Since the mid-2010s, Bulgaria has seen a steady increase in the entrepreneurial activity. The county Bulgaria ranked 37th globally in 2024 and 41st in 2025, while remaining among the top startup ecosystems in Eastern Europe.
At the center of many of these developments stands BESCO — the Bulgarian Entrepreneurial Association, an organization advocating for better policies, stronger connections, and a more competitive environment for businesses.
Now entering a new phase of growth, BESCO is expanding its mission beyond Sofia and working to shape a long-term vision for Bulgaria’s innovation economy. Co-CEOs Alexander Nutsov and Mario Milev believe the country has reached a turning point; the foundations are in place, but the next step is scaling the ecosystem nationally and positioning Bulgaria as a regional innovation leader.
Now is the time for scaling
“If we imagine BESCO as a startup, we’re currently in the scaling phase,” says Milev. “Over the past eight years we focused on building solid foundations and defining who we are.”
The organization itself has evolved alongside the ecosystem. Originally founded as the Bulgarian Startup Association, it later transitioned into the Bulgarian Entrepreneurial Association, with a broader mission that includes both startups and more established companies.
In the last three years alone, BESCO’s community has expanded dramatically. Membership has grown from roughly 300 members representing around 50 companies to nearly 1,000 companies today. The organization’s team has also tripled in size, supported by a growing group of interns who contribute to its initiatives.
With this growth has come a new ambition: expanding the entrepreneurial ecosystem beyond the capital. Sofia hosts around 86% of the country’s startups, making it the primary innovation hub.
“We feel it’s time to be bold,” Nutsov explains. “We want to involve more people in our mission, expand regionally, and build new models that work for different parts of the country.”
Among BESCO’s newest initiatives is the Advocacy Academy, a program designed to train the next generation of policy advocates who can help shape Bulgaria’s business environment. But the organization’s goals extend even further. BESCO’s leadership hopes to spark a broader national conversation about the country’s economic future.
“We want to ask bigger questions,” Milev says. “Where do we want Bulgaria to be in five, ten, or fifteen years? And what steps do we need to take now to get there?”
Taking the ecosystem beyond Sofia
BESCO believes strong entrepreneurial communities exist across the country. The organization has begun focusing on cities such as Plovdiv and Stara Zagora, where local communities are already showing momentum.
“In Plovdiv we already have around 40 to 50 member companies supporting us,” Nutsov says. “Stara Zagora also has a very active entrepreneurial community.”
Partnerships with local organizations have helped strengthen these connections. Through events and collaborations, BESCO has been able to engage founders who are building businesses outside the capital.
“There are many talented entrepreneurs in these cities who are trying to develop great companies,” Nutsov says. “Our goal is to support them with knowledge, connections, and community.”
Still, regional founders face challenges that their counterparts in Sofia often do not. One of the biggest obstacles is the lack of a dense entrepreneurial environment. “In Sofia, founders constantly meet, exchange ideas, and collaborate,” Milev explains. “In other cities those communities are still developing.”
Access to funding has also historically been more limited outside the capital, although the situation is gradually improving as EU funding programs and venture capital funds increasingly look beyond Sofia.
A third challenge is the relationship between businesses and local authorities. “BESCO has always tried to act as a bridge between entrepreneurs and policymakers,” Milev says. “We want to connect founders outside Sofia to national initiatives and help address local challenges.”
Closing the funding gap
Bulgaria’s startup ecosystem has grown to a combined enterprise value of about €9 billion as of early 2025. Despite this growth, access to capital remains one of the most pressing issues for Bulgarian startups, particularly when companies begin to scale. According to Nutsov, the ecosystem faces two main funding gaps: early-stage angel investment and late-stage growth capital.
“At the early stage we need stronger incentives for angel investors,” he says. “We are working with the Ministry of Innovation and other stakeholders to create policies that encourage more private investment.”
At the other end of the spectrum lies the challenge of late-stage funding. While Bulgaria now has over 15 venture capital funds, large growth rounds remain difficult to secure.
One potential solution lies in reforming regulations that would allow pension funds to invest more easily in venture capital and alternative funds, unlocking a significant new source of capital. Nutsov emphasizes that this challenge is not unique to Bulgaria.
“This is a European issue,” he says. “Many ecosystems across the continent face the same late-stage funding gap.”
To address it, BESCO collaborates with several European organizations, including Allied for Startups, the European Startup Network, and the European Startup Nations Alliance, working together to advocate for policy changes across the EU.
What about tech transfer?
Another area where Bulgaria still has significant room to grow is the connection between universities and entrepreneurship.
“There is often a cultural gap between academia and business,” Nutsov explains. “Researchers may create innovations but not understand how to commercialize them, while companies may not know what universities are working on.”
Bridging that gap will require both cultural and structural changes, including stronger collaboration between universities and companies and clearer frameworks for technology transfer.
Milev points to successful models across CEE. In Greece, he explains, banks began supporting startups emerging from universities. What started as a small collaboration eventually expanded into a full innovation hub, complete with coworking spaces and dedicated funding. “Over time,” he says, “this developed into its own ecosystem within the ecosystem.”
He also explains that another challenge lies in the largely theoretical nature of university education. According to Milev, there is often a gap between what students learn from textbooks and what actually happens in the real business world. Making education more practical, he notes, would significantly help future entrepreneurs better prepare for building and scaling companies. He adds that BESCO is currently working with several universities in Bulgaria to introduce more practice-oriented learning models.
A vision for Bulgaria’s innovation future
The country already has many of the essential ingredients for a thriving startup ecosystem: over 1,000 active startups, a growing network of venture capital funds managing around €1 billion, accelerators and incubators, and an increasingly connected community of founders.
“We often say it takes a village to raise a child,” Nutsov says. “And in Bulgaria we now have a very well-connected village.”
Looking ahead, both point out that the ecosystem could see major growth in areas such as fintech, defense tech, health tech, AI, and enterprise software.
Yet for Bulgaria to truly capitalize on these opportunities, both Alex and Mario believe the country needs something more ambitious, a clear national vision for innovation and entrepreneurship.
“The reforms we’re talking about shouldn’t depend on a single government or political mandate,” Milev explains. “This needs to be a long-term national direction.”
On the question of how they get along as co-CEOs, both smile and share they started together at BESCO two years ago, and developed a strong friendship and a very good understanding between each other.
Mario tells me that “Alex focuses more on advocacy and working with government on policy change, while I focus more on business development and working with the community and the team.” But that’s just in theory, they explain. “In practice, everybody is hands-on and doing whatever we can to help.”
“We really love the game. We love the long hours, the pressure, and the fact that there is action all the time.”
