- The Bulgarian sales development agency for tech companies, Out2Bound announces its acquisition by MarketStar, a US-based pioneer of global outsourcing, in a deal of an undisclosed amount.
- Founded in 2016 by Teofil Shikov, Boris Georgiev, Zdravko Zdravkov and Dimitar Mitkov, Out2Bound has become a partner for tech companies from Southeast Europe that have ambitions to sell on the wider European and North American markets.
- It is expected that after the acquisition, the Bulgaria-based team will grow tenfold, reaching 350-400 employees.
To date, Out2Bound has worked with more than 300 technological companies from the UK, the Nordic countries, Germany, the US, and the SEE region – Bulgaria, Romania, and Serbia, in 30+ industries all across the world. Among their clients are Progress, Telelink, and Sirma Group, Modis.
As a sales development agency for tech companies, Out2Bound builds remote sales teams which execute outbound sales campaigns. This means that they seek and proactively engage with potential buyers on behalf of their clients via cold calls and emails, converting prospects into paying customers. Their services range from identifying their clients’ unique selling, building market intelligence strategies, and identifying and engaging with leads, to helping clients close high-ticket deals. The company specializes in top-of-funnel lead generation that helps clients improve sales development and customer acquisition.
“MarketStar’s faith in the region and strong emphasis on developing their European sales capabilities are attestant to what’s in front of us. We’re excited to open the door of the CEE region and provide more for customers and shareholders,” Teofil Shikov, co-founder and CEO of Out2Bound, highlights.
The global outsourcing company MarketStar has a track record of over 35 years as a B2B revenue acceleration agency, as a pioneer of the outsourced sales model in the B2B space. The company originated as a staffing agency for tech companies and expanded its offerings to partner enablement, direct inside sales and eventually into full-funnel revenue services. Currently, it has more than 1600 employees worldwide working from the US, Ireland, The Philippines, Australia, Spain, Mexico, and now Bulgaria.
The 6 years growth journey of Out2Bound
The idea for Out2Bound was born while Teofil Shikov was working as a sales executive for a tech company back in 2016. The insider experience allowed him to identify the gaps in the sales strategies and capacities of tech companies. Together with his three co-founders, he turned these gaps into business opportunities and launched Out2Bound.
“Something that started as a side hustle addressing a pain-point in the local market, to what is now a regional player in the sales development field with global ambitions. An idea that allowed us to achieve a lot in both professional and personal aspects, to learn from each other and reach new heights,” Shikov shares.
Six years later, Out2Bound has grown its team to 35 people. In addition, all four co-founders of the company have been named Forbes 30 under 30
The company has also been part of the Endeavor Dare to Scale growth program and is a member of The Bulgarian Association of Information Technologies (BAIT).
Helping the global growth of regional startups
The current management team of Out2Bound and all Bulgarian employees will continue working from Sofia, Bulgaria, while the company will assume the name MarketStar. The Sofia office is expected to be among the fastest-growing offices of the US company as the local team would expand tenfold in the next couple of years, reaching 350-400 employees. The Bulgarian team will keep working for the global growth of tech companies in the region, while also serving MarketStar’s existing customers.
Another future goal of MarketStar will be the development of the educational program founded by Out2Bound – SalesPro, which would be used for the training of new personnel. Launched as a training program in 2021, SalesPro is the first comprehensive online sales training program in Bulgaria.
After the acquisition, MarketStar now also possesses the software product for predictive and prescriptive sales of the Bulgarian agency, which will be used to streamline innovations in the services offered by MarketStar on a global level.
