Bulgaria
Bulgarian startup ecosystem has significantly developed in the last 10 years following the country’s EU membership. Lately, numerous venture capital funds have been created in order to support early-stage companies as well as to boost innovation and entrepreneurship. Bulgaria has also seen its first unicorn, has several success stories of acquisitions and has been selected as one of the best places to start your business from.
However, when it comes to private investments, Bulgaria is still lagging behind in terms of number of business angel investors, deals made and deal sizes. Due to different political, economic and societal reasons high net individuals in Bulgaria face obstacles in becoming business angels – they either lack the needed education to become ones or do not consider these highly risky investments suitable for them.
Existing BA Networks
Bulgarian Angels Club is a group of senior executives and entrepreneurs focused on Bulgaria ready to invest their money in early-stage startups in return for equity. So is the only network of business angels in Bulgaria with more than 100 members, with female investors accounting for 10% of the total number. The Club has steadily grown by 10% each year though the number of deals has stagnated at max 10 per year. The total amount of investments is approximately 3 million EUR. The Club members are mostly junior angel investors, who need further knowledge in angel investing, together with more role models and success stories coming from the community.
Recently, they have actively expanded their work across Bulgaria with two new chapters in Varna and Plovdiv (two of the biggest Bulgarian cities with an emerging startup scene). The Club is actively involved with the Bulgarian diaspora abroad with its well established Chapter in London and a new one in the US. Additionally, Bulgarian Angels Club together with BESCO – The Bulgarian Entrepreneurial Association – and other stakeholders in the startup ecosystem, are working towards legislation changes in order to introduce angel investing incentives in the country.
Sofia Angels Ventures is a 13 million EUR investment venture capital fund backed by the European Investment Fund and set to co-invest on a deal-by-deal basis alongside private investors (angels, family offices, funds, and other private institutions).
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