Investment
Israeli travel tech startup Bookaway raises $35 million
Investment
Israeli travel tech startup Bookaway raises $35 million
Bookaway, an Israeli travel startup, raised $35 million a Series B funding […]
© Innovation Capital
🚀ACCELERATOR 🚀
Innovation Capital invests up to €100k to accelerate consumer goods projects
Innovation Capital has launched a new edition of its accelerator. Under the […]
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CRYPTO MARKET
Digital coins trade higher amid bullish sentiment
Most cryptocurrencies traded higher on Thursday (July 22nd) as the positive […]
© Framey
Investment
Romanian-based travel start-up Framey has raised a $1M
The Covid-19 pandemic did not stop Romanian travel startup Framey which successfully […]
©WENDY WEI/ PEXELS
Food Waste
40% of all food around the world is being wasted
Even though there are parts of the world where people struggle to […]
Trending TV
Croatia
Croatia’s first ever center for innovation in tourism opened in city of Opatija
Croatia’s first center for innovation in tourism, the HUBBAZIA business incubator, […]
© Mohamed Hassan / Pixabay
Investment
Untitled Ventures to invest 118$ million in Eastern Eruropean startups
Eastern Europe becomes a more attractive place for investors and the possibilities […]
CRYPTO MARKET
Bitcoin up as opinion leaders support digital coin future
Bitcoin went above the $32,000 mark on Wednesday (July 21st) as crypto […]
© Vitosha Venture Partners
💸VENTURE CAPITAL💸
Vitosha Venture Partners with €30k funding for Early-Stage startups
Vitosha Venture Partners, a venture fund from Bulgaria, will select the next […]
Dronamics is selected as partner of DHL for middle-mile drone delivery
Dronamics is selected as partner of DHL for middle-mile drone delivery
A major success for the Bulgarian startup ecosystem was announced earlier this […]
Klarna-CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski. © Klarna
Klarna
Buy Now Pay Later: The Business With Expensive Online Loans
Want to buy something online, but don’t have the money for it […]
© Christian Lue on Unsplash
Crypto
EU Commission wants to illegalize anonymous crypto wallets
Crypto assets and, above all, the many providers of applications for them […]
Jeff Bezos, head of Amazon and Blue Origin. © Blue Origin
Space Odyssey
“New Shepard”: Jeff Bezos on jaunts into space
It won’t be long before the richest man in the world will […]
CRYPTO MARKET
Ethereum dips below $1,700 mark for first time in four weeks
Ethereum dropped below the $1,700 mark on the Binance crypto exchange on […]
© Markus Spiske / Pexels
Green Deal
Politicians worldwide gather in demand of a Global Green Deal
The European green deal has been an influential part of Europe’s bid […]
Baiju Bhatt and Vladimir Tenev founded Robinhood. © Robinhood
Apps
Robinhood seeks stock market valuation of $ 35 billion
In a league with Deutsche Börse or NASDAQ: The US neobroker is […]
Future
Stories that Shape Tomorrow: Textbook on the Future History of Bulgaria
Future
Stories that Shape Tomorrow: Textbook on the Future History of Bulgaria
The “Textbook on the Future History of Bulgaria“ is a project by […]
© Trending Topics
Report
Trending Topics Austria launches local Retail Startup Report 2021
The first Retail Startup Report , published by Trending Topics Austria and the […]
© Gerd Altmann on Pixabay
Crypto
Delta worries are causing Bitcoin & Co to collapse further
The fears of the rapid spread of the delta variant of the […]
© IBL News
Apps
Language learning app Duolingo with over $3B valuation in US IPO
The Edutech giant Duolingo is targeting $ 3,7 billion for its impending […]
CRYPTO MARKET
Bitcoin dips below $30,000 for first time in a month as selloff pressure continues
Bitcoin fell below the $30,000 mark on Monday (July 19th) for the […]
The zoom app. © Photo by Allie Smith on Unsplash
Apps
Mega deal: Zoom buys cloud provider Five9 for $ 14.7 billion
The corona crisis and need for digital connectedness made Zoom the ultimate […]
© Tesla
Mobility
“Full Self Driving”: Tesla enters the subscription model business
Seeing a car not as hardware, but as a platform on which […]
CRYPTO MARKET
Crypto prices tumble further as selling pressure continues
Leading cryptocurrencies started Monday (July 19th) with marginally lower prices on […]
© ClimAccelerator
Open Call
ClimAccelerator Black Sea: Accelerator for Eco-Innovation
ClimAccelerator Black Sea is a Romania-Bulgaria consortium funded by the EIT […]
© Lieferando
Startups
“Just Eat Takeaway” acquires Slovak delivery service bistro.sk
The Lieferando parent company Just Eat Takeaway takes over the bistro.sk delivery […]
#SAVETHEDATE
Trending Events Weekly Calendar: What you shouldn’t miss this week
This is our list of all major events and open calls from […]
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SUCCESS
Bulgaria’s Wasteful, Slovakia’s Scribo win FedEx Access Awards at JA Europe entrepreneurship festival
Bulgarian student-run startup Wasteful and mini company Scribo from Slovakia won […]
CRYPTO NEWS
Bitcoin tanks to two-week low as US widens crypto crackdown
Bitcoin’s price slid below the $31,500 marks for the first two since […]
© BMW Group
BMW collaborates with AWS to launch “Quantum Computing Challenge”
BMW has announced the launch of its “Quantum Computing Challenge” in collaboration […]
Crypto News
Further declines in the crypto market – upswing at Binance Coin
The past few days have been very bitter for the crypto market. […]
© Revolut
Revolut raises 675 million euros in a mega financing round
Last week there was already talk of an upcoming mega financing round for the […]
Sonarworks Co-founders Martins Popelis and Helmuts Bems; image: © Sonarworks
FUNDING ROUND
Latvian audiotech startup Sonarworks closes $6m funding round to scale SoundID licensing business
Riga-based audiotech startup Sonarworks announced it had closed a $6m funding round […]
© jarmoluk / Pixabay
OPEN CALL
Serbia’s Innovation Fund to provide EUR 20m worth of grants to boost SMEs
The Serbian Innovation Fund is planning on allocating EUR 20m to develop […]
Unsplash
GREEN INITIATIVE
Climate: EU Commission wants to end combustion engines by 2035
In a move that was long-awaited by some but feared by others, […]
Symbolic image for the digital euro. © ECB
Europe
ECB greenlights digital euro
After a long wait, the time has finally come: The European Central […]
CRYPTO MARKET
Bitcoin slides further as US inflation hits 13-year-high
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency continued to slide for a second day in […]
© Cherrydeck on Unsplash
PANDEMIC IMPACT
COVID-19 affected 70% of Romanian tech start-ups, study finds
Nearly 70% of tech start-ups in Romania have experienced some level of […]
Jason Rosewell on Unsplash
170 seconds to pitch: handy lessons for impactful startup presentations from the pros
Two people is not enough, three is the perfect number for a […]
© Jeremy Zero
CRYPTO MARKET
Daily crypto radar: Trading volume on crypto market down 40% in June
Since June, the entire global crypto market has had to fight its […]
bunq founder Ali Niknam. © bunq
Dutch challenger bank bunq raises close to EUR 200m
The Netherlands now boasts one of the most advanced fintech ecosystems in […]
© Kristina Eskenazi
NEV INVESTMENT
German startup Next.e.GO Mobile invests EUR 140m in future-generation e-vehicle plant in Bulgaria
German electric vehicle start-up Next e.Go Mobile will invest EUR 140m in […]
© Bermix Studio on Unsplash
CRYPTO MARKET
💸 While you were sleeping: Crypto market roundup on July 12
Bitcoin started Monday (July 12th) up, trading at $34,279 at 09:00 GMT […]
#SAVETHEDATE
Trending Events Weekly Calendar: What you shouldn’t miss this week
This is our list of all major events and open calls from […]
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ECOMMERCE
Europe’s e-commerce faces a hot July as new VAT rules take effect
Congrats! Or rather where do we go now? Starting from July 1st, […]
Bulgarian economy minister Kiril Petkov speaks at the Three Seas Initiative summit in Sofia, Bulgaria on July 8, 2021; image: © Economy Ministry of Bulgaria
BIOTECH
Bulgaria’s Health and Life Sciences Cluster joins call for creation of regional biotech innovation fund as part of Three Seas Initiative
Bulgaria’s Health and Life Sciences Cluster fully supports the idea to set […]
Aleph Farms Team ,© RAM
Investment
Aleph Farms: Israeli startup secures $105m for laboratory beef steaks
It’s a race against time. Numerous startups around the world are working […]
© Bermix Studio on Unsplash
CRYPTO MARKET
💸 While you were sleeping: Crypto market roundup on July 9
Bitcoin started Friday (July 9th) with a slight drop before moving up […]
© JSPTOA on Pixabay
Climate
Climate change: Humans are responsible for torrential rain
The greenhouse gas emissions generated by humans have severe effects on various […]
© Obi Onyeador on Unsplash
MONOPOLY
US states sue Google over Play Store
A monopoly that restricts other companies and users in their freedom of […]
© The Flemish Scrollers
PLEASE STAY FOCUSED
Belgian developer uses AI to detected lawmakers distracted by phone
Belgian speaker and developer of the Die With Me app (a messenger […]
© SeedBlink & Catalyst Romania II
FUNDING ROUND
Catalyst Romania II invests EUR 1.2m in SeedBlink
Catalyst Romania Fund II, one of the leading VC funds in the […]
© Bermix Studio on Unsplash
CRYPTO MARKET
💸 While you were sleeping: Crypto market roundup on July 8
Bitcoin started Thursday (July 8th) with a downward trend, trading at $33,114 […]
© Sifted
UNICORN
Danish fintech startup Pleo becomes Europe’s latest unicorn hitting $1.7b valuation
Copenhagen-based B2B fintech startup Pleo has reached a valuation of $1.7b after […]
© Devin EAD
VENTURE CAPITAL
Belgium’s Spadel, owner of Bulgarian bottled water maker Devin, launches EUR 10m venture capital fund
Belgian group Spadel, owner of Bulgarian bottled water producer Devin EAD, is […]
© Plan A
RECOGNITION
Bulgarian-founded greentech startup Plan A wins “The Europas Award 2021”
Berlin-based start-up Plan A, founded by Bulgarian Lubomila Jordanova, has been […]
© Bermix Studio on Unsplash
CRYPTO MARKET
💸 While you were sleeping: Crypto market roundup on July 7
Bitcoin started Wednesday (July 7th) with a flat trend, trading at $34,718 […]
Mate Rimac. © Rimac
MEGADEAL
Croatia’s Rimac Automobili buys controlling stake in Bugatti from Volkswagen Group
Croatian electric supercar producer Rimac Automobili has purchased a majority in […]
TRAINING
ABLE Activator to hold Weekend Startup Crash Course in Burgas
On July 24-25, the entrepreneurial program ABLE ACTIVATOR will present its new […]
© Executium on Unsplash
CRYPTOCURRENCY
Binance launches operations in Bulgaria
Binance, the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, announced on Tuesday (July […]
© Bermix Studio on Unsplash
CRYPTO MARKET
💸 While you were sleeping: Crypto market roundup on July 6
Bitcoin started Tuesday (July 6th) with a downward trend, trading at $34,679 […]
© OpenStreetMap / Screenshot Trending Topics
GEODATA
Amid Brexit, British foundation OpenStreetMap is considering leaving the UK
Brexit has been having a massive impact on UK-based companies ever since […]
© Hanny Naibaho on Unsplash
CRACKDOWN
China is cracking down on ride hailing app Didi
After an amazing stock market debut last week, in which $4.4b were […]
© Sofia Tech Park
SUPERCOMPUTERS
Bulgaria’s Discoverer is one of the world’s Top 100 supercomputers
The Bulgarian supercomputer Discoverer was ranked #91 in the TOP 500 chart […]
© Bermix Studio on Unsplash
CRYPTO MARKET
💸 While you were sleeping: Crypto market roundup on July 5
Bitcoin started Monday (July 5th) with a downward trend, trading at $34,311 […]
#SAVETHEDATE
Trending Events Weekly Calendar: What you shouldn’t miss this week
This is our list of all major events from the world of […]
© Rohlik
UNICORN
Rolhik: Czech online supermarket achieves unicorn status
Czech online supermarket Rohlik has finally reached the coveted unicorn status after […]
© Frank Busch on Unsplash
STATS
Invest Europe: Private equity invests in record number of CEE startups & scaleups in 2020
The number of CEE companies that received private equity investment in 2020 […]
© Mark König on Unsplash
ONLINE SHOPPING
E-commerce ABC: what is it and how does it work?
E-commerce (electronic commerce) is an industry that unites all platforms and […]
© Bermix Studio on Unsplash
CRYPTO MARKET
💸 While you were sleeping: Crypto market roundup on July 2
Bitcoin started Friday (July 2nd) with a downward trend, trading at $32,827 […]
© Kvalifik on Unsplash
FIGHT FOR TALENT
How innovation attracts and retains employees in the IT industry?
