Before and after: What did the founders from the fourth BIH cohort walk away with?
The fourth cohort of Bulgaria Innovation Hub startups recently completed their acceleration journey toward scaling and international expansion. A total of seven promising ventures graduated from our three-week Fall Program. The participating companies were the e-mobility software company Ampeco, the mobile-first digital insurance broker Boleron, the office productivity startup Escreo, the mobile application for e-identification Evrotrust, the software solution provider Prime Holding, as well as Shkolo, the end-to-end administrative and management software platform for high-schools, and SoftUni, a software development training startup.
What motivated the founders to apply for the program? Who were the mentors the founders found most inspiring and what piece of advice they would use in their market expansion strategies? To find out, we asked the main stars of the show.
Founders with growth mindset
Orlin Radev, founder and CEO of Ampeco, shared that the reason he applied for the program was that Ampeco’s team has been eyeing expansion in the US as they believe it would become the key market for smart EV charging solutions in the next few years. “We are also going to be fundraising from US VCs in the next year. Seeing how the program has helped other entrepreneurs from Bulgaria to make the jump to the US - in terms of market expansion and fundraising, we saw it as a great way to accelerate our own efforts and help us with our plans.
Being able to learn from founders and VCs that have relevant experience, is extremely valuable and the BIH program offers exactly that - tailored for entrepreneurs from our region,” Radev shared.
Miroslav Dzhokanov, co-founder and CEO of Shkolo, explains that at the moment they are exploring options for international expansion and BIH offered them a great opportunity to have lectures with world-class speakers. Dzhokanov shares that he was especially moved by Simeon Simeonov as the BIH mentor helped him change his perception of making a business. And when it comes to the piece of advice that stuck with Dzhokanov, he says: “The "product-led growth" concept felt closest to our principles, so we will definitely follow this methodology more strictly while we develop our next product.”
“Since the beginning, we have aimed to keep participating in various acceleration formats as this is one of the main ways in which we grow, identify new channels, and develop new partnerships. The team of Escreo has a very practical mindset and that is why we like to gather know-how in this way. Bulgaria Innovation Hub is one of the most impactful community initiatives that offers a soft landing into the US market and provides founders with actionable tips and tricks,” highlights Yasen Rusev, co-founder and CEO of Escreo.
Tailored know-how from founders to founders
The participants in the program share that they were inspired by the dedication that Bogomil Balkanski, Partner at Sequoia Capital, and Simeonov Simeonov, a serial entrepreneur, top-rated TechStars mentor, and advisor to venture funds, showed during the program.
“Silicon Valley is a mindset, not location. Always be in sales mode and teach everyone in the company to sell,” Rusev shares that is the piece of advice that stuck with him.
“The insights shared from other founders who have walked the way that we are now walking, such as Deyan Vitanov and Momchil Kyurkchiev, also gave us a great perspective and helped us form a good strategy with regards to our fundraising process,” shares Radev.