SEE deal count narrows by a third, but the region still performs better than Central Europe and the Nordic countries. Bulgaria retains the regional leadership in funded startups per capital.
Amid a global collapse in venture funding deepening in 2024, SEE was among the European regions to witness the smallest contraction in deals count over the period 2020-2024, along with Western Europe, outperforming the Central European and the Nordic countries. During the five-year period the SEE private investment ecosystem attracted a total of EUR 7.3 bln of investments.
The region has given rise to 13 unicorns so far, including the latest additions Blueground and Shelly Group. The pipeline of future unicorns and rising stars in SEE is also continuously expanding, led by Bulgaria and Romania.
Bulgaria has a well-developed startup ecosystem with a significant number of established venture capital providers and supporting business and educational infrastructure. Major factors stay behind the success of the ecosystem, which are listed in the report.
About the authors
BVCA
Focal point of PE & VC funds to drive growth and Innovation
The Bulgarian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA) is the focal point of private investors, venture capital funds and the entrepreneurial community in Bulgaria. It unites the investment community in Bulgaria and creates a strong public platform for each member to make positive impact on the industry. BVCA is committed to popularising the role of private investment as a reliable and sustainable source of funding for innovative start-ups in Bulgaria and the region. The association collects comprehensive data on investment activity in Bulgaria and communicates it with its members, the political and institutional communities, as well as with the general public.
SeeNext
SeeNext helps the decision-makers of today navigate the volatile business world by delivering trustworthy and unbiased news and actionable insights.
As a company with 20+ years of experience and a team of experts in the realms of business news and analyses, we strive to give in-depth understanding and relevant interpretation of data. Our team of journalists publishes over 2000 business news stories monthly, covering more than 20 industries. Our team of business analysts can help you base your decisions on facts, figures and knowledge, using a methodology or a combination of methodologies best suited to your needs.
European Investment Bank
The largest multilateral financial institution in the world
The European Investment Bank is the lending arm of the European Union. It is the biggest multilateral financial institution in the world and one of the largest providers of climate finance. The EIB offers loans, guarantees, equity investments and advisory services since 1958 and has invested over a trillion euros across 160 countries since its inception.
Jeremie Bulgaria
A joint initiative to enhance cohesion across the EU through risk finance initiatives for SMEs.
JEREMIE is a joint initiative set up in 2007 by the European Commission (Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy) in co-operation with the European Investment Bank Group and other financial institutions. The JEREMIE instrument was set up to deploy part of the EU Structural Funds allocated to the regional and national Managing Authorities to finance SMEs in a more efficient and sustainable way. Several Member States and regions have entrusted the management of reflows from initial JEREMIE investments to EIF. It redeploys these legacy funds in the respective markets through existing and new financial instruments targeting the support of SME access to finance.
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