BVCA on Tour London: gathers the Bulgarian diaspora around the world

The Bulgarian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA) continued its initiative entitled BVCA on Tour with its second edition in London.

On 4 October BVCA team and its members welcomed more than 150 guests at the Bulgarian Embassy in London. After a successful event in Vienna, the discussion about the start-up and investment ecosystem in Bulgaria and the CEE region continued. The panelists outlined the financing and entrepreneurship opportunities between Sofia and London.

For the second edition of BVCA on Tour the participants in the discussions were fund managers and entrepreneurs not only from Bulgaria but also foreigners with an interest in the country and CEE region. Compared to the first event in Vienna, BVCA on Tour London welcomed not only the Bulgarian diaspora but opened its doors for everyone who wants to find out more about the opportunities in the region.

The programme kicked off with an informative presentation by BVCA Chairman, Evgeny Angelov, who outlined the funding opportunities in Bulgaria, gave light in regard to future expectations for the ecosystem, and shared some of the success stories of the region.

BVCA on Tour London continued with two panel discussions followed by Q&A sessions with participants from the audience. Investors and start-ups shared interesting stories and tips regarding starting and financing a business in Bulgaria and the UK.

In the first panel, BVCA members together with foreign fund managers introduced interesting themes such as selection criteria for start-ups and businesses, the importance of mentorship, the advantages of the Bulgarian market and some of the successful stories within their portfolio companies.

The second panel gathered successful start-ups from different sectors, including fintech, manufacturing, healthcare, education, digital services, and more. Among the topics of discussion were the path to success – from idea to financing – as well as the role of the investor, the team work and geographic positioning.

Our panelists were:

Daniel Tomov, Eleven Ventures
George Northcott, Founders Factory
Ivailo Gospodinov, BlackPeak Capital
Julian Kaljuvee, Founders Capital
Todor Breshkov, LAUNCHub Ventures
Zlatolina Mukova, NEVEQ Capital Partners

Hristo Boyadzhiev, Despark
Maya Zlatanova, FindMeCure
Nikolay Piriankov, Taylor & Hart
Pierre-Simon Ntiruhungwa, Founders of the Future
Stoyan Angelov, Lockchain
Teodor Panayotov, Coursedot

BVCA on Tour aims to bring together entrepreneurs and investors interested in Bulgaria and the region in different capitals around the world.

The initiative started only this year and the interest is growing – the audience gathered guests from the public sphere, start-ups, investors, corporate and banking representatives, lawyer firms, as well as students and other enthusiasts part of the entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Next stop on the agenda is Berlin.

Find out more about BVCA on Tour in an interview of BVCA team and one of its members in Bloomberg Bulgaria.