Competition for talent in the IT sector is hot and companies are […]
© Facebook
MILESTONE
Facebook is now worth $1 trillion
For years, Facebook has been under constant attacks by authorities, critics, […]
© FlexCar on Instagram
FUNDING ROUND
FlexCar raises EUR 50m in biggest investment in Greek startup to date
FlexCar, a Greek car-as-a-service startup, announced a successful EUR 50m investment […]
© Bermix Studio on Unsplash
CRYPTO MARKET
💸 While you were sleeping: Crypto market roundup on July 1
Bitcoin started Thursday (July 1st) with a downward trend, trading at $34,286 […]
The Kriptomat team; image: © LAUNCHub
FUNDING ROUND
Estonian-based crypto startup Kriptomat closes EUR 2.2m led by Bulgaria’s LAUNCHub Ventures
Estonian-based cryptocurrency exchange Kriptomat OÜ announced the closure of a EUr […]
© geralt
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
AI responsible for 70 percent of wage cuts
The gap between the rich and the poor has been growing steadily […]
© Matthias Zeitler on Pixabay
DIGITAL NOMADS
Belgrade launches website to promote itself as top destination for digital nomads
The Digital Serbia Initiative and the UNDP presented a brand new website, […]
© MVP Workshop on FB
DEAL
Crypto platform Celsius buys into Serbia’s MVP Workshop, opens R&D hub in Belgrade
New York-based crypto platform Celsius announced the acquisition of a development […]
THE BEE FEEDER © SEBASTIAN EVERDING
IMPACT
Bee feeders: German inventor creates vending machines that dispense flower seeds instead of gum
There was a point in time when you could see small vending […]
The Dronamics team at work. © Dronamics
THE BLACK SWAN
Bulgarian Dronamics’ unmanned planes to speed up Hellmann’s deliveries of vital goods in Europe
Starting next year, Germany’s leading freight forwarder Hellmann’s will start using […]
© Bermix Studio on Unsplash
CRYPTO MARKET
💸 While you were sleeping: Crypto market roundup on June 30th
Bitcoin started Wednesday (June 30th) with a downward trend, trading at $35,043 […]
Dominic Williams, Gründer von Dfinity. © Dfinity
INTERVIEW
“Like the Dotcom Boom”: Dfinity Founder Explains Crash of the ICP Token
On Monday, the price of the ICP token was up a whopping […]
© GreenUp on FB
SUSTAINABILITY
Startup campers wanted: GreenUp initiative invites sustainability enthusiasts for a week in Bulgarian nature
In August 2021, 20 young people aged 19-30 will get together for […]
Das Team von Speedinvest Heroes. © Speedinvest Heroes
Sponsored Story
wecanbeheroes.io: “We can become a European Linkedin for startups”
More than 20,000 job visits monthly, over 1,000 open jobs, and 2,000+ […]
Daniel Kjellén (CEO) and Fredrik Hedberg (CTO) from Tink. © Tink
MEGA DEAL
Visa buys Swedish fintech Tink in EUR 1.8b deal
The Swedish tech world is bustling with excitement. After the mega-rounds for […]
© AquaCultured Foods
FUTURE OF FOOD
Eat this: Chicago-based startup creates “world’s first” whole muscle seafood made from fermentation
The alternative protein food products have been gaining popuplarity worldwide. […]
Cured vanilla pods contain about 2% by dry weight vanillin. Image: © Béa Beste from Pixabay
IMPACT
Scientists turn used plastic bottles into vanilla flavoring
Scottish scientists have developed a unique method to recycle plastic waste, The […]
YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP
JA’s Gen-E 2021 brings together 180 startups from across Europe
Some 180 startups run by 800 young entrepreneurs from across Europe will […]
OPEN CALL
(UPDATED – new deadline) Resonator City Connect – call for startups adressing urban challenges
If you live in a big city, you know that each major […]
ANALYSIS
European Rennaisance 2.0
The renaissance brought about many inventions without which the world would not […]
#SAVETHEDATE
Trending Events Weekly Calendar: What you shouldn’t miss this week
This is our list of all major events from the world of […]
© Luisella Planeta Leoni on Pixabay
EDTECH
How Worddio’s data science approach to vocabulary building brought $50k From CEO Angels Club?
Edtech startup Worddio, a Bulgarian AI-driven vocabulary-builder app, has attracted […]
© storyandstory
ANTI-GOOGLE?
Meet Brave Search: the new ad-free search engine – for now
Even though Google is still dominating the world of search engines, putting […]
© Jörn Heller on Pixabay
Germany sets up EUR 10b “future” fund to support early-stage tech startups
Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, has set up a EUR 10b fund to […]
©Egor Myznik on Unsplash
STATS
Greek ecosystem: Life sciences top industry list among local startups
Startups operating in the life science sector account for the biggest share […]
© World Economic Forum
FUTURE OF TECH
2021 cohort: 100 startups join World Economic Forum’s Technology Pioneers community
The World Economic Forum announced its 2021 Technology Pioneers, young and growing […]
© นิธิ วีระสันติ on Pixabay
AI ECOSYSTEM
EC, ADRA enter partnership to jointly invest EUR 2.6b in European AI, data and robotics
The European Commission (EC) and the AI, Data, and Robotics Association (ADRA) […]
© Markus Spiske on Unsplash
EU INNOVATION
European Innovation Scoreboard 2021: SEE is home to EU’s emerging innovators
Innovation performance keeps improving in EU member states and regions, with SEE […]
© FREE-PHOTOS ON PIXABAY
URBAN SUSTAINABILITY
Stanford software shows cities the benefits of sustainable investments for free
There are a plethora of measures a city can take in order […]
GoStudent's management team © GoStudent
EDUTECH UNICORN
Europe gets new edutech unicorn: GoStudent valued at EUR 1.4b
Austria has a new unicron among its ranks. Educational startup GoStudent, founded […]
© Pexels on Pixabay
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
AI turns your speech into verses from popular rappers
US scientists have developed a tool that lets you turn your speech […]
Adapted from ©ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 2021
FUTURE OF MEDICINE
Scientists develop bruisable artificial skin helping prosthetics, robots sense injuries
A group of Chinese scientists have developed artificial skin that senses force […]
© Auve Tech on FB
MOBILITY
Estonia launches world’s first hydrogen-powered self-driving shuttles
Estonia is launching the world’s first driverless shuttles powered by hydrogen. They […]
© Amber Group
UNICORN
In just 18 months: Crypto startup founded by ex-Morgan Stanley traders becomes unicorn
Cryptocurrency startup Amber, founded in Hong Kong by a bunch of former […]
Graphcore's AI-Chips © Graphcore
TECH
New chip leader could emerge in Europe
A shortage of computer chips in the global market has been causing […]
© MEL CHIPFAKACHA ON UNSPLASH
Takeaway packaging accounts for 44% of all plastic waste in the ocean
Our environment has been under attack for a very long time. An […]
LAUNCHub Ventures team © LAUNCHub Ventures
VENTURE CAPITAL
IFC joins second closing of LAUNCHub’s EUR 70m CEE startup investment fund
The International Financial Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank, has joined […]
© Canon Information Technologies
FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT
Say cheese: Canon’s Chinese offices use AI to only let smiling employees in
Camera company Canon has installed AI-based cameras in its Chinese offices for […]
© Fraunhofer FKIE Institute
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Help anyone: German scientists create AI-based drone that tracks human screams to save lives (VIDEO)
A team of scientists from Germany’s Fraunhofer FKIE Institute have developed a […]
#SAVETHEDATE
Trending Events Weekly Calendar: What you shouldn’t miss this week
This is our list of all major events from the world of […]
© Matthias Zeitler on Pixabay
DIGITAL NOMADS
Hype and homeless: how digital economy and COVID are changing the lifestyle of SEE’s modern nomads
After an unexpected pause (or maybe an opportunity?) for digital nomads in […]
The "Yoke" wheel of the Tesla Model S Plaid © Tesla
E-MOBILITY
Tesla Model S Plaid’s new “yoke” steering wheel design makes parking more difficult
Tesla’s CEO Elom Musk has officially released the new Model S Plaid. […]
Eric Jing, Executive Chairman of Ant Group. © Ant Group
FINTECH
AntChain: China’s big blockchain is headed for Europe
China’s fintech giant Ant Group has been spreading its own blockchain, […]
ACCELERATOR PROGRAM
Romania’s Techcelerator launches SEED investment readiness program for hi-tech startups with plans to raise up to EUR 1m
Techcelerator, one of Romania’s leading tech startups accelerators, announced […]
© Vitosha Venture Partners
STARTUP FUNDING
Vitosha Venture Partners injects EUR 2.7m in second series of Bulgarian startup investments
Vitosha Venture Partners, one of the latest early-stage VCs in Bulgaria has […]
© Scale-Up Europe on Twitter
ECOSYSTEM POWER
Scale-Up Europe: Tech leaders reveal strategy to boost startup ecosystem
Scale-Up Europe, a group of some 200 startup founders, corporations, investment […]
Gavin Wood, mastermind behind Polkadot. © Polkadot
CRYPTO
Polkadot: Ethereum competitor is feeling the Coinbase effect
The crypto market is generally on the upswing, but one digital asset […]
© Sajad Nori on Unsplash
CRYPTO
Inflation boosts cryptocurrency stock
There has been a growing fear of an encroaching period of rising […]
© Finshark
FINTECH
Meet Finshark: The Bosnian-founded startup pioneering Europe’s open banking industry
Not so long ago, banks operating in the EU used to be […]
© Elchinator on Pixabay
TECHNOLOGY
Romanian cloud services startup invests EUR 35m in 200MW data center
ClusterPower, a Romanian cloud services startup, is planning to build a 200MW […]
Dare to Scale, the growth program of Endeavor Bulgaria comes back for another season © Endeavor
ACCELERATOR
(UPDATED – one participant changed): Dare to Scale 2021: 10 Bulgarian startups join fresh cohort of Endeavor’s growth accelerator
Endeavor Bulgaria has announced the names of the 10 Bulgarian companies that […]
© Gideon Brothers
FUNDING ROUND
Croatian startup Gideon Brothers raise $31m for 3D robotic technology
Gideon Brothers, a Croatian robotics startup, announced it had raised $31 million […]
PAPER ASH ROAD SURFACE @PAPERCHAIN PROJECT
CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Cement alternative: Spain builds highway from burned paper
The cement industry is one of the highest harmful emission sources with […]
© David Mark on Pixabay
CRYPTO
El Salvador to mine Bitcoin using volcanic energy
El Salvador will use energy from its volcanoes to mine Bitcoin. The […]
AntChain / © Alipay
EURO 2020
AntChain: Chinese blockchain company is buying big as EURO 2020 sponsor
From smart phones to infrastructure and ports to highways – and now, […]
#SAVETHEDATE
Trending Events Weekly Calendar: What you shouldn’t miss this week
This is our list of all major events from the world of […]
©JA Bulgaria on FB
INNOVATION IN SCHOOLS
Youth entrepreneurship: JA Bulgaria’s Rising Stars forum showcases best student-led innovative projects
The number of innovative ideas by young entrepreneurs who are not afraid […]
© Oluwakemi Solaja / Unsplash
DIVERSITY
Softbank, Speedinvest join forces to improve diversity in Europe’s startup sector
When it comes to startups and scaleups, the standard has always been […]
Klarna employee in Berlin. © Klarna
Article
Klarna’s next mega-round: Another €525m for Europe’s No. 1 fintech
It was only a few months ago that the valuation of the […]
Man in EU sweater. © Henri Lajarrige Lombard on Unsplash
Analysis
There has never been a better time to be a startup founder in Europe
“At the moment things are almost perfect, we’ve never had such good […]
@ The Great Bubble Barrier
Sustainability
The Great Bubble Barrier: How air bubbles prevent plastic from draining into the sea
Plastic junk in the ocean is one of the most devastating issues […]
Geralt/©Pixabay
AI
Humans do not trust AI
For the past decade, people have become growingly reliant on robots and […]
Analysis
Crypto: Insights on The Recent Market Crash
In this guest article, Lanre Ige and Eliezer Ndinga, Research Associates at […]
©Miloslav Hamřík / Pixabay
CRYPTO
Ripple’s XRP crypto: short-lived hype or strong-standing Bitcoin rival?
Bitcoin emerged after the Global Financial Crisis of 2009 as a new […]
Google-Logo. © Photo by Kai Wenzel on Unsplash
Article
France: Google pays €220m fine over online advertising practices
The French competition authority imposed a fine of €220m on US tech giant […]
Craig Federighi bei der Enthüllung von Montery © Apple
Developer Conference
Apple WWDC 2021: Strong focus on data protection
Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) took place this Monday, June 7th. Due […]
RBI's headquarters in Vienna; image: © S. Klimpt
SCALE-UP FUNDING
Raiffeisen Bank International announces targeted loans of up to EUR 7m for scale-ups
With the growing need of funding for startups and scale-ups across Europe, […]
#SAVETHEDATE
Trending Events Weekly Calendar: What you shouldn’t miss this week
This is our list of all major events from the world of […]
©Nordeus
GAMING
Amid huge exit, mobile sports games developer Nordeus announced $3m foundation to impact Serbian education
Belgrade-based Nordeus, famous for its Top Eleven football management game, has set […]
©Simora
VIDEO GAMING INDUSTRY
Gaming: the next big thing in SEE economies?
Game development can become the new big thing in the development of […]
image: ©Bosch
E-MOBILITY
E-mobility, AIoT help Bosch Bulgaria weather pandemic and maintain stable performance
Bosch Bulgaria, part of global provider of technology and services Bosch, announced […]
Source: #MKStartup Summit
First mapping of North Macedonia’s startup ecosystem: bold steps on road to maturing
They talked to over 80 startups and 28 support organiсations and investors […]
Flawless AI makes Forest Gum speak flawless Japanese;
Screenshot: ©Flawless AI/VIMEO
AI
This is hilarious: British deepfake uses AI to make Hollywood celebs speak foreign languages
British startup Flawless, co-founded by director Scott Mann has created a deepfake […]
SUSTAINABLE FOOD
US vertical farming startup Bowery booms in Corona times
New York-based vertical farming startup Bowery Farming has just raised $300m in […]
©Michal Matlon/UNSPLASH
STARTUPS FOR ROOKIES
What is FFF and how to invest in early-stage startups?
For a whopping 40% of all startups, the main source of early-stage […]
©Stela Di/Pixabay
BRAIN GAIN
From brain drain to brain gain: What is it that lures young SEE professionals back home?
Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic are forcing many SEE students and young […]
©Lum3n/Pexels
PETS AT WORK
Dogs in the office: stress relief for some, conflict point for others
Today’s typical startup includes informal clothes, organic drinks, foosball table, […]
©Fund for Innovation and Technological development (FITD) on FB
ECOSYSTEM
“Together we impact”: North Macedonia’s first National Startup Summit highlights ecosystem challenges and opportunities
Under the motto “Together we impact”, North Macedonia held its 1st […]
©Hello I'm Nik / UNSPLASH
INDUSTRY 4.0
Level of industrial automation in Bulgaria: looking behind the numbers
Industry 4.0 is no longer a new term. The digital transformation and […]
Tesla autopilot/©Tesla
AUTONOMOUS DRIVING
Tesla chooses to focus on “vision” camera systems instead of radar signals
US automaker Tesla has decided to part ways with the previously used […]
#SAVETHEDATE
Trending Events Weekly Calendar: What you shouldn’t miss this week
This is our list of all major events from the world of […]
©Hunters Race/UNSPLASH
Pitching tips & tricks: investors want numbers and traction
As with many other fields of life, the COVID-19 pandemic also brought […]
SeedBlink's team; image: ©SeedBlink
FUNDING ROUND
Romania’s SeedBlink gets EUR 3m in Series A round, EUR 1.1m come from its own crowdfunding platform
Bucharest-based SeedBlink announced the completion of a EUR 3m Series A round, […]
©Roman Synkevych/UNSPLASH
AGRITECH
Romanian agrifood tech startups raise $4m funding in two years
Agritech and agrifood startups in Romania received $4m in investments between 2019 […]
ECOSYSTEM POWER
“Together we impact”: North Macedonia holds first national #MKStartups Summit
North Macedonia will hold its 1st National Startup Summit on Friday (May […]
PLASTIC WASTE © GERALDSIMON00 / PIXABAY
SAVE NATURE
20 corporations generate over half of our planet’s plastic waste
In 2019 alone, single-use products created more than 130m tons of plastic […]
©Jana Schneider on Pixabay
RED TAPE
Digital Future for Europe survey: EU bureaucracy puts spoke in wheel of online startups
European online startups are struggilng to overcome the complicated layers of EU […]
©Engin Akyurt/Pixabay
WOMEN IN TECH
Number of tech girls in SEE higher than EU average: what’s the secret?
