Ten-week program unites science, start-ups, and investors to scale nature-positive solutions
On September 15 – Bulgaria’s official first day of school – SCION opened a new kind of classroom, announcing the start of the SCION Accelerator, Central and Eastern Europe’s first program for early-stage NatureTech and CleanTech founders. Backed by strategic partner Rezolv Energy Shift, the ten-week initiative brings together ten pioneering start-ups from Bulgaria and Romania with a global network of mentors, investors, and field experts to help them move from pilot projects to scalable, investable ventures.
Global venture funding for Nature Tech climbed 16% in 2024 to USD 2.13B, yet Central and Eastern Europe – home to some of the planet’s richest biodiversity – has barely begun investing in regenerative and nature-positive businesses.
SCION aims to close that gap by connecting the region’s scientific talent and entrepreneurial energy with the resources and mentorship needed to commercialize nature-positive innovation.
“Nature-tech founders face challenges SaaS entrepreneurs never encounter: prototypes tied to seasonal cycles, pilots dependent on farmers or conservation agencies, and impact metrics rooted in ecosystem health,” said Mirella Yordanova, SCION co-founder. “Our program gives them the structure, community, and investor access to turn breakthrough science into market-ready solutions.”
Mentors with Global Reach
SCION’s program begins with a deep dive into user evidence and design, led by systems-research veteran Soma Ray, whose two decades at Booking.com and IBM honed methods for bias-free, scalable product insights. Growth strategist Ben Sanders, a three-time C-suite leader who helped steer Worldpay through its IPO, follows with a masterclass in go-to-market strategy and fundraising. International pitch coach Ginny Radmall (known for training founders across Techstars, Google for Startups, and MassChallenge) equips teams to tell their stories with precision and impact.
They join an A-star mentorship team that includes Chris Coleridge, founder of Carbon13 and a Cambridge strategy professor who has helped launch more than sixty climate ventures; Jaïr Halevi, Head of Startups at Miro and veteran of over a thousand early-stage company scale-ups; and Michelle Egly, co-founder of Wildya and a product leader whose platforms have reached 44 million children worldwide.
Petar Petrov, one of Bulgaria’s first AI-adoption experts, Chief AI Officer at Eleven Ventures and a leading voice in the regional start-up ecosystem, joins the mentors together with his teammate Nikola Petrov. Together they are creating an AI overlayer for the accelerator, showing nature-driven founders how to weave artificial intelligence into daily operations, from research workflows to market analysis.
From Lab to Market
The inaugural cohort – Airlytics, Alt.Real, BioBliss, MASAP.EU, Nomadium Robotics, PLANET, Proon-Tech, SolarBlinds, Solmag, and Xylon X – will move through weekly modules on market validation, impact metrics, fundraising strategy, and regulatory navigation.
A dedicated “VC Day” pairs founders with top investors in an informal, pitch-free setting designed to foster long-term relationships.
SCION is founded by a team of global experts – Sasha Bezuhanova, Mirella Yordanova, Kamen Slavov, and Konstantina Voynova, who are united by the goal to help nature positive projects prosper and to cultivate an ecosystem.
By combining decades of scientific data, urgent need for restorative solutions, and world-class mentorship, SCION aims to transform Bulgaria and Romania from overlooked corners of Europe into exporters of climate technology.
If the first cohort succeeds, the seeds planted this autumn could grow into the next generation of global Nature Tech leaders.
About SCION
SCION is a CEE-based innovation platform advancing nature-tech solutions through investment, research, and community building. Its mission is to align science, innovation, and capital to make nature-positive impact measurable and investable.
Learn more at www.scion.earth.
