Publish date: 14 January, 2025In 2024, Bulgaria moved up one position in the StartUp Blink report on the state of startup ecosystems around the world. While our country now ranks 37th out of 100 ranked countries, it was 32nd in 2020. At the same time, however, it remains the leader in the Balkans.
The report also identifies five startups in Bulgaria that deserve attention – Payhawk, Gameleap, OfficeRnD, Hyperscience and Evrotrust. Most of them are also featured on H512.com’s Job Board so you can quickly find job opportunities with them.
Funding and the number of recent deals are also addressed.
In 2024, we also told you about the nearly 20 deals closed during the year in the media section of H512.com*. The total amount of these investments is close to BGN 155 million, and in addition, two companies founded abroad by Bulgarians received a total of USD 95 million. The details follow, and the companies are listed according to the amount of investment in BGN, while the original currency in which the funds were secured has been retained.
26 million USD (~50.8 million BGN) for AMPECO
At the end of the year, the company raised the large investment in a Series B round. The developer of a charging station management platform for e-cars will invest the sum in improving its product, but also plans to increase its presence in key markets, including outside Europe. To make this happen, it is also planning to double its team by 2026.
The funding is led by Revaia, in partnership with BMW iVentures, Cavalry Ventures and LAUNCHub. The company ‘s white-label platform is being used by more than 160 of its customers and more than 120 thousand charging stations (double the number from last January).
eUR 9.9 million (~EUR 19.4 million) for Dronamics
Dronamics, the world’s first cargo drone licensee, has negotiated a €9.9 million contract from the European Council for Innovation (ECI).
With this amount, the developer of the Black Swan air cargo drone is heading to Greece to start commercial operations.
The company was founded in 2014 by brothers Konstantin and Svilen Rangelov and became the first in Europe with an operating license to carry out deliveries with drones.
8 million euros (~15.6 million leva) for Nasekomo
Back in 2024, biotech company Nasekomo conducted a Series A funding round, raising a total of €8m from private equity fund Invenio Partners and individuals.
With the funds, the company plans to create a network of insect bioconversion factories, which is also planned to use artificial intelligence. Currently, Nasekomo’s only site is near Sofia, but it is already considering setting up a second one in the country. They will partner with another Bulgarian business to build it.
Nasekomo’s founders, Marc Bolar and Olga and Xavier Marsénac, are already looking at other continents on which to develop their business.
€7.4 million (~€14.5 million) for Iris.ai
The Bulgarian-Norwegian company secured the funds in a Series A financing, and they will be mainly directed towards the development of the company’s core solution, RSpace. Silverline Capital is the lead investor.
Iris.ai leverages the capabilities of artificial intelligence in its search engine for scientific literature. In doing so, they believe they are solving a big problem for research and development – processing and searching the large volumes of research papers that are published.
The company has an office in Sofia, but its headquarters are in Stanbeck. One of its founders, Viktor Botev, is Bulgarian and its chief technology officer.
bGN 13.3 million for Bianor Holding
The company, which now operates under the Wiser Technology brand, raised the amount from BlackPeak Capital and registered a total of BGN 20 million in proceeds from its initial public offering on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE).
With this investment, the company secured more mergers and acquisitions to expand its service portfolio as well as its international presence. Later in 2024, for example, Wiser Technology acquired Serbian software developer Badin Soft, which employs more than 100 engineers and consultants.
In addition, in its calculations for the past year, Wiser Technology says it raised a total of EUR 22.6 million.
$4.5 million (~$8.8 million) for Team-GPT
The amount will be used to expand the team and improve the company’s product, which offers businesses AI tools to integrate into their systems as a single product rather than paying separate subscriptions for individual services.
The co-founders of the company are Ilia Valchanov, Ilko Kacharov, Katya Vaptsarova, Maria Valchanova and Yavor Belakov.
The funding round was led by the True Ventures fund, and also included the British Pact fund and more than 30 business angels. All of them entered the company with a 25% stake. To get this far, however, CEO Ilya Valchanov told TechCrunch that he spent several months in London and San Francisco, where he held meetings with a total of 85 venture capital funds.
3.3 million euros (~6.5 million leva) for Evrotrust
Evrotrust received the funds from clients and the venture capital fund Silverline Capital and will use them to expand its teams, and this will help develop a new product – a digital identity wallet for its clients. It will be able to store ID cards, diplomas, driving licenses and other important documents.
The company has 1.3 million unique users in 58 countries, and 150 establishments in 11 countries. It has been on the market since 2018, when it was founded by Georgi Dimitrov and Konstantin Bezuhanov.