The number of women in Southeast Europe employed in the ICT industry […]
Robinhood: Plan your own crypto wallet © Trending Topics
FINTECH
Trading platform Robinhood allows users to invest in IPOs directly
Investing in stocks is child’s play with trading apps – but one […]
#SAVETHEDATE
Trending Events Weekly Calendar: What you shouldn’t miss this week
This is our list of all major events from the world of […]
Licenseware founder Alex Cojocaru; photo: ©Licensware
FUNDING ROUND
Romanian software licensing startup Licenseware raises EUR 120,000 in first investment round
Licenseware, a Romanian startup which specializes in managing other companies’ IT […]
©Hola Systems
POST-COVID WORLD
The “new normal”: This Serbian solution helps keep COVID-19 away from your organization
What does it take to innovate and be successful – a brilliant […]
©PRISCILLA DU PREEZ / UNSPLASH
SECOND-HAND HYPE
Lithuanian second-hand clothing startup Vinted raises EUR 250m reaching EUR 3.5b valuation
Second hand has been a major trend not only in the fashion […]
©TE Pema
IMPACT
Cleantech: Youth create hi-tech city trees to fight alarming air pollution in Kosovo
In 2016, the U.S Embassy in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, started […]
©Impress
FUNDING ROUND
Spanish innovative orthodonotic startup Impress raises EUR 50m in Southern Europe’s biggest Series A to date
Barcelona-based orthodontic startup Impress has raised EUR 50m in what is the […]
© Norma Mortenson, Pexels
FINTECH RADAR
These are the best funded fintech startups in CEE
Europe has often been flying under the radar when it comes to […]
#SAVETHEDATE
Trending Events Weekly Calendar: What you shouldn’t miss this week
This is our list of all major events from the world of […]
Krasimir Marinov, cofounder of HyperScience
US-Bulgarian Hyperscience makes it into Forbes’ list of America’s 50 promising AI companies
Hyperscience, a US-based scaleup that was originally founded in Bulgaria, has made […]
©Unsplash
AI
European AI deal activity up 27% in Q1 2021
Artificial intelligence (AI) deal activity in Europe saw a 26.76% rise in […]
Silvio Kutic, co-founder and CEO of Infobip ©Infobip
UNICORN AFFAIRS
Croatian-born tech unicorn Infobip plans to raise $500m before IPO
Infobip, the Croatian-born and UK-headquartered omnichannel communication technology […]
©Atos
SUPERCOMPUTER
Eastern Europe’s most powerful supercomputer arrives in Bulgaria
The new EuroHPC supercomputer has been fully delivered and assembled at Bulgaria’s […]
Vess Bakalov, CEO at Pliant ©Vess Bakalov
US-based IT process automation startup Pliant to double staff in Bulgarian office after $10m Series-A round
Bulgarian-led Pliant, a US-based IT process automation startup, plans to double its […]
©Carmennft.com
NFT HYPE
Baywatch star Carmen Electra jumps on NFT bandwagon
It’s nothing new when Hollywood stars dabble in business and technology […]
Sponsored Story
PODIM DX is just around the corner – here is what to expect
Looking for an awesome startup event coming soon? Look no more – […]
©Raiffeisen Bank Romania
OPEN CALL
Romanian branch of Raiffeisen Bank offers EUR 5m to startups
Raiffeisen’s Romanian branch is set to distribute EUR 5 mln among more […]
RAY HARRINGTON on ©Unsplash
IMPACT
AI technology to help sperm whale protection efforts
Even if some people would like to take this crown, sperm whales […]
Events
Career Show Tech – the career advancement event you want to be a part of
Do you want to know how to be happy and successful at […]
#SAVETHEDATE
Trending Events Weekly Calendar: What you shouldn’t miss this week
This is our list of all major events from the world of […]
Houston founder Robert Blaga; Image: ©Houston
EDUTECH
Romanian e-learning platform Houston raises EUR 200,000m to expand in US
Romanian startup Houston, which develops a learning platform for remote teams, has […]
Luminous creators Nedim Karavdić (right) and Hamza Makić (left) image: personal archive
NEURAL ENGINEERING
Young Bosnian innovators create eye tracking system allowing disabled people to use computers
Тechnology makes life easier for all of us, including for people with […]
Victor He on ©Unsplash
IN DATA
DigitalFoodLab: European foodtech startups raise EUR 2.7b in 2020
Foodtech has a lot of backers worldwide, with Europe traditionally lagging behind […]
Jakob Owens on ©Unsplash
TRAVEL TECH
Post-COVID tourism: Can AI and mobile apps save SUMMER 2021
Are you ready to go on a vacation where you will use […]
"TORCHED EARTH ALE" ©NEW BELGIUM BREWING
CO2 EMISSIONS
Torched Earth Ale: US beer warns of climate change impact with “terrible” taste
Pollution affects agriculture in many ways. Long droughts in many countries destroy […]
#SAVETHEDATE
Trending Events Weekly Calendar: What you shouldn’t miss this week
This is our list of all major events from the world of […]
Daniel Wirtz on ©Unsplash
ECOSYSTEM
Croatian startups raise over $170m in Q1 2021
Startups in Croatia attracted over $170m in funding in Q1 2021, according […]
Firmbee on ©Pixabay
FINTECH
Neobroker: Bitpanda, Smartbroker, Trade Republic & Co in comparison
Scalable Capital, Trade Republic, Robinhood and, more recently, Bitpanda: the […]
©TUES
YOUNG TALENT
Born into tech: Bulgaria’s TUES students aim to disrupt future of IT
Some of Bulgaria’s most promising IT talents of the future demonstrated they […]
©Viva Wallet
Greek fintech provider Viva Wallet raises $80m from Tencent, EBRD to expand its SME-centric neobank
Greek cloud-based fintech provider Viva Wallet, which builds banking services for […]
Fund for Innovation and Technological Development (FITD) on ©FB
ECOSYSTEM
North Macedonia sets up Startup Council to promote country as regional hub
For the first time in history, the government in North Macedonia is […]
CRISPR GENE SCISSORS
Novel genetic engineering: NGOs fear free pass for GMO food in EU
The impact of climate change is already evident for all of us. […]
© Markus Winkler, Unsplash
VENTURE CAPITAL
Romanian VCs up investments in local startups despite COVID-19 crisis
The bulk of Romanian VC funds continued to make investments in 2020 […]
PODCAST
Zebras & Unicorns: The Future of Fintech with Arunan Tharmarajah of Wise
TransferWise, sorry Wise, is one of Europe’s largest fintechs with a valuation […]
©Podim
Sponsored Story
Podim DX: the startup conference you want to attend
You thought that conferences and major events in the startup world were […]
Shane on ©Unsplash
STARTUP FUNDING
Serbian startups raise EUR 21.3m in 2020
Serbian startups raised at least EUR 21.3 million in investments in 2020, […]
ProductLead partners Mihai Bocai & Alexander Stoica-Marcu; image: ©ProductLead
FUNDING ROUND
Romania’s ProductLead raises EUR 600,000 to further democratize content creation and expand in Europe
Romanian-based ProductLead, a digital platform for creating marketing content, has […]
Guillaume Périgois on ©Unsplash
AI REGULATION
Amid competition for AI leadership, EU launches first-ever AI legal framework proposal
From chatbots, through medtech and agrotech, to self-driving cars, Artificial […]
Gerd Altmann on ©Pixabay
#SAVETHEDATE
Trending Events Weekly Calendar: What you shouldn’t miss this week
This is our list of all major events from the world of […]
Tim Marshall on ©Unsplash
MAKING AN IMPACT
Social entrepreneurs in SEE see future despite all odds
Social and economic changes, including the migration of people, have opened up […]
ECOTECH
Albanian teenage girls create app to save one of Europe’s last wild rivers
The 270 kilometers Vjosa River in Albania is one of Europe’s last […]
Tobias Cornille on © Unsplash
INVESTING IN AI
AI’s dark and light side: investing in AI startups – what to look for?
With the exponential evolution of technology and its integration into basically […]
©National Centre of Robotics, Slovakia
AI ECOSYSTEM
Slovak AI & robotics players join hands with Bulgarian counterparts to develop business-centric scientific solutions
The Slovak and the Bulgarian robotics, automation & AI ecosystems are joining […]
© Pixabay
VENTURE CAPITAL
Crunchbase News: European VC hits all-time-high in Q1 2021
Investment in European startups reached $21.4 in Q1 2021, up more than […]
Daniel Dines, Founder and CEO, UiPath © UiPath
IPO
Romanian-founded unicorn UiPath’s IPO raises $1.3b valuing company at $29b
US-based UiPath, the world’s biggest robotic process automation company founded by […]
Alora Griffiths on ©Unsplash
WOMEN IN STARTUPS
Report: CEE women-founded startups outperform male but raise fraction of available capital
Women startup founders in CEE outperform men by as much as 96% […]
FintechOS co-foudners Sergiu Negut (l) and Teodor Blidarus © FintechOS
FUNDING ROUND
UK- Romanian FintechOS raises $60m in Draper Esprit-led Series B round to fuel global expansion
FintechOS, a UK-Romanian fintech provider of solutions for the digital […]
ICKosovo CEO Uranik Begu; image: Leonora Aliu
KOSOVO ECOSYSTEM
ICKosovo: Home of innovation and birthplace of 451 startups
“Can tech save the world?” This is one of the most common […]
Co-founders Boyko Karadzhov ,CTO (left) and Hristo Borisov, CEO (right); image: ©PayHawk
FUNDING ROUND
Bulgarian fintech startup Payhawk raises $20m from Klarna backers; eyes US market
Payhawk, a Bulgarian provider for payments and expense management, has raised $20 […]
©Google Timelapse
DATA VISUALIZATION
Google Earth now shows climate change in time lapse
Change is an unstoppable process. This almost philosophical introduction describes […]
The team of Flower in a Test Tube from Sofia University’s Biology Department won second place in Innovation Academy 2020. image: ©Innovation Starter
STUDENT ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Innovation Academy 2021: fostering student startup culture to create Bulgaria’s future entrepreneurs
Early student entrepreneurs from over 15 universities are applying in this year’s […]
“Guide B” weights 18 kg and can run at a speed of up to 25 km/h. It can go for 160 km on a single charge. Image: ©Ljubicic Technology on FB
MOBILITY
Mobility innovation: Croatian entrepreneur creates e-bike that is actually a tourist guide
A young entrepreneur from Croatia has created a new e-bike that works […]
© Karin Hackl/ Vienna Business Agency
Sponsored Story
ViennaUP’21: “We want to be a bridge from East to West for startups”
ViennaUP’21, the largest startup event in Central and Eastern Europe, is […]
©TUES
TECH EDUCATION
TUES FEST 2021: Bulgaria’s leading tech school supports student innovation
TUES, the leading technology high school in Bulgaria, is organizing TUES FEST […]
Joe Lubin, founder of ConsenSys. ©ConsenSys
BLOCKCHAIN DEAL
Mastercard buys into leading Ethereum developer ConsenSys
Codefi, Quorum, Truffle, Infura, Diligence and, of course, crypto wallet MetaMask: […]
kalhh on ©Pixabay
HEALTH & LIFE SCIENCES
Exploring venture studios: can 2021’s hottest entrepreneurship trend work for Bulgaria’s life science ecosystem?
Life sciences startups have always been on a mission to improve human […]
The Anari AI team; photo: ©Anari AI
FUNDING ROUND
Cloud-based AI chip maker Anari AI raises $2m seed funding in Earlybird’s first Serbian startup investment
Anari AI, a startup based in Serbia’s Novi Sad, has raised $2 […]
FITE is the main product of Flipps Media © Flipps Media
EXIT
Bulgarian sports streaming scaleup FITE acquired by TrillerNet; makes “biggest exit” in LAUNCHub history
Digital streaming network FITE, a product of Bulgarian Flipps Media, has made […]
The ReCheck team ©ReCheck
ACCELERATORS
Bulgarian blockchain startup ReCheck joins ABN AMRO & Techstars Future of Finance accelerator
If you’ve been around the entrepreneurial or startup world for the past […]
©Vodafone Romania
ECOTECH
Digital guardians: Vodafone powers smart forest to prevent illegal logging in Romania
Vodafone Romania has launched the country’s first smart forest project […]
Gerd Altmann on ©Pixabay
ETHICAL AI
EU wants to ban AI use for surveillance, social scoring
The European Union intends to ban the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) […]
KOBU Agency on ©Unsplash
Romanian tech startup community Launch accepting third cohort applications
Launch, Romania’s community aimed to help startup founders succeed, is accepting […]
Dare to Scale 2020 cohort; photo: ©Endeavor
OPEN CALL
Dare to Scale 2021: Endeavor’s growth programme open for applications in Bulgaria
Dare to Scale, the growth program of global entrepreneurial network Endeavor, has […]
Plan A on ©Instagram
IMPACT
Bulgarian co-founded Plan A launches petition to end corporate greenwashing
Plan A, a Berlin-based greentech startup co-founded by Bulgarian entrepreneur […]
The team of BIH: Vassil Terziev, Ivan Dimov, Pavlina Yanakieva and Bogomil Balkansky © BIH
ECOSYSTEM
Bulgaria Innovation Hub attracts $725,000 to expand startup acceleration program
Bulgarian Innovation Hub (BIH), the Silicon Valley-based organization, which aims to […]
Emma Dau on ©Unsplash
OPEN CALL
Female entrepreneurs wanted: Changemakers’ Academy launches program for 24 aspiring ladies in Bulgaria
Are you a young woman in Bulgaria who sees herself as a […]
©sherpa
COVID-19 travel map
Interactive map shows where you can travel now and under what conditions
Canadian TravelTech company sherpa °, which actually specializes in handling travel […]
Ian Schneider on ©Unsplash
PITCHING TIPS & TRICKS
Pitching tips & tricks: real-life lessons from 3 SEE startups who know the game
Pitching skills are at the core of successful startups and any budding […]
MATCHATHLON
Romania’s Techcelerator launches SEE’s first matchathlon targeting eHealth, AI, SaaS startups
Techcelerator, the largest accelerator in Romania for technology startups, expands […]
Gorjan Jovanovski, the creator of the "AirCare" app, is an active campaigner for cleaner environment. Photo: personal archive
ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION
Cleantech: Mobile app from North Macedonia uses open data for clean air
Mobile app “AirCare” (МојВоздух) recently won first place at the World Summit […]
Pepi Stojanovski on ©Unsplash
STARTUP FUNDING
SEE startup radar: Which are the top-funded tech startups in Southeast Europe?
