerce companies. She started her career as an investment banker at Citigroup on Wall Street.
Elina holds an MBA from Stanford and a Bachelor of Science degree with summa cum laude honors from the University of Richmond, VA.
Pavel Lisev
Executive director and Member of the Management Board of the Fund of Funds
Pavel Lisev is Executive director and Member of the Management Board of the Fund of Funds. He is a highly experienced professional in developing equity research reports and building valuation models related to the structuring and management of mid-sized and large corporate finance projects and private equity investments. The professional background of Mr. Lisev includes a considerable investment banking experience and a project coordination role related to fintech start-ups at a pan-European financial institution. He is also a former senior manager at an international card scheme network involved in the deployment of innovative products and solutions in the digital and card payments area. Furthermore he has a solid experience in pilot projects and technology innovations in digital transformation.
Mr Lisev holds a Master in Finance degree from Lund University of Economics and Management, Sweden.
Anastas Gogov
Founder, Executive Chairman and Chief Facilitator at The Management Board (www.tmb.bg)
Anastas is executive and business psychologist, helping companies, their directors and business owners to develop and dominate the business area, they are focused on. Anastas has established and grown the delivery center of Experian in Bulgaria from 2007 till 2014. From 0 to 170 people, while managing strategic change projects and delivering client innovations for companies like Barclays bank, Fullerton, ICICI, HDFC Bank, HSBC, Vodafone, Porsche financial services etc. From 2013 his major area of work is Executive Coaching of Entrepreneurs, CEO’s and Board members as his clients vary from Startups, SMEs and Family Businesses to Large Corporates in Europe and USA as Intelligent systems, Eurosped, Keune and Naggel, Kaufland, CEZ, Energo-Pro, UBER and many others.
Angel Hadjiev
SeedBlink Bulgaria, Managing Director
Angel is the Managing Director of SeedBlink Bulgaria, the fastest growing investing platform specialised in sourcing, vetting, financing, and scaling European tech start-ups.
He has over 15 years of extensive financial advisory and business development experience across a wide range of industries in Europe, with a focus on corporate finance and exposure to the financial services sector.
Prior to joining SeedBlink, he headed CIFund — a EUR 33m growth equity fund and before that spent over 6 years in Deloitte, where he led a number of landmark projects including the 2016 AQR and ST of the entire banking system and the acquisition of over EUR 17bn REOs by Cerberus from Banco Santander, BBVA and Kutxa Bank.
Angel holds a Master of Business Administration degree from ESADE Business School, Spain and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Economics from University of Durham, UK
Ivaylo Ivanov
Director of Founder Institute Eastern Europe
Ivaylo’s career has taken him from mathematics and software development to technology leadership serving as a global CIO, to tech entrepreneurship, and finally – investing. He has spent the best part of this century applying cutting-edge tech innovations to complex business problems, leaving a lasting impact on 5 continents.
He currently serves as a Director of Founder Institute Eastern Europe, where he helps aspiring entrepreneurs develop the skills and knowledge they need to succeed. He is also a Board Member of Podkrepi.bg, an open-source donations platform that enables individuals and organizations to support charitable causes in a transparent and efficient manner. His ability to combine his technical expertise with a deep sense of social responsibility underscores his commitment to making a positive impact on the world.
Milen Ivanov
Managing Partner at Sofia Angels Ventures
Co-founder and Chairman of CEO Angels Club
Milen is a serial entrepreneur that became an angel investor and a VC manager. He has been a director for Bulgaria of the pre-seed accelerator Founders Institute for 5 years and Jury Member in the EIC Accelerator at the European Commission. He is also a co-founder & chairman of the largest angel network in Bulgaria – CEO Angels Club. Currently Milen is a Managing Partner at Sofia Angels Ventures – a seed co-investment fund backed up by EIF that invests alongside angels, family offices, corporates and other private investors throughout EU in tech startups.