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2.6 million euros (~5million leva) for Codery
The company attracted the investment from the Silverline Capital fund. The remaining funds came from business angels and other organizations. They will help Codery improve its internal systems and structure, as well as secure new M&A to expand its team.
Codery is building IT teams for foreign companies in the country, allowing businesses to operate locally without setting up regional offices. The company notes that it connects its clients with over 20 thousand Bulgarian tech talent.
eUR 2.4 million (~BGN 4.7 million) for Smart Farm Robotix
The European Commission has supported Smart Farm Robotix, which is developing a solar-powered autonomous robot for agriculture.
The company qualified for the funding along with 41 other companies out of a total of nearly 1,100 applications. The amount was awarded by the European Innovation Council (EIC) and will be used for development and team expansion.
Smart Farm’s Robotix robot uses artificial intelligence to recognise plants and remove weeds, making it easier for farmers to look after their crops. It is suited to work in hot conditions as well as on hilly and mountainous surfaces.
€2 million (~€3.9 million) for Tiger Technology
The funds were obtained in the form of convertible debt. Most of it is from business angels and EUR 400 thousand is from IMPETUS Capital. The amount will be used to strengthen Tiger Technology’s presence in existing markets as well as in business expansion.
The company’s developments enable on-premises and cloud sharing and its clients include Disney, Financial Times, Sky and Universal. In addition, Tiger Technology is gearing up for a major €10m funding round. According to the company’s profile on H512.com, it is 20 years old and based in Sofia.
bGN 3.1 million for Boleron
Digital insurance broker Boleron has successfully completed an initial public offering on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, raising BGN 3.17 million.
The software platform for selling insurance will invest the funds in the expansion of its operations both in Bulgaria and in neighboring Greece and Romania.
According to the product company’s profile on H512.com’s Job Board, it was founded in 2019. The ambition of its founders is for Boleron to become a unicorn company.
Vitosha Venture Partners invested a total of EUR 1.5 million (~BGN 2.9 million) in 5 companies
The amount was divided between ECEON, HROS.io, Kikimora.io, Krik.bg and Team Schedule, which received the largest share of the funds – about 600 thousand euros. The smallest investment was 140 thousand euros. The fund received between 5% and 20% stake in the five companies.
They operate in different sectors – from e-commerce and logistics to cybersecurity and recruitment solutions. So far, Vitosha Venture Partners has invested in nearly 110 companies.
eUR 1.4 million (~BGN 2.7 million) for Swipe.bg
The used mobile device company raised the funds from Vitosha Venture, NV3, Sofia Angels Ventures, and business angels. The funds are expected to be used to expand Swipe.bg’s operations in the country and abroad, as well as to hire more specialists in the team.
The platform allows users to both sell their old devices – phones, tablets, laptops and smartwatches – and buy new ones left by other users. Swipe.bg was founded in 2021 by Mikhail Dimitrov.
750 thousand euro (~1.5 million leva) for eLando
For this amount, investors from New Vision 3 KD and IT Soft EAD received shares in the company. Later, the cloud solutions provider also announced a strategic partnership with Turkey’s Fimple.
The company has offices in Sofia, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora and Shumen, as well as a subsidiary in the British city of Manchester. Earlier, eLando commented that it would expand its portfolio, planning to go international.
eUR 1.15 million for Paysera Bulgaria
In June, the company carried out an initial public offering on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange and managed to raise BGN 1.15 million, giving it a valuation of BGN 10 million.
Paysera Bulgaria placed nearly 95 thousand shares on the BSE’s beam market. In a statement, the company thanked the support of 236 new shareholders. The plan is to use the funds raised for a local license for an e-money company, covering capital regulatory requirements, developing basic payment services, and establishing a crowdfunding company.
The company noted that in 2023, their customers in Bulgaria and Romania have made transfers for over EUR 750 million.
Investments in companies abroad that do not have an office in the country but are founded by Bulgarians
German men’s health company Kranus Health, co-founded by Nikolay Dimitrov, received USD 5 million from French venture capital funds CapHorn and Future Positive Capital.
American Varda Space Industries, which develops drugs in space, was founded by Delyan Asparuhov. It was backed by $90 million in a funding round led by Caffeinated Capital.
And a few more deals…
We draw your attention to some investments in our country that are below the threshold of BGN 1 million.
The startup Nula.bg raised 270 thousand euros (~528 thousand leva) from business angels and a Bulgarian fund to develop the first cloud accounting and finance management service in the country.
The IT developer ClearWare supported with 50 thousand BGN the medical startup Med Guide, which is focused on improving clinical trials in pharmaceutical companies. The amount was won within the Beyond pre-accelerator program.
*The material includes investments in 2024, for which there is public data collected by our authors. Are we missing something? Email us at gabriela@dev.bg.