Startup funding rounds in SEE have been gaining speed with several companies […]
©ICT Awards
OPEN CALL
Albanian ICT Awards 2020: Building the Albanian tech niche
The 9th edition of Albanian ICT Awards opened their new round of […]
Gjirafa founder Mergim Cahani; image: Mergim Cahani on ©FB
BALKAN ENTREPRENEURSHIP
“Everything started from a university dorm”: How Kosovo startup Gjirafa became the Western Balkan’s Amazon
The Western Balkans were very much neglected by tech giants like Google […]
Couleur on ©Pixabay
Blockchain
Cerealia: Swiss startup trades corn as NFT
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are making waves in the crypto market. Most of […]
© 2021 COPYRIGHT VOLKSWAGEN US MEDIA SITE
Mobility
April Fool’s joke: Volkswagen’s renaming to Voltwagen was just a marketing gag
So, there you go: the big news turned out to be just […]
Raychan on ©Unsplash
Green cities
Urban gardening in SEE: ready to pay to sweat for some good food in the city?
With all downsides that came with COVID 19, the pandemic also brought […]
Business Talks Better & Beyond: Top Employers Institute joins virtual business forum in Bulgaria
How to protect your business from cyber-attacks through training and tech protection […]
CryptoKitties founder & CEO Roham Gharegozlou of Dapper Labs, on stage at TEDx Vienna. © TEDx Vienna
NFTs
NFT startup Dapper Labs wins massive round of funding from celebrity investors
First they showed off with CryptoKitties, then they made virtual trading cards […]
© Stefa/Unsplash Widua
Startup champions
Berlin takes London’s crown as Europe’s most attractive startup metropolis
In 2020, Berlin was the most attractive city to start a company […]
©EIT Digital
Open Call
EIT Digital Challenge 2021: Deeptech scaleups wanted – EUR 250,000 in prizes
The 8th EIT Digital Challenge, Europe’s leading deeptech startup competition, is now […]
Martin Shiderov leads the healthcare and life sciences sector for the investment services team at Ernst & Young, London. Photo: personal archive
Life Sciences
Martin Shiderov: SEE will never be another ‘Golden Triangle’, but can build its own identity and offer differentiation to investors
There should be more focused efforts on technology transfer and venture build […]
©Robinhood
IPOs for the Masses
Robinhood builds platform to democratise IPOs
After filing for an IPO last week, Robinhood is now making steps […]
Manfred Antranias Zimmer on ©Pixabay
Environmental impact
EUR 3,000 and one employee: how a glass recycling startup made it in Kosovo’s poor economy
A mere EUR 3,000 and just one employee – this is all […]
Daniel Dines, Founder and CEO, UiPath © UiPath
IPO
US-Romanian unicorn UiPath files for IPO on New York Stock Exchange
UiPath, the world’s biggest RPA company, has filed for an initial public […]
SEON Co-founders Bence Jendruszak and Tamas Kadar; ©SEON
Funding round
Online fraud fighter SEON lands EUR 10m in Hungary’s biggest series A round to date
Hungary-based SEON has secured a EUR 10 million cash jab in Hungary’s […]
iPification team; photo: ©Ipification
FinTech
Serbian devops team wins Hong Kong’s best JUMPSTARTER 2021 award for fintech
One-click mobile authentication provider iPification, led by a Serbian team of […]
Dr. Svetlin Petkov, jury member at "Science with a Future"; photo: Svetlin Penkov on ©FB
Open Call
Science with a Future: America for Bulgaria foundation to fund local robotics, AI science projects
“”Build something people want!”. This is what Dr. Svetlin Penkov*, […]
Xenia Ntoula on ©Unsplash
Innovation in food
Balkan foodtech: spray that extends shelf-life, pharma food, and online honey
If it was not for the lockdown, traditional production methods and innovation […]
Cleanshelf CEO Dusan Omercevic (left) and LeanIX CEO André Christ (right) ©LeanIX
Acquisition
LeanIX acquires Slovenian-founded SaaS management provider Cleanshelf
US-based startup Cleanshelf, founded by Slovenian-born Dusan Omercevic, is joining […]
Robinhood founders Baiju Bhatt (l) and Vladimir Tenev (r) ©Robinhood
Neobrokerage
Despite criticism, neobroker Robinhood files for IPO
In recent months, California-baed neobroker Robinhood has rarely been the source of […]
Annie Spratt on ©Unsplash
Edutech
Edutech: Kick-started by COVID 19, Bulgaria leads in digital education
When you look at the education landscape in Bulgaria, the picture is […]
Markus Spiske on ©Unsplash
Digital Transformation
DIGITALEUROPE’s Ray Pinto to EU governments: Don’t over-regulate – nurture, support and prioritise digital transformation
As the EU is about to release over EUR 750 billion worth […]
©Eleven Ventures
Visa Innovation Program seeks SEE’s next cohort of bright fintech startups
For the third year in a row, Visa Innovation Program is looking […]
©Aldea Ventures
Investors
Aldea Ventures creates €100m fund to invest in 700 tech startups in Europe
Aldea Ventures announced it has made a €60 million first close of […]
©mancity.com
Blockhain in sports
Maltese blockchain sports venture Chiliz brings digital token to Man City’s fans
Malta-based crypto project Chiliz has listed the Champions League as one of […]
Photo by rupixen.com on ©Unsplash
eCommerce
eCommerce report: Online card payments in CEE jump 90% amid COVID 19 pandemic
In the year of COVID 19, online card payments across Central and […]
Photo by Chris Montgomery on ©Unsplash
Future of Work
HR tech in Bulgaria: How COVID 19 changed the industry?
The last year has seen demand for HR tech solutions skyrocket amid […]
Ervin Gjata from ©Pixabay
ECOSYSTEM
Albanian startups, innovators fight their way through traditional business models
Three decades after the collapse of communism, Albania, the country that suffered […]
Georgi Petrov (l) and Mihail Stoychev, co-founders of SMSBump ©SMSBump
UNICORN
US-based Yotpo, Bulgaria’s SMSBump owner, becomes unicorn after $230m funding round
US-based Yotpo, which recently acquired Bulgarian startup SMSBump, announced it has […]
©BattlePass
ECOSYSTEM
BattlePass Fellowship invites startups to join Eastern Europe Virtual 2021 Founder Institute for free
Do you have a startup? Do you want to participate in the […]
Marek Studzinski on ©Unsplash
COVID 19 aftermath
Innovations in North Macedonia cast ray of light on COVID 19 pandemic aftermaths
The COVID-19 pandemic has ravaged societies, causing the biggest social and economic […]
Markus Villig, CEO of Bolt. ©Bolt
Investment Round
European Uber rival Bolt is Now Worth Over $ 2 Billion
Compared to Uber with its market cap of over $1 billion, Bolt […]
Kevin Ku on ©Unsplash
IT Insight
IT Sales in Bulgaria in 2020: New Report Looks Behind the Numbers
How did Bulgaria’s IT industry cope in the year where we faced […]
©Pixabay
OPEN CALL
Open Call: Goethe Institute Bulgaria Launches Programme on “AI and Ethics in Southeast Europe”
Goethe Institute Bulgaria has launched an open call for participants in the […]
Production of the Volkswagen ID.3. © Volkswagen AG
NEVs
E-Cars: Report Shows VW Hard on Tesla’s Heels
Volkwagen (VW) is “fully competitive” with global e-car market leader Tesla in […]
dima_goroziya on ©Pixabay
INVESTOR GUIDE
SEE Investor Compass: We Dissected Bulgaria’s Regions to Find the Best Place for Your Investment
Why does the gross value added per capita in Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital, […]
Dimitar Dimitrov, CEO of Allterco Robtics ©Allterco
JOINT VENTURE
Looking East: Bulgarian IoT Maker Allterco Sets Up Joint Venture in China
Allterco Robotics, a Bulgarian maker of IoT products, announced plans to set […]
Hollie Santos at ©Unsplash
FUNDING
Croatian Startup Bellabeat to Invest $10m in Scientific Research, Health Startups Focused on Postnatal Depression
Croatian startup Bellabeat, known for its fitness tracking and wearable technology […]
Lubomila Jordanova, founder of Plan A, a data driven platform that aims to channel capital to environmental causes
FUNDING ROUND
Bulgarian Co-founded Plan A Raises $3m to Power Up Carbon Emission Software, Expansion
Plan A, a Berlin-based startup co-founded by Bulgarian entrepreneur Lubomila […]
Lena Balk on ©Unsplash
VC snapshot: These Are the Top 10 Venture Capital Funds in Eastern Europe
Venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) funds have been gaining substantial […]
©VOJEXT on FB
Open Call
Shoutout to All SEE Cognitive Robotics Innovators: VOJEXT Launches “Cobots” Open Call Challenge
The VOJEXT project is looking for innovators (SMEs and Mid-Caps) in cognitive […]
DIASPORA
The Bulgarian Trace: Meet Kristina Angeulova Who Builds Bridges between CEE and Singapore Investors
Bulgarian-born Kristina Anguelova is Advisor to the Board and Founder of the […]
Photo by CoWomen on ©Unsplash
#womenpower
Entrepreneurs, Innovators, Leaders: Women from North Macedonia Pave Way to Future
Bright, talented, dedicated – Female entrepreneurs in North Macedonia are changing […]
Environmental Impact
Hugo Boss, Calvin Klein perfumes to be made from recycled CO2?
The combination of carbon emissions and perfumes doesn’t sound like a particularly […]
Photo by Rajeshwar Bachu on © Unsplash
Google Drops User Tracking after Phasing Out Third-Party Cookies
This news amounts to a digital earthquake: Google announced that after phasing […]
©Pixabay
Article
TechAngels Romania Invests EUR 4m in 75 Startups in 2020
In 2020, TechAngels invested in 60 new startups and continued its support […]
©Teenovator
Teenovators: Bulgaria’s Next-Gen Entrepreneurs Offer Out-of-the-Box Solutions to Common Problems
Did you know that satellites launched in space actually never return to […]
© Dapper Labs
article
NFT: Trade in Digital Artwork Tokens Explodes
Non-Fungible Tokens, or NFTs for short, are the latest hype in the […]
John Matychuk ©Unsplash
article
CleanTech: Serbian Startup Harnesses IoT, AI to Reduce Air Pollution Through Innovative Parking System
Have you ever thought about how much gas you spend every year […]
© Klarna
Аrticle
What if a Neobank Runs the Mall? Meet Klarna
Many fintech industry players would instinctively label Klarna as a payment service […]
© Rohlik
Аrticle
Juicy Bite: Czech Online Grocery Startup Rohlik Raises EUR 190m to Fuel European Expansion
Prague-based online food ordering and delivery startup Rohlik has raised EUR 190 […]
© Pixabay
article
WaterTech in Bulgaria: Breakthrough AI Technologies Transforming the Industry
Human beings have always been dependent on a stable supply of clean […]
©NEXT GEN - Tindle
Article
Next Gen: Startup secures $ 10 million with vegetable chicken wings
It is one of the industries of the future and the race […]
Article
Non-EU Investors Welcome: Bulgarian MPs Green-Light Long-Awaited Startup Visa
Entrepreneurs from countries outside the EU will have fast-track access to Bulgarian […]
Mariya Gabriel © EPA/BGNES
People
Act Now: EU’s Maria Gabriel Urges Innovation Investment in post-COVID recovery
Research and innovation (R&I) in our post-Covid recovery strategies is a […]
© PARA
Bulgarian Robotics: Success Stories Despite COVID 19
2020 saw a number of bold new robotics and automation projects in […]
Event
From Zero to Fintech: Hackathon Seeks Out Bulgaria’s Next Fintech Stars
Have a genial idea of how to rock the world of fintech […]
Oranges for Electricity © EMASESA
Article
Fruit Power: In Spain, Seville Will Produce Electricity From Rotten Oranges
They are juicy, rich in vitamin C, and their color is the […]
© Joby Aviation
Joby Aviation: Lilium rival goes public with air taxis via SPAC
When Europeans hear the word eVTOLs (Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing), what […]
Power Plant © veeterzy Unsplash
Article
EU Industry Days 2021: The Curious Case of Bulgaria’s Energy Heart and Its Road to Zero-Carbon
Stara Zagora, Bulgaria’s sixth-largest city, is one of the heaviest coal-dependent […]
© Getty Images
Tech & Talent: The Intricate Mechanisms Behind Apple’s Startup Killer Zone
It’s a hidden world of billion-dollar investments. Getting there is the dream […]
© Markus Winkler, Unsplash
Serbian Startup Ecosystem Cash Jab: Telekom Srbija Sets Up EUR 25 million VC
Telekom Srbija, Serbia’s state telco, announced plans to set up the country’s […]
© the found.ation Greece
2020 Ecosystem Recap: How Greek Startups Grew During the Pandemic
Last year was marked by tremendous shocks in the global economy. The […]
Co-founders Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo Käärmann © Jake Farra
Article
TransferWise Goes Wise – A Catchy Name for an IPO?
It certainly took them a while and cost them a lot to […]
© Joey Csunyo on Unsplash
Australia Making Online Media History – Now
Google will pay Rupert Murdoch’s media empire News Corp. for its online […]
Tesla © Pixabay
CO2-Pooling: How Tesla Earns Billions on The Back of Other Car Brands
In another bold move, Tesla co-founder Elon Musk is on his way […]
Bill Gates: Reforestation Projects for CO2 Compensation Make Little Sense
In recent months, Bill Gates’ name has made headlines in all sorts […]
© WorldSpectrum auf Pixabay
Article
Newcomer or Vet: Should You Bet on Ethereum or Stick With Good Old Bitcoin?
Ethereum and Bitcoin are undoubtedly the most popular pair in the world […]
SuperOkay Founders © MoneyBuzz Europa
Article
A SuperOkay move: Eleven invests €250K in Romanian-rooted UK technology startup
The Bulgarian VC has led the €400K investment round joined by Romania’s RocaX VC […]
©Artur Widak, Getty Images
Analysis
Tesla Joins the Bitcoin Rush – A Green, Sustainable Investment?
“In retrospect, it was inevitable.” In retrospect, Elon Musk’s tweet from […]
Clubhouse. © Dmitry Mashkin on Unsplash
Numbers
Clubhouse Hits 10 Million Users
Elon Musk has been there. So has Mark Zuckerberg. Many other celebrities […]
© Shutterstock
What happened in the Bulgarian growth equity and venture capital ecosystem in 2020 and what’s next?
