BVCA Chairman and members at 12th Annual Investment Summit

BVCA Chairman and its members presented the current state of the market as well as industry predictions for the Bulgarian private equity and venture capital ecosystem at the 12^th Annual Investment Summit by Capital Newspaper.

BVCA Chairman, Evgeny Angelov, opened this year’s summit with a keynote speech to the audience. The focus of this year’s summit was important deals and dealmakers in Bulgaria and the region, therefore he started off with an overview of the investment scene for the past years. Based on the latest Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) and its statistics for Bulgaria, the country ranks among the high-achievers in innovation efficiency and there is plenty of evidence that a strong science & technology base supports the creation of world-class new technology-based ventures. Mr Angelov reminded that capital for innovation and growth will treble over the next years, which is great news for entrepreneurship and investment, but also brings new challenges.

He noted that more competition is good for new deals but fund managers need to continue to be careful and selective in their investment decisions and to think regionally rather than simply locally. BlackPeak Capital’s Managing Partner, Rossen Ivanov, and Empower Capital’s CEO, Elvin Guri, presented their perspective at a panel entitled “Private Equity in SEE – Where are the Opportunities and What are the Challenges Ahead”. Mr Guri brought optimism into the discussion by pointing out the unique opportunities Eastern European member states such as Bulgaria and Romania offer for private equity investment compared to Western and Central Europe. Venture capital trends in the coming years as well as current state of the market discussed BVCA members Managing Partner at LAUNCHub Ventures; Ivaylo Simov, Partner at Eleven Ventures; and Yordan Zarev, Investment Manager at NEVEQ Capital Partners. Find out more about the key takeaways from the summit in an article by Capital in Bulgarian.