For 3-rd year, BCCI supported the national competition called "The Best Youth Start-up in Bulgaria 2024"

The finalists in the competition called "The Best Youth Start-up in Bulgaria 2024" were announced on the last day of May. The third edition of the competition, organised by the Fund of Funds and the Faculty of Economics of Sofia University, once again gave a platform with national coverage to develop entrepreneurial skills in young people and provided the stage for students and young people, who were up to 29 years of age, giving them the opportunity to express their opinions about which new technologies, key sectors and latest scientific discoveries would play a significant role in the modern world and would attract the attention of investors.

Almost 300 participants took part in the competition in teams or as individual competitors. They completed a 10-week training programme in which they developed their ideas under the mentorship of experts from 40 organisations – partners in the competition – from the investment and start-up ecosystem in Bulgaria.

The Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Investment Council and the Council of Innovation at BCCI were partners of the competition.

The event was opened by Krassimir Yakimov, Deputy Minister of Innovation and Growth, Assoc. Prof. Atanas Georgiev, PhD, Dean of the Faculty of Economics at Sofia University and Pavel Lisev, Executive Director of the Fund of Funds.

Krassimir Yakimov emphasised that the Ministry of Innovation and Growth tries to create conditions for the development of young talents and to provide support and resources to realise the existing potential. He shared that the Fund of Funds is actively working on structuring an equity fund for innovations in enterprises, too, within which 32 million euros will also be for companies which are in their early stage of development.

"For as long as 10 weeks, you completed an intensive training and mentoring programme to gain practical knowledge in the field of entrepreneurship. Competing with almost 160 teams from the whole country, in several stages, until you successfully reach the final, makes you all winners." These were the words, with which Pavel Lisev addressed the students; he shared with the young people in the hall that the 2021-2027 “Education” Programme stipulates support for start-ups of students and PhD students with the purpose of a focused transition from higher education to employment. He thanked all the partners in the competition for the training sessions, which they run, and the support for the participants in the competition.

The top three places in the competition were taken by:

First place: BuddyGuard - a platform connecting trustworthy animal carers with pet owners. The platform makes a quick connection between the parties according to a clear schedule and enables timely and secure payments for the service. The platform also received the Audience Choice Award.

Second place: Truckspedia - a platform for automating and optimising the logistic processes in Europe. The start-up uses AI algorithms to connect pending loads with vacant trucks.

Third place: ReGrounded - an innovative, sustainable material which is obtained from the combination of coffee waste, waste wood material and other bioproducts. The material is safe, if it comes into contact with food, it is bio-based, extremely strong, durable, resistant, biodegradable, compostable and can be recycled repeatedly without losing its physical properties.

The award for "The best ESG" start-up was received by the GreenFilters team who are students in the 11th grade at "Prof. Ivan Apostolov" Foreign Language Secondary School in Sofia. The project stipulates the recycling of cigarette butts, which are a significant source of pollution due to the plastic in their filters, until they become activated carbon for purifying water, air, etc.

Many additional awards were given as well. Enthela received a diploma for the start-up with the greatest export potential, awarded by the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) - Investment Council. Enthela invented a biostimulant to allow farmers to replace up to 50% of the nitrogen mineral fertilizer they use, while increasing soil fertility without reducing their productivity. This is a biotechnological method, creating a biodegradable shield around special microorganisms, which allows them to survive longer in the soil and be more efficient at producing nitrogen for plants.

BuddyGuard, GreenFilters and ReGrounded have received a one-year membership in the Council for Innovation, Digitalisation and New Technologies at BCCI. BCCI provided incentive awards to all finalists.

This year, the jury has included representatives of the Faculty of Economics of Sofia University, Innovation Capital, Vitosha Venture Partners, Morningside Hill, Silverline Capital, Planet 9 Ventures, UBB (United Bulgarian Bank), Sys Credit, the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, Sofia Tech Park, Founder Institute, BCCI (Investment Council and Innovation Council), CleanTech Bulgaria, Beyond, Bulgarian e-Commerce Association, Mechatronics and Automation Cluster, Because Foundation and Ivan Yosifov – a mentor in the competition. Chairman of the jury was Assoc. Prof. Todor Yalamov from the Faculty of Economics.

The young people were inspired by the finalists from the previous two editions of the competition for "The Best Youth Start-up", who are already developing successfully with attracted investments and mentoring support from the competition partners. The founders of Vodoraslo, Twisted Technology, Mentor the Young, Foodobox, Young Inventor and AGRON shared their success.