Despite the pandemic, there has been a lot happening in the ecosystem […]
Sabine Everaet, ©Sabine Everaet
Interview
Innovation Explorer 2021: Sabine Everaet With An Action Plan For The Day After Tomorrow
As January already is behind our backs, we slowly turn to the […]
©WWF
Impact
WWF Bulgaria Launches Panda Labs to Stimulate Sustainable Innovation Among Young People
Climate change is one of the major challenges of the contemporary world. […]
LatticeFlow founding team (from left to right): Petar Tsankov, Pavol Bielik, Martin Vechev, Andreas Krause. ©LatticeFlow
Startups
Co-founded by Bulgarian Scientists AI Startup LatticeFlow Raises $2.8М
The co-founded by the Bulgarians Prof. Martin Vechev and Dr. Petar Tsankov […]
©Eligma
CEE Star of the Week
Eligma: the New Slovenian Startup on the Fintech Map
For a long time cryptocurrencies have been a source of mainstream enthusiasm […]
© Vitosha Venture Partners
💸Venture Capital💸
Vitosha Venture Partners Makes Its First Investments: €2.4m for Bulgarian Mobility, Travel, and Fashion Startups
Vitosha Venture Partners, one of the latest early-stage VCs in Bulgaria has […]
Petar Tsankov, ©Petar Tsankov
Startups
Petar Tsankov, CEO of LatticeFlow: “Entrepreneurs Cannot Skip the Research and Innovation Phase”
It has been long since the discussions regarding the safety of AI […]
LAUNCHub Ventures team © LAUNCHub Ventures
Venture Capital 💸💸💸
LAUNCHub Ventures Announces First Closing for Its New Fund at €44M, to Invest in 25 Eastern European Startups
Going back to 2012, LAUNCHub Ventures is one of the oldest venture […]
© Rik Vera
INTERVIEW
Innovation Explorer 2021: Rik Vera Cracks The Magic Formula For The Day After Tomorrow
As we are steadily walking into 2021, and the wishful thinking that […]
© Pexels
CROWDFUNDING
The Romanian Startup for Live Stream Shopping Oveit closes a €400k Round to Boost Shoppers’ E-Commerce Experience
Romania’s technical talent pool, innovation potential, and growing venture capital […]
© Gtmhub
Milestones
US-Bulgarian OKR-orientated Startup Gtmhub Closes a $30М Series B Round and Plans to Triple Its R&D Team in Sofia
The tech ecosystem is slowly waking up after the holidays, yet the […]
Finqware team, ©Finqware
Fintech
Romanian Open Banking Startup Finqware Raises €500K in a Seed Round Led by Elevator Ventures
Romanian fintech startup Finqware announced that it has raised €500K in its […]
The team of Powerful Medical after winning the 2019 Forbes Pitching Contest
© Powerful Medical
⭐CEE STAR OF THE WEEK⭐
The Slovak Deep-Tech Powerful Medical Revolutionizes Clinical Treatment with AI
“CEE Star of the Week” is our weekly series of short stories […]
©Unsplash
The EC: Bulgaria should create Conditions for a Research and Innovation Ecosystem to help Its Economy
As the framework for the distribution of the next long-term EU budget […]
©Unsplash
Ecosystem
Imagga’s AI will Organize and Moderate Large Media Archives to Improve the European Media Landscape
In times where data is everything, AI solutions can be leveraged by […]
©Pixabay
Ecosystem
Amazon Web Services Opens First Office in Greece to Support Public Sector Companies with Cloud Services
Cloud computing has been around for about two decades and its numerous […]
©Twisto
⭐CEE Star of the Week⭐
The Czech Buy-Now-Pay-Later Fintech Startup Twisto with €16m Investment in Series B
“CEE Star of the Week” is our weekly series of short stories […]
Druid founder and CEO Liviu Drăgan, ©DRUID
Fintech
Romanian DRUID Attracts €2.2M in Series A to develop Conversational Skills of Its Enterprise Chatbots
DRUID, an AI conversational technology company that develops intelligent virtual […]
From left to right: Bogdan Predusca, David Teodorescu, and Dan Nica
FUNDING
The Romanian AI Wellness-Tech Hyperhuman Raises its First €500k Investment
After the Christmas holidays are over and with them the time of […]
© BattlePass Studio
INTERVIEW
Alternative Models vol. 1: What Can Startup Studios Bring to the SEE Ecosystem? Q&A with BattlePass Studio
Isn’t it the dream of every entrepreneur to find somebody that can […]
©Pixabay
Ecosystem Power
Veolia and Innovation Starter Accelerator Announce First Investment Call for Startups with Water Management and District Heating Solutions
The Bulgarian accelerator and seed fund Innovation Starter and “Sofiyska voda AD”, […]
©Ondato
CEE “STAR OF THE WEEK”
Ondato: the Lithuanian Startup that offers Digital and Biometric Authentication in a Unified Platform
“CEE Star of the Week“ is our weekly series of short stories […]
©Kristiyan Mihailov
Ecosystem Power
The Co-founder Of PARA Launches A Project To Connect High-Tech Companies With Bulgarian Schools
High school education in Bulgaria can easily be described as too conventional […]
©Unsplash
Investment Opportunities
The European Commission Finalizes Its First Direct Equity Investments into Startups and SMEs
As startups and SMEs around Europe are still struggling to overcome the […]
©Government of Serbia
ECOSYSTEM
Serbia Launches A €30M Data Center For eGovernment Development
December brought about a new opportunity for the Serbian tech ecosystem as […]
©Pexels
The Greek Microelectronics Startup Adveos Acquired for $7.5m by a Chinese Tech Corporation
After in May 2020, the Greek startup ecosystem witnessed the biggest acquisition […]
© Greek Ministry of Development and Investment
ECOSYSTEM
Greece on the Way to Create its First Innovation Hub
Greece had its own way of celebrating the holidays – by starting […]
Svetoslava Stoyanova © Private Archive
Guest Article
Applying Intuition In Business
Svetoslava Stoyanova is a personal growth cultivator, speaker, and communication […]
© Escreo
Act not React vol.2 with Escreo: Pivoting and Growth During a Pandemic
Building and saving cash reserves and cutting expenses or scaling up and […]
Christian Berthelsen, co-founder and CTO at Fourth (on the left) and Petya Nencheva, Head of Agile Practice at Fourth (on the right) © Fourth
Sponsored Story
Engineering at Scale: How Thousands of Restaurants and Hotels Use Fourth’s Software To Recover and Grow
From lockdowns through restricting measures aimed at limiting the spread of Covid-19 […]
Collage by Trending Topics SEE , ©Nasekomo ©Leanplum ©Dronamics ©Propy
The 20 Most Trending Stories from the Bulgarian Startup Ecosystem in 2020
This year has definitely been different than expected, yet, despite the difficulties […]
©Unsplash
🎄🎅🎄
All I Want for Christmas – The Trending Topics SEE’s Small Business Wishlist
As we are at the end of 2020, one unusual and challenging […]
Julian Sofroniev, CEO of Biodit © Biodit Global Technology
Biodit Officially Is The First Company Entering The BEAM Market: What Is The Action Plan?
Biodit, the Bulgarian startup, which develops and produces access control systems […]
Nikola Likov © Private Archive
Playing Your Cards Right To Win In Corporate Innovation
Nikola Likov is heading Expansion at FoundersLane and has helped drive the […]
©DoDo
CEE STAR OF THE WEEK
DoDo: The Czech Startup That Optimizes Delivery Time With Advanced Machine Learning
Who will save our Christmas this year? Well, as most of the […]
©Unsplash
Funding Opportunities
The Bulgarian Mezzanine Fund Dispute Is Finally Resolved, But What Is Next?
The first capital for growth fund in Bulgaria aimed at mature companies […]
© Dronamics
Milestones
Bulgarian Startup Dronamics Announces the World’s First Cargo Droneport Network and Partnerships With Five Airports in Europe
Dronamics, the Bulgarian middle-mile cargo drone developer and operator, just […]
©Unsplash
Milestones
Bucharest To Become A Major EU Cyber Research Hub
Bucharest has officially been chosen to host the European Cybersecurity Competence […]
©Unsplash
ECOSYSTEM
What is the State of the European Tech in 2020 After Covid-19?
Exactly one year ago, at the end of 2019, it seemed like […]
Matija Zulj, CEO & Founder @AGRIVI
CEE Star of the Week
Croatian Startup Agrivi Raised €4M To Develop Its Farm Management Software
What is the cost of producing environmentally friendly agricultural products that […]
© Svetoslava Stoyanova
Are You the Only One Who Can Do the Job? Tips and Tricks on Delegation for Startup Owners
Svetoslava Stoyanova is a personal growth coach who enjoys supporting entrepreneurs […]
©Escreo
Escreo Raises €100k from Eleven Capital and 3P1 to Expand its Portfolio of Creativity Products
Brainstorming sessions, presentations, and business meetings – creative […]
Photo from the ANIS Startup of the Year awards ceremony ©Deepstash
Deepstash, The Romanian Startup That Aims To Help People Deal With Information Overload, Announces A €3m Seed Round
The Romanian startup Deepstash announced on Thursday a €3m Seed Round led […]
© Puzl Coworking
Future of health
Halo Dx, Advanced Diagnostics Startup with a Tech Team in Sofia Receives $1.5m from Zarian Capital
Earlier in 2020, Zarian Capital started a new VC fund with the […]
©EnduroSat
🛰️SpaceTech🛰️
Bulgarian Startup EnduroSat: On a Mission to Take Space Commercialization to the Next Level
Even though private space flight is not something new, it is still […]
©Hobo
🛴MOBILITY🛴
The E-scooters of Hobo Are Setting Foot on the Streets of Blagoevgrad
One year after its launch in Sofia, the first Bulgarian e-scooter startup […]
©Unsplash
Investors
Catalyst Romania Launches Over €40M Fund Targeting Local Tech Startups
Catalyst Romania, one of the most active venture capital investors in Romanian […]
©Salv
⭐CEE STAR OF THE WEEK⭐
The Estonian RegTech Startup, Salv, Combats Money Laundering with Fresh €1.5m Seed Investment
“CEE Star of the Week“ is our weekly series of short stories […]
©Pixabay
Three Bulgarian Tech Companies Among The 50 Fastest Growing in CEE
Three Bulgarian companies make Deloitte’s ranking of the 50 fastest growing […]
The Eziil Team, ©Eziil
🌟CEE STAR OF THE WEEK🌟
Estonian Eziil: The Company That Offers a SaaS Solution To Digitize The Manufacturing Process
“CEE Star of the Week“ is our weekly series of short stories […]
The Iris Device, ©BioPiX-T
Iris: The Greek Portable Device That May Be Able To Detect COVID-19 at Your Home
When it comes to developing the first COVID-19 vaccine, one thing is […]
Sheetly’s co-founders: Ivelina Nikolova - Co-Founder & CCO, Jan B. Andersen - Co-Founder & CEO © Nate Mueller
Rising Stars
Sheetly: The Sofia-based US Startup That Aims to Put Order in the E-commerce Backoffice Chaos
Whether we like it or not the pandemic has changed our behavior […]
© Unsplash
Market Research
The Mapping of the Bulgarian Artificial Intelligence Ecosystem Is Starting: Call for Local AI Companies
As the concept of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across Bulgaria becomes more popular, […]
Georgi Penev, Director at the Bulgarian Fintech Association © Private Archive
Market Trends
Ecosystem SWOT Analysis: The Bulgarian Fintech Industry
“Although the Bulgarian Fintech industry is considered a small contributor to the […]
©ProfiCircle
Romanian Market Network Startup, ProfiCircle, Launches Its Beta Platform with €300k Investment
What happens when you combine the strong social effects and scalability of […]
© Unspalsh
Contactless
Google Pay Is Now Available For Android Users in Bulgaria
Starting today, the Google Pay digital wallet service will be available to […]
© Marathon Venture Capital
💸OPPORTUNITIES💸
Greece’s Marathon Venture Capital with a Second, €40m Fund
The Greek tech startup ecosystem is rapidly maturing as around $1b is […]
©Giraffe360
Deal
As Property Viewings Go Virtual, Giraffe360 Raises $4.5M in a Round Led by Bulgarian VC LAUNCHub Ventures
While the concept of video and virtual 3D tours is nothing new […]
©Packhelp
⭐CEE STAR OF THE WEEK⭐
Packhelp: The Polish Startup Ranked As The Fastest-Growing Tech Company In CEE
“CEE Star of the Week“ is our weekly series of short stories […]
Maris Prii and Erik Anderson, Partners at Vitosha Venture Partners © Vitosha Venture Partners
Opportunities
Vitosha Venture Partners Launches an Accelerator to Help Bulgarian Startups Think Big and Go Global
Vitosha Venture Partners, one of the new early-stage VCs in Bulgaria, is […]
© Arrikto
💸FUNDING💸
Fresh $10m in Series A Funding for Arrikto to Help ML and DevOps Teams to Speak the Same Language
In order to improve customer experience and generate more revenue, organizations are […]
©Pexels
MAPPING
Who is Who in the Bulgarian GovTech Ecosystem?
Public services and government are not often associated with tech innovations and […]
©Pixabay
Cassa, а Romanian Accounting Startup, Has Raised 250K In an Ongoing Round Led by KPMG
The Romanian startup Cassa, which offers SaaS accounting software, has started its […]
© Pixabay
Flashback
Historian, Geologist, or Lawyer? What Did Tech Founders in Bulgaria Study Before Switching to a Different Path
When it’s time to reinvent your career? That’s one of the questions […]
©Darin Madzharov
🎤INTERVIEW🎤
Act not React vol.1: How Does the EdTech Startup Ucha.se Prepare for the Second Wave of Covid-19?
Building and saving cash reserves and cutting expenses or scaling up and […]
The team behind VoxiKids,©The Speakquest SRL
Health
Romanian Startup That Aims to Digitalize Speech Therapy for Children Targets a €290K Round of Investment
The Speakquest SRL, a Romanian company that is working on the development […]
Aneliya Karadzhinova-Ferrer, ©Karoll
🧪”Science meets Entrepreneurship”👔
Aneliya Karadzhinova-Ferrer: the Physicist that Aims to Recreate the Spirit of CERN in Bulgaria
“Sci-Novator of the Week” is our brand new series of short stories […]
© Pipedrive
⭐CEE STAR OF THE WEEK⭐
Becoming a unicorn in a decade: the $1.5b story of the Estonian CRM platform Pipedrive
“CEE Star of the Week“ is our weekly series of short stories […]
Hristo Borisov CEO, left and Thomas Westerhoven, Country Manager - Germany, right ©Payhawk
🖩 Accounting Innovation 🖩
Payhawk Launches a Corporate Card to Enable Easier Management of Employee Spending
Payhawk, the expense management startup that has been an active player in […]
@BioNTech
Тhe Story of BioNTech SE, the Company with Turkish Origin that Мade a Breakthrough with a COVID-19 Vaccine
After the official press release of the pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer Inc. and […]
The team of Amplify Analytix, from left to right: Kalina Todorova, Elvan Aydemir, Plamena Petrova © Private Archive
Bulgarian-Dutch Data Science Company Receives €80K from the European Data Incubator
The Amplify Analytix women-led team has been selected as one of the […]
Photos © EnduroSat, QuarkVR, Nasekomo, and Develiot; Collage by Trending Topics SEE
💡 EXPERIENCE SHARING
How Some Of Today’s Most Trending Startups In Bulgaria Attracted Their First Customers – Part 2: Deep Tech & Hardware
When a startup is born nobody knows about its barely existing product. […]
On the left - Emi Gal from Ezra; On the top right - Ion Stoica from Anyscale; On the bottom right - Aurelian Nicolae from Whoop
DIASPORA🌎
Three Founders from the Romanian Diaspora Have Raised Over $150M This Year
What do a NY-based startup for AI cancer screening, a California-based startup […]
From left to right, Prof. Dr. Silvia Ilieva and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Desislava Petrova-Antonova © GATE
Smart Cities
Everything You Need to Know About the First City Digital Twin in Bulgaria
GATE, the Bulgarian institute for applied big data research, and Sofia Municipality […]
© Aleph Farms
Future of food
Space Meat: A Startup Prepares for Meat Production on Mars
The dream of the cultured meat industry is to offer meat without […]
The Warren team. Company co-founder and CEO Tarmo Tael second from the right.
©Warren
🌟 CEE Star of the Week 🌟
Estonian Warren: Еmpowering Local Cloud Infrastructure Providers to Compete with Google, Amazon, and Microsoft
„CEE Star of the Week“ is our weekly series of short stories […]
©BSE
Oppurtunities
The Bulgarian Stock Exchange Launches a Program to Stimulate the Business Growth of Bulgarian Startups and SMEs
The Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) has officially launched beamUp lab – a […]
@Unsplash
Romanian Apiary Book raises €200K to Develop a Hive Monitoring System to Track Bee Health
Apiary Book is a Romanian Agritech company that has been developing a […]
©CESA Grand Finale 2019
Contest
Who are the Bulgarian Future-Shapers and Regional Finalists in the Central European Startup Awards 2020?
The selection for the most impactful actors and builders of the local […]
Daniel Roth, a Principal Program Manager at Microsoft on the ASP.NET team © Private Archive
Interview
Daniel Roth: The Thing I love Most About Blazor Is How It Empowers Every .NET Developer To Be Productive
Several weeks ago, the 2020 edition of the DevReach developer conference brought […]
©Unsplash
OPPORTUNITIES💰
More EU Funding Will Fuel the Growth of European Blockchain and AI Companies
Europe is home to many promising emerging tech companies in the fields […]
© Unsplash
Monthly Overview
What Happened in the Bulgarian Startup & Tech Ecosystem This October: The Biggest News and Stories from the Past 30 days
In October, our ecosystem started picking up the pace and gave us […]
The founding partners of Sofia Angels Ventures, from left to right: Grigori Grigorov, Milen Ivanov, George Sidjimkov © Private Archive
💸 Funding Opportunities
New Angel-Powered Bulgarian VC Launches to Co-Invest €26m in Seed-Stage Startups
After two and a half years in the making, a unique for […]
Kaloyan and Ivo Kumanovi ©NIK
Ecosystem
Into Precision Farming or How a Bulgarian Company Uses Technology to Optimize Agricultural Performance
Agriculture is traditionally important for Bulgaria’s economy. The contribution of […]
© Yieldigo
⭐CEE STAR OF THE WEEK⭐
The Czech AI Pricing Platform Yieldigo With Freshly Raised €2m in a Seed-Round Funding
“CEE Star of the Week“ is our weekly series of short stories […]
©Straubel Foundation
IMPACT
Two Bulgarian Impact Entrepreneurs Among the 2020 Straubel Leadership Award Winners
Being there for the catalysts and the next generation of leaders with […]
© Pixabay
💰 Money in the chat
Messaging Platform Viber to Grow Into the Fintech Vertical as It Announces Direct Chatbot Payments
We often talk about the future of fintech startups and banks, about […]
Marin Petrov, artist and tech entrepreneur ©private archive
Guest Article
Moving Away From The Parent-Child Relationship In Teams
Marin Petrov is a serial entrepreneur who left his dream job in […]
© PubGalaxy
interview
PubGalaxy: The Tech Company on a Mission to Help Independent Publishers Globally Monetize Better and Easier
This article contains an affiliate link to our partner hiring platform Noble Hire. […]
Krasimir Marinov, cofounder of HyperScience
Funding Round
US-Bulgarian Scaleup Hyperscience Closes a $80m Series D Round
Just five months after the originally founded in Bulgaria AI document processing […]
© Photo by Mauro Sbicego on Unsplash
The Last Horizon 2020 Call: €1B for Research & Innovation Projects that Respond to the Climate Crisis
The European Commission is launching its final and biggest investment under the […]
© Unsplash
❔🙋❔
ProductTank Sofia is Running a Survey to Evaluate the State of the Local Product Management Ecosystem
Assessing opportunities, conducting market research, defining the strategy and the […]
Marcin Misztal, Head of Stripe for CEE © Private archive
Marcin Misztal, Head of Stripe for CEE, on the Tech Giant’s Plans in the Region
The headquartered in San-Francisco international company Stripe is one of the […]
© Personal Archive
INTERVIEW🎙️
The Story of Martin Stoyanov- a Y Combinator Participant with a Mission to Disrupt the Way we Use Email
Imagine what it feels like to receive over 200 emails every day! […]
@Unsplash
Romanian Soleadify Secures $1.5M for a Sales Prospecting Platform with 40M Business Profiles
Romanian Soleadify, a machine learning (ML) startup that has been developing a […]
Ivo Totev, Chief Product and Marketing Officer at SUSE ©Private Archive
Interview
Ivo Totev: Independent Research Showed that Bulgaria Is The Best Possible Location for SUSE’s New Innovation Hub
Last week, SUSE, the world’s largest independent organization developing open-source […]
Paynetics CEO Antonina Martinova in the middle, with co-founders Valeri Valtchev and Ivo Gueorgiev on the left and the right side © Paynetics/ Collage by Trending Topics SEE
Deals
Bulgarian E-Money Provider Paynetics Acquires Wirecard UK & Ireland’s Corporate Card Portfolio
It’s been an eventful year for the headquartered in Sofia fintech group […]
© Unsplash
Future of Food
EU Supports the Development of Lab-Grown Meat for the First Time
For the first time, the EU has funded a research project for […]
© Unsplash
🤓ANALYSIS🤓
The Digital Economy of CEE is Growing Twice as Faster in Times of Covid-19
‘Digitalization is the leverage that CEE countries can use to stay on […]
© Hobo
Micromobility
Where Is the Bulgarian E-Scooter Startup Hobo After One Year on the Market
In September 2020, one year after its official launch on the Bulgarian […]
© StartUP@Blagoevgrad archive
EVENTS
StartUP Conference 2020 “Today vs Tomorrow”. University Students Explore Current Innovations with Future Impact
“I believe that the success rate of AUBGers is a result of […]
© Unsplash
FINTECH
The Digital Euro – an Alternative to Cryptos and What Else You Need to Know?
After the Covid-19 pandemic increased the use of electronic payments and accelerated […]
Vanya Lazarova ©Private Archive
Guest Article
5 Coaching Skills Every Leader Needs
As an executive coach and founder of Liveauthentic Coaching, Vanya Lazarova partners […]
© Unsplash
CEE Startups Have Received €96M in VC Funding Since July
This week, the online matching platform for connecting CEE (Central and Eastern […]
©Oncochain
A day after the Beginning of its Fundraising Campaign, Romanian Medtech Startup Oncochain has raised €195K
The Timisoara medtech startup Oncochain has been listed on SeedBlink and it […]
© Numan
MenTech
Sokratis Papafloratos and His Startup Numan Raise €11m to Help Men with Erectile Dysfunction and Hair Loss
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and most research on the […]
©Pixabay
Romanian Educational Platform Brio Raises almost €300K in its New Investment Round
Brio, a Romanian company that has developed the first Romanian educational SaaS […]
©Airly
⭐CEE STAR OF THE WEEK⭐
Airly: The Polish Air Quality Startup, with a Fresh $2m Pre-seed Funding
„CEE Star of the Week“ is our weekly series of short stories where […]
© Pixabay
SEE
VTEX: The New E-Commerce Unicorn with Presence in Romania
Romania has its new unicorn, although, unlike UiPath it wasn’t started in […]
©Pexels
💰OPPORTUNITIES
The Fund of Funds is releasing additional €21.5m for anti-crisis support to Bulgarian SMEs
As the negative effects of Covid-19 on the global economy continue to […]
© Unsplash
👨💼CORPORATE INNOVATION
Innovation Starter Accelerator With a New Corporate Partner – the copper group, Aurubis
Sustainable tech solutions for the innovation of traditional sectors are flourishing […]
© Annie Spratt/ Unsplash
Research
Fintechs in Bulgaria Have Earned Nearly €400m in 2019
Last week, the Bulgarian Fintech Association (BFA) released one of the most […]
Propy Founders - Denitza Tyufekchieva (on the left) and Natalia Karayaneva (on the right) © Propy
Funding Round
Propy, the US-Bulgarian Blockchain Platform for Real Estate Deals, Gets an Investment from Tim Draper
It’s not every day a startup developed in Bulgaria receives an investment […]
Stephen Fluin will be soon joining the 2020 virtual edition of DevReach © Stephen Fluin
Interviews
Stephen Fluin, Angular DevRel Lead: Why Аre Developer Advocates Important and How to Build a Strong Dev Community
Stephen Fluin is a developer relations lead on the Angular team at […]
©Innovation Starter Box
EVENTS
Innovation Explorer 2021: Innovation in Times of Pandemic, Protests, and Recession
Can innovation be the answer to the challenges posed to society by […]
©American University in Bulgaria
Research
AUBG: the Entrepreneurs Factory
The story in brief: A striking number of entrepreneurs from the Bulgarian […]
©Elaphe Propulsion Technologies
CEE Star of the Week
Elaphe Propulsion Technologies: The Slovenian Company That Aims to Enable a Better Design For Electric Vehicles
„CEE Star of the Week“ is our weekly series of short stories […]
Antoaneta Stoyanova, Director Software and E2E QA at Wacom Bulgaria © Wacom
company profile
Wacom: The Japanese Giant And The Bulgarian Digital Ink & Machine Learning Contribution to the Tablet Market
This article contains an affiliate link to our partner hiring platform Noble […]
With the new investment by Microsoft, Greece is on its way to become a cloud hub © Pixabay
Investments
Microsoft Plans to Turn Greece into a Digital Hub as It Builds Its Next Data Centers in the Country
Microsoft and the Greek government have announced ambitious plans to accelerate the […]
© Peelhy
FOODTECH
Two Rising Stars in the Romanian Food Tech Ecosystem: Yummdiet and Peelhy
How does the future of food look like – precision farming techniques, […]
©Unsplash
FINTECH 💵👨💻
What Does the New EU Digital Finance Strategy Mean For the Bulgarian Fintech Ecosystem?
Cashless transactions, open banking, and remote force management – digital […]
The founders of Finqware © Finqware
Fintech
Open Banking on the Rise in Romania as Finqware’s API Gets Adopted by the Largest Bank in the Country
Romanian fintech startup Finqware has achieved a big milestone in its home […]
© Unsplash
Deals
Concord US Acquires Bulgarian HyperAspect Forming a New European Consultancy And a New AI Product Company
US consulting firm Concord has acquired the Bulgarian startup HyperAspect – an […]
DeepCode Founders, from left to right,: Veselin Raychev (CTO), Boris Paskalev (CEO) and Martin Vechev, Professor at ETH Zurich © ETH Zurich
Diaspora
AI Code Analysis Startup Founded by a Bulgarian Team Gets Acquired by a Cybersecurity Unicorn
DeepCode, an advanced AI-powered platform for code analysis spun off by ETH […]
© Unsplash
💸FUNDING💸
The Greek Bias-Free Hiring Startup Bryq Raises €1.2m to Improve Recruitment Practices Worldwide
Good interviews don’t necessarily mean good candidates. Research shows that the […]
© Via
ACQUISITIONS
Via Acquires Fleetonomy to Meet the Rising Demand for Innovative Last-mile Logistics Technologies
The future of transportation of people and goods will be shaped by […]
©Unsplash
Bulgarian Digital Grocery Shop eBag Expands its Services to Plovdiv
The biggest digital grocery shop in the Sofia metropolitan area, eBag, is […]
The core team of agtech startup Nasekomo © Nasekomo
Biotech
Bulgaria to Have a New Bioconversion R&D Center as Nasekomo Starts a Joint Venture With a French Corporation
It’s been a busy few months for Bulgarian biotech startup Nasekomo. After […]
©Assen Aero
Diaspora Special Edition
Assen Andonov: The Bulgarian Presence in Urban Aeronautics
In the 1880s, the first automobiles started popping on the industrial map, […]
©Unsplash
EVENT
Robotics Strategy Forum 2020 – the State of CEE’s Robotics Ecosystem after COVID-19
Just as it was expected, the COVID-19 pandemic has so far had […]
©Klaus
⭐CEE STAR OF THE WEEK⭐
Klaus: the Estonian Startup for Customer Service Support, with a $5.4m Fresh Funding
„CEE Star of the Week“ is our weekly series of short stories […]
© Lime
Mobility
Electric Scooters Are Coming to Plovdiv
The US e-mobility provider Lime will enter a second Bulgarian city after […]
©Unsplash
Tourism Tech Trends in Bulgaria: Will the Pandemic Make Businesses in the Travel Sector More Open to Innovation?
In 2019, the Bulgarian tourism industry accounted for 13% of the country’s […]
© Pexels
ECOSYSTEM🤓🏦
Analysis: Are Bulgarian Cities Getting Smarter?
In short: Bulgaria’s capital Sofia is assessed to have a mid- to […]
Andrei Negraru and Lisa Popovici, the co-founders of Cartloop © Cartloop
Funding Round
Gapminder and the Co-founder of TypingDNA Invest in a Romanian SMS Marketing Startup
SMS marketing tech seems to continue to be on the rise in […]
© Pixabay
Funding Opportunities
€500k for Practical Science, Online Learning, and Good Local Governance Projects in Bulgaria
America for Bulgaria Foundation (ABF) will provide financial support of 1M BGN […]
Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir. © Palantir
Palantir, the Big Data Company Behind Ferrari and the CIA, Makes a Strong Stock Market Debut
The US company Palantir Technologies, headed by co-founder Peter Thiel and CEO […]
©Unsplash
ECOSYSTEM
Who is Who in the Bulgarian Smart City Ecosystem
The transition to smart cities requires the coordinated involvement of plenty of […]
© Unsplash
Monthly Overview
Investments, Acquisitions, and Board Games Systems: What Was the Most Impactful News in the Bulgarian Innovation Ecosystem This September?
Following the summer holidays, September started bringing a new portion of exciting […]
©Pixabay
The New Rules of the Electric Power Industry: an Opportunity for Innovation
Liberalization of the electric power industry in Bulgaria is slowly becoming a […]
Srdjan Kupresanin, founder of 0bsnetwork. © S. Kupresanin
cee star of the week
0bsnetwork: „The Time For a Zero Bullshit Blockchain is Definitely Here“
“CEE Star of the Week“ is our weekly series of short stories where we present […]
©Pixabay
Events
h.i summit 2020: Building Sustainable Businesses in the Future
Are we heading toward a new frontier in human intelligence? How are […]
©Unspalsh
EVENT
Тhe Biggest Agriculture Retailer in Romania to Invest €50k in Innovative Agritech Solutions
From vertical farming and AI detection of diseases in crops to blockchain […]
event
Talent Talks Vol. 2: “It is not the size of a company that matters but rather the company culture”
At a certain point, every working person wonders whether to opt for […]
The team of Vedamo © Vedamo
EdTech
Bulgarian Virtual Classroom Platform Vedamo Raises Funding from BrightCap Ventures
“Until recently, it was very difficult for edtech startups to create some […]
Simona Harizanova, co-founder of Career Show © Career Show
interview
The New Rules of Post-Pandemic Employer Branding: “It Will Expand and Acquire Hybrid Characteristics”
Changed office environment, different hiring priorities, a shift in the traditional […]
©How To Web
EVENTS
How To Web’s Startup Spotlight: Тhe Online Pitching for CEE Startups and a €225k Award
When it comes to events, online will never be the same as […]
Hans van Houwelingen, Founder & Managing Partner of Urban Impact Ventures © Hans van Houwelingen
Venture Capital
Urban Impact Ventures: The New Bulgarian-Dutch Impact Investing Fund That Will Support Smart City Entrepreneurs Across Europe
The global urban tech market has been growing at a remarkable pace […]
©Pixabay
CROWDFUNDING
Equity crowdfunding success for two Romanian techsecurity startups
The time seems right for more investments into the cybersecurity market: by […]
© Markus Winkler/ Unsplash
Idea validation
The First AI-focused Pre-Accelerator in Romania Is Accepting Applications from Idea-Stage Entrepreneurs Across CEE
“The AI ecosystem in Romania is still in its early stage as […]
© Photo by Morning Brew on Unsplash
guest analysis
Artificial Intelligence in Decentralized Finance
In short: Using buzzwords to maximize the efficiency of fundraising was a […]
Vess Bakalov, CEO at Pliant ©Vess Bakalov
Diaspora
New Funding for Pliant, the US Low-Code Process Automation Company Led by Bulgarian Founders
Pliant, a US-based IT process automation startup with Bulgarian founders for CEO […]
©Pexels
🏙️ECOSYSTEM
Burgas: The Next European Smart City?
Burgas has the potential to become the first 5G city in Bulgaria. […]
© Spotawheel
Growth
Spotawheel, the Greek Marketplace for Pre-Inspected Second-Hand Cars, to Expand Across Europe after Raising €10m
As people are back to buying cars after some deceleration caused by […]
©Usplash
⭐CEE Star of the Week ⭐
The Lithuanian Startup Trafi Launches the World’s First Country-Wide Mobility-as-a-Service Platform in Switzerland
“CEE Star of the Week“ is our weekly series of short stories […]
©Pexels
MARKET EXPANSION 📦
Industry 4.0, Soft Skills and E-commerce: Export Hub Bulgaria will Help Local Companies Grow on Foreign Markets
Nearly €1.3B less is the revenue coming from export so far this […]
© Ralev.com
Play to learn
Gemji: The Tesla of Board Games Created by a Bulgarian Designer
“When I started working on Gemji in 2016, as a parent I […]
© Darin Madzharov
👩🎓 👨🎓First day of school
Darin Madzharov: On Entrepreneurship in School and the Importance of a Problem-Solving Mindset
Ucha.se is an interesting case in the Bulgarian startup ecosystem. It’s a […]
© Pixabay
Mobility
Who Is Who in the Bulgarian Electric Vehicle Ecosystem
September 9th, 2020 comes with a campaign dedicated to the celebration of […]
© 3Lateral
guide
Serbia: A Game Development Hub on the Balkans To Watch
“When we started the Digital Serbia Initiative we realized that one of […]
© Open Banking Hackathon CEE
innovation | event
Hackathon: Fintech Startups from CEE Gather for Four Days to Explore New Open Banking Solutions
Imagine purchasing an insurance policy from Finland through a mobile wallet in […]
The graduate founders of FI's fifth cohort in Sofia © Founder Institute
Season 6
FI Sofia Goes Online and Will Accelerate Pre-Seed Startups from all over the Balkans
“Back in March, we realized that all of our over 200 programs […]
Four panelists will join the 'Impact & Mess vs. Structure & No Stress' discussion this Wednesday - from left to right - Ivelina Petkova, IT Project Manager at Documaster; Thomas Metz, Managing Director at Bosch Engineering Center Sofia; Severina Mitsova, HR Specialist at AtScale; and Victor Danchev, Mission Manager & Physicist at EnduroSat
Events
What Makes Top Talents Choose a Startup Over a Corporate Career or the Other Way Around? Talent Talks Vol.2 Is Almost Here.
What makes top talents choose a startup over a corporate career or […]
Silvio Kutic, co-founder and CEO of Infobip ©Infobip
cee 🌟 star of the week
Infobip: A Bootstrapped Unicorn and Aspiring Leader of The Communication Platforms as a Service
„CEE Star of the Week“ is our weekly series of short stories […]
The Dawn Capital team © Dawn Capital
💸💸💸 VC
Dawn Capital with Bulgarian Investor Mina Mutafchieva Raises a $400m Fund for European B2B Startups
Dawn Capital, one of the most active European venture capital firms specializing […]
InstaShop founders Ioanna Angelidaki (on the right side) and John Tsioris (on the left) © InstaShop
Ecosystem milestones
A Greek Team Completes a €300m Exit to Foodpanda’s Owner, the Largest for the Ecosystem to Date
Founded by two Greek entrepreneurs back in 2015, InstaShop, one of the […]
Back in 2019, during DevReach Chris DeMars had a cool session on accessibility © DevReach
Events
DevReach 2020: One of the Largest Developer Conferences in CEE Returns Online with the Latest Trends in App Development & Lots of Learning Opportunities
Progress, a multinational tech company with a strong presence in Bulgaria, announced […]
© Nikolai Doichinov
Impact
Humans in the Loop Wins Two Awards and $50k at MIT’s Social Impact Competition
UPDATE: Humans in the Loop has become the first Eastern European company […]
Belgrade is the heart of the Serbian startup ecosystem, but Novi Sad and Nis are also home to interesting companies © Pixabay
guide
Startup Ecosystem Serbia: Who is Who and What Are the Trends
“I believe that our experience in bootstrapping successful startups will prove very […]
© Unsplash
💡💡💡
Global Innovation Index: Bulgaria in Top 3 of Its Class with China and Malaysia
Now that global economic growth will fall deeply in 2020, a vital […]
© Boleron
Corporate Innovation
Insurance with Cashback: What’s the Partnership between Boleron and Visa All About
The Bulgarian early-stage startup for digital insurances Boleron has figured out an […]
The team of Cardinal Bites, participants in the first cohort of Innovation Starter Accelerator, together with their mentor Violeta Yoveva © Innovation Starter Accelerator
🚀🚀🚀
Four Companies Join the Second Cohort of Innovation Starter Accelerator: EdTech,MedTech, EVs
After a careful selection process among 167 startups and young businesses, […]
©Biotech Atelier
Event
Biotech Atelier 2020: Bringing Together the Creators of the Healthcare of Tomorrow
+++Apply here for the Startups Hall of Fame pitching competition or scroll […]
© Unsplash
$👨💻👨💻 $
The Highest Paid Programming Languages for Freelance VS Employed Developers in 2020
In 2020 we witnessed a boom in the freelance industry with an […]
© Accedia
Of Intrapreneurship, Blood Donation and Using a Crisis as an Opportunity
The COVID-19 crisis caused drastic changes in how business is done. As […]
© Unsplash
CEE Star of the Week
altFINS: The New Slovak Startup on the Fintech Map
„CEE Star of the Week“ is our weekly series of short stories […]
© SHEleader@digital
event
SHEleader @ Digital: The Conference That Gathers Female Leaders From Various Sectors To Discuss The Role Of Women In The Digital World
What is the future of women at work in the age of […]
Neuralink's breakthrough experiment
© Neuralink
Braintech
Neuralink: Futuristic on the Outside, Chaotic on the Inside
A hole in the top of the skull through which a chip […]
Gameloft Bulgaria team © Gameloft Bulgaria
company profile
Gameloft Bulgaria: How To Deserve Your Independence Within One of the Biggest Gaming Companies in the World
This article contains an affiliate link to our partner hiring platform Noble […]
©Unsplash
Education
DeepMind To Provide Scholarships For Low-Income Students Who Want To Study Artificial Intelligence in Sofia University
DeepMind, the UK company working on breakthrough artificial intelligence research, […]
From left to right: Michał Olszewski, Ramon Jimenez and Artur Banach; © Movens Capital
💸💸💸
Movens Capital Launches €12.7 Million Fund in Support of CEE Startups Specializing in Automation
Movens Capital has launched a €12.7 m fund for companies that aim […]
Phos' team © Phos
Market Expansion
Merchants in Eight New Countries to Accept Payments through Their Phones as Phos and Mastercard Extend Their Partnership
Back in March, Bulgarian fintech startup Phos and Mastercard announced a pilot […]
Martin Kadinov, founder of eports agency TDB Play © Private Archive
interview
Martin Kadinov About the Entrepreneurial Spirit in Esports and Gaming in Southeastern Europe
Video games are not only the richest and fastest growing entertainment industry […]
© Lime
Mobility
Lime Is Back on the Streets of Sofia. Are The Lower Prices Going to Attract More People to Use Electric Scooters?
After a five-month break caused by the coronavirus outbreak and the related […]
Startups in Bulgaria and their first customers: SMSBump, Leanplum, Payhawk, CloudCart
💡 Experience sharing
How Some Of Today’s Most Trending Startups In Bulgaria Attracted Their First Customers – Part 1: B2B Software
When a startup is born nobody knows about its barely existing product. […]
©Unsplash
Partnerships
Veolia Partners with Accelerator Innovation Starter To Support Circular Economy Startups
The Bulgarian accelerator and seed fund Innovation Starter and the French […]
© Infermedica, Tomek Tuz
CEE star of the week
Polish Infermedica’s AI-driven Alternative to Googling Symptoms and Self-Diagnosis, and a €10M Series A
„CEE Star of the Week“ is our weekly series of short stories where […]
Angel Kelchev, partner at Zarian Capital © private archive
💸💸💸
Zarian Capital: The New US Early Stage Fund with Focus on Bulgaria
A new early-stage fund is entering the Bulgarian market with the goal […]
© liacastelli from Unsplash
Events
Robo Days 2020: Exploring the Potential of Educational Robotics in Bulgaria
In the past year, the Bulgarian tech scene enjoyed some quite impressive […]
Hristo Boyadzhiev, founder Tuk-Tam © Tuk-Tam
diaspora
Tuk-Tam Launches a New Platform for Everyone Considering to Move to Bulgaria or Wants to Stay Connected
Tuk-Tam, an organization dedicated to helping well-educated young professionals find […]
Georgi Petrov (l) and Mihail Stoychev, co-founders of SMSBump ©SMSBump
deal
The New Owner Of Bulgarian SMSBump Raises $75M Series E To Help More Brands Boost Online Revenue
Yotpo, the US-Israeli ecommerce marketing company that acquired Bulgarian startup […]
The EveGreen Team. © EveGreen
cee star of the week
EveGreen: The Slovenian Startup That Has Made Flowerpots Biodegradable
„CEE Star of the Week“ is our weekly series of short stories where […]
SmartDremers was recognized as the best automation scaleup during the first edition of the UiPath Automation Awards CEE © Trending Topics Bulgaria
Opportunities
UiPath And Microsoft On The Lookout For Automation Startups From Southeastern Europe
Startups and scaleups from Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Serbia, and other countries […]
© mcmurryjulie from Pixabay
Early-stage
WHISP: The Platform that Gives Expats Access to Healthcare in Different Countries Receives Recognition from Microsoft
“I’ve lived in several countries in Europe in the past ten years […]
© Epic Games
Epic Lawsuits
Apple & Google vs. Fortnite Maker Epic Games – Well, That Escalated Quickly
Apple and Epic Games, makers of the hit game Fortnite, are currently […]
Adelina Nedkkova, Head of Business Development at Bianor Services © Bianor
company profile
Bianor: 22 Years Between NATO, The Library of Congress, and Video Streaming
This article contains an affiliate link to our partner hiring platform Noble […]
Kalimizing - chocholate sweets with rose jam is the first product of Kaliopa © Kaliopa
student company
Innovation In School Ep. 4: Kaliopa, The Rose Candies And Four Young Female Entrepreneurs
In Karlovo, a small town with around 30K residents and no direct […]
© Career Show
Event
The 2020 Edition of Career Show Is Expected to Gather over 5000 Tech Specialists from Bulgaria
This November, for the second year in a row, Career Show will […]
© Diego Velázquez from Pixabay
Guest Article
PageSpeed Insights: The Component That Most Website Owners Miss and Wonder Why They Rank Low in Google
Ivan Popov is a WordPress Developer since 2009 and has led numerous […]
Mitko Vassilev, community manager of DEV.BG © DEV.BG
event
All in One: The Biggest Developers’ Conference For Non-Tech Topics Comes Back Free and Will Last Two Days
Physical, online, or hybrid – it has been months of wondering what […]
© Christo Anestev, Pixabay
youth empowerment
The First Youth StartUp Fest in Burgas: a Much Needed Boost for the Local Ecosystem
There’s the shared belief that the capital city of Bulgaria, Sofia, is […]
Denis Tudor, CEO and Co-founder at Swisspod Technologies on the right side and the concept for Swisspod's hyperloop capsule on the left side © Swisspod Technologies
Future of transportation
The Romanian Founder Building Energy-Autonomous Hyperloop Capsules
Hyperloop is one of those hyper-hyped technologies that are expected to completely […]
© Infobip
🦄🦄🦄
Infobip: Croatia’s Newborn Unicorn
Founded in 2006 in Croatia and with no external capital invested up […]
Stoyan Lozanov, co-founder and CEO at Omnio © Stoyan Lozanov
Regtech
Compliance Automation Startup Omnio: The Only Bulgarian Finalist In EIT Digital’s Pre-Acceleration Program
Sofia-based regtech startup Omnio is the only Bulgarian finalist in EIT Digital’s […]
list
Top 10 Decentralized Finance Projects in Europe [Part 2]
The growth of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) switched to a higher gear in […]
Starting in the upper left corner and moving clockwise, the teams of Plum, BotsAndUS, Prosperty, and Neurolabs © Plum, BotsAndUS, Prosperty, and Neurolabs
Funding News
This Week’s Deals: Four Startups From The Southeast Europe Ecosystem Raise €16m
After last week’s €13.2m Series A round of Greek-American TileDB and the […]
Boyan Ivanov, founder and CEO of StorPool © StorPool
scaling up
StorPool: How The Bulgarian Storage Scaleup Reached Profitability And Is Preparing To Outrun The World’s Biggest Players
“We want to be the leading storage vendor in the world,” shares […]
Boris Hristov, Founder of 356labs ©Jordan Mihajlov, TrendingTopics.bg
Virtual Presentations
The DOs and DONTs Of Selling Your Idea In A Conf Call: Highlights From Our Fireside Chat With Boris Hristov
The remote-first mode in the past few months has put communication and […]
© jambulboy on Pixabay
The Future Of Education
A Fintech Course Joined By The Industry To Be Part Of A Master’s Degree Program At Sofia University This Fall
The Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Sofia University and the […]
Some of the founders part of the first cohort of XLRadar© Innovation Capital
acceleration
Innovation Capital Selects Its First Cohort of 10 Companies and Backs them With €300K
After an intense roadshow in five cities in Bulgaria, two boot camps […]
Liam Martin © private archive
All-Remote Founder Liam Martin Thinks Wages Of Software Developers Will Go Down Due To New Remote Working Mode
What used to be a prerogative for developers, content creators and consultants […]
© Yuri_B/ Pixabay
Opportunity
Flashpoint VC Launches An Online Pitching Competition For SaaS Startups From Central And Eastern Europe
Flashpoint, an international investment group headquartered in London that supports […]
From left to right, Velizar Shulev, Tatyana Mitkova and, Alexander Sumin, the founders of ClaimCompass ©ClaimCompass
Deals
ClaimCompass Acquires A Travel App Based Out Of Los Angeles To Expand Coverage Beyond The EU
The Bulgarian startup ClaimCompass, a company which has helped over 200k travelers […]
The prototype of EduBots robotic car model © EduBots
First steps
EduBots: The Teenage Entrepreneurs Working On Making It Easier For Kids To Learn Robotics
The Teenovator program aims to help tenth- and eleventh-graders cultivate the skills […]
© Fabio on Unsplash
Deals
Greek-American TileDB Closes A €13.2m Series A Round For The Further Development Of Its Complex Data Management Engine
The founded by Greek entrepreneur and research scientist Stavros Papadopoulos TileDB […]
Daniel Dines, Founder and CEO, UiPath © UiPath
Romanian Unicorns
With An IPO On The Horizon, UiPath Closes Another Round And Has Already Fundraised Over €1B
UiPath was founded in Bucharest, Romania back in 2005 as an outsourcing […]
Innovation Capital team © Innovation Capital
interview
Innovation Capital: We Are Not On a Hunt For Unicorns. We Look For Companies From All Sectors and Can Make Them Bankable Earlier On.
After the turbulent several months at the beginning of 2020 related to […]
Elislav Atanasov, founder of Business Adviser and Legal Tech ©Trending Topics
Transition
Business Adviser > Legal Tech: From Business Services To A Software Product In One Year
The transition from services to products is one of the emerging trends […]
© Markus Winkler on Unsplash
Venture Funding
Over €21m Invested In Bulgarian Startups Since The Beginning Of 2020
We are halfway through a year that’s been quite turbulent for both […]
Dare to Scale, the growth program of Endeavor Bulgaria comes back for another season © Endeavor
dare to scale
Robotics, Steel Engineering, IT and Wine: This is the New Cohort of Disrupters Selected for Endeavor’s Growth Accelerator
Endeavor Bulgaria has selected the next 12 companies that will go through […]
© Pixabay
COVID-19 Measures in Bulgaria: Additional €29M For Four Governmentally Backed VCs. Who Does This Help?
The governmentally backed Fund of Funds (FoF) has just announced it’s redirecting […]
Difold's two co-founders, Radina Popova and Petar Zaharinov © Difold
Green Tech
Bulgarian Zero Waste Startup Difold Reaches €100k With Its Crowdfunding Campaign And Is About To Bring Reusable Origami Bottles Into Mass Production
Earlier in 2020, Coca-Cola’s head of sustainability stated that for the time […]
© Daniel Cheung on Unsplash
Guest Article
Play To Learn: Soft Skills For IT People
Hari Haralambiev is a guy passionate about helping people work better together […]
© Fintech Atlas, Raiffeisenbank International
Fintech in CEE: Startups, Focus, Market Comparison, Funding Trends
More than two-thirds of the people in Central and Eastern Europe will […]
© Ecosia
Green Tech
Using Advertising Profits To Fight Deforestation: Ecosia, The European Green Search Engine, Just Planted Its 100 Millionth Tree
As pretty much any other search engine Ecosia makes money out of […]
© Pixabay
deal
BizPortal: Corporate Data and Public Tenders Intelligence Startup Raises €1.7M
BizPortal, founded in 2013 in Sofia open data mining and analytics solutions […]
The core team of agtech startup Nasekomo © Nasekomo
deal
Bulgarian Startup Nasekomo Raises €4M To Turn More Organic Waste Into Protein and Scale Environmental Impact
Nasekomo, the Bulgarian startup that upscales organic waste streams from the […]
© Hari Nandakumar/ Unsplash
TravelTech
Romanian Gamified Tourism Platform Questo Raises €300K And Aims To Grow To 100 Cities By The End Of The Year
Questo, a Romanian startup that gives tourists a mobile platform to explore […]
Metodi Drenovski and Lubomir Rusanov, co-founders of SuperHosting © SuperHosting
online business
SuperHosting: Could This Exit Strengthen Bulgaria’s Position As A SEE Hub For Online Business?
In a deal of unannounced size, the leading Bulgarian hosting provider SuperHosting […]
Ivan Alexandrov, founder and CEO of eBag. ©Jordan Mihajlov, TrendingTopics.bg
eCommerce
Reaching A Valuation Of Over €10m, eBag Receives An Investment From The Biggest Czech Online Grocery Retailer
Online grocery shopping was definitely one of the industries that exploded during […]
The betahaus Sofia team© betahaus
Coworking
betahaus Sofia Launches A New Plan To Double Down On The Trend That Work Is No Longer A Place
“I truly believe that the value behind the coworking model will become […]
©Wassilis Gaitanos on Unsplash
Funding Round
A Ferry Booking Startup Raises €2.6M Series A In Bulgarian-Greek VC Co-Investment Led By LAUNCHub Ventures
In times when the travel industry is experiencing significant struggles, […]
Dimitar Dimitrov, CEO of Allterco Robtics ©Allterco
Bulgarian Allterco Enters The Medical IoT Vertical After Turning Into the Favorite Home Automation Startup in Germany and Italy
“Every 20 seconds someone around the world turns on one of our […]
Alexandra Mechkova, CEO Telerik Academy © Telerik Academy
Telerik Academy Surveys IT Companies On Their Strategy To Stay Relevant For Talent in The Post-Pandemic Situation
“We should never forget that everything we all do in the IT […]
© David Darmanin and Irina Obushtarova
Remote Work
Distributed Teams Are Not Just About Working Remotely: Highlights From David Darmanin’s Session At RemoteCon
RemoteCon, the first European online tech conference dedicated to remote work, began […]
© Unsplash
💰
The EIC Fund: For The First Time The European Commission Makes Direct Equity Investments
The European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund now has its official entity and […]
© Myrto Papathanou
VC Interviews
Myrto Papathanou: The Ability To Productify Technology Was Missing From Greece But The Ecosystem Is Finally Starting To Mature
At the beginning of May, Applied Materials, one of the world’s largest […]
© HeleCloud
Deals
AWS Consultancy HeleCloud Acquires Software Development Company DataStork For Additional Cloud-Native & Machine Learning Capabilities
HeleCloud, a multinational Amazon Web Services (AWS) consultancy with offices in […]
© Lyubomir Minchev
Ecosystem Building | Urban Tech
The Dawn Of Corporate Venture Capital In Bulgaria: From Angel Investments Through Startup R&D Incubation To An International Smart City Fund
“New urban tech ventures have been developed within Telelink for several years […]
© Unsplash
Media Innovation
The Content Intelligence Team In Sofia That Is Trying To Keep Humans At The Core Of Global Marketing Automation
In the past few years, Publicis, one of the largest communications groups […]
© Pixabay
The European Commission Backs 6 Blockchain Projects With Societal Impact With €5M
The European Innovation Council (EIC) has awarded €5m to six companies that […]
© Norma Mortenson, Pexels
Wirecard: Is The Fintech Party Over And What Could Be The Effects In SEE
In 2014 Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg changed his motto “Move Fast and […]
Peter Toudjarski, founder of Botron Software © Botron Software
Deals
Botron Software, A Bulgarian Provider Of Jira Configuration Tools, Has Been Acquired By Appfire
US-based Appfire has made the strategic acquisition of Botron Software, a Bulgarian […]
©Shafin_Protic on Pixabay
Industry transformation
As Events Are Moving Online, Virtual Venue Platform Hopin Closes A $40m Series A Round
It was not that long ago when Trending Topics hosted The Big […]
© Ivan Dimov and Krasse Gueorguiev
👟💡🚀
#RUNovator: The Two Social Entrepreneurs Who Run To Fundraise For Youth Entrepreneurial Clubs
The athlete and entrepreneur Krasse Gueorguiev and the CEO of Single Step […]
© Jakob Braun/ Unsplash
DeFi
Top 10 Decentralized Finance Projects in Europe (Part 1)
Into blockchain technology since 2013, Vladislav Dramaliev is one of the founders […]
© Pixabay
ranking
Sofia and Bucharest are Among The Top 25 Cities of The Future According To FT’s Intelligence Division
The Romanian and Bulgarian capital cities make it to the top 25 […]
© Geogri Kadrev, CEO at Kelvin Health
Telemedicine
Kelvin Health: The AI Thermal Imaging Startup On A Journey To Make Remote Disease Screening As Easy As Taking A Selfie
Telemedicine was a quickly growing market even before the COVID-19 pandemic but […]
© Unsplash
Deal
Romanian Avocado Raises €500K to Connect People With Business & Life Coaches, Lawyers, and Therapists Online
With the recent pandemic events, the amount of online services and platforms […]
© Pixabay
Funding Round
CloudCart Scores A Second Investment In Three Weeks, This Time From Sportal Media Group
Earlier in June, the Bulgarian eCommerce startup CloudCart received a €640k […]
© Unsplash
Promoto & How The Lockdown Accelerated the Digital Transformation of Neighbourhood Grocery Stores
At the beginning of the pandemic and the lockdown, we started sharing […]
© Pixabay
Governments vs. Innovation
Serbia’s Innovation Fund Grants €5 Million To 35 Startups And Science-Business Joint Ventures
The Serbian Innovation Fund announced that it had allocated five million euros […]
© Unsplash
The €15M Pre-Seed Fund Innovation Capital: Back On Track After The False Start And Going On A Tour In 5 Cities in Bulgaria
After the turbulent several months at the beginning of 2020 related to […]
© ETH Zurich
Diaspora | Academia-Driven Innovation
A Bulgarian Computer Scientist And Researchers At ETH Zurich Have Developed The First High-Level Quantum Programming Language
Quantum computers have been growing in popularity in recent years as they […]
Ecosystem Development
If We Want Bulgaria To Be A Real Innovation Destination Doers Are Needed
When it comes to the next steps in the development of the […]
© Unsplash
🛰️✈️💸
VC BrightCap Launches New Funding Program for Aviation Startups
BrightCap Ventures partners with AirNav Systems, a global flight tracking and […]
Hristo Borisov CEO, left and Thomas Westerhoven, Country Manager - Germany, right ©Payhawk
strategic partnership
Expense Management Startup Payhawk Partners with Visa to Issue Business Cards in 13 European Countries
“The problems SMEs face across Europe are pretty much the same: slow […]
© Pixabay
Funding Round
Romanian Game Design Platform Machinations Closes A €580k Seed Round
Machinations, a company that has developed a browser-based platform for the design, […]
Live Talk with Sasha Bezuhanova: The Green Restart Initiative and Why Entrepreneurs are important for the economic recovery
Sasha Bezuhanova: The Green Restart Initiative And Why Digital and Sustainability Innovations are Important for the Economic Recovery
Sasha Bezuhanova, the founder of think-tank MOVE.BG explains why innovation […]
© Pixabay
deal
Romanian Proactive Cybersecurity Startup CODA Intelligence Raises €800K To Expand in the US
CODA Intelligence, the founded in 2015 in Romania “proactive […]
Krasimir Marinov, cofounder of HyperScience
US-Bulgarian Hyperscience Raises $60M Series C In Attempt To Become A Global Leader In Enterprise Automation
A bit over a year after it raised its previous $30M round, […]
© Unsplash
event
RemoteCon: The First European Online Tech Conference Dedicated To Remote Work
Shopify, Twitter, Coinbase, Facebook will do it, many other companies will follow. […]
© Postbank
Sponsored Story
Meet ONE wallet: The last generation mobile wallet by Postbank
ONE wallet by Postbank, the last generation high-tech application for contactless […]
Test post to incorporate other posts
After an unexpected pause (or maybe an opportunity?) for digital nomads in […]
Sponsored Story
CEE Startup Challenge: get EUR 1m and free credits!
Innovative companies from Central & Eastern Europe have a chance to land […]
©Vienna Business Agency
Sponsored Story
#OpenVienna: HOW & WHY your CEE startup can join Europe’s most thriving ecosystem
Expanding their business into the EU’s lucrative German-speaking markets is the goal […]
©Biotech Atelier
Sponsored Story
SEE, CEE water startups & scaleups: Biotech Atelier Special Edition “Water & Biotechnologies” open for applications NOW
Water is a hot topic of growing significance and it is a […]
