Bulgarian Scale-Up Nasekomo Raises €8M Series A To Fuel Robotized Insect Bioconversion Expansion
Only have 1 minute, here are 3 key takeaways: Bulgarian-based biotech scale-up Nasekomo raised €8M Series […]
Next on The Recursive podcast, we welcome Xavier Macenac, a seasoned French businessman whose entrepreneurial journey is deeply intertwined with the fast development of the Bulgarian post-communist economy.
Xavier Marcenac first came to Bulgaria in the early 90s. One of his early jobs back then was doing audits and consulting at PwC, as the country was opening up for foreign investors.
A graduated IT engineer and with an MBA degree from INSEAD, Xavier moved on to manage international companies in Europe. But in the early 2000s, he came back to start one of the first BPO companies in Bulgaria.
“My wife told me I am mad because all the Bulgarians were leaving the country and I came back to start a business”, he shares in the podcast episode.
The BPO sector later became one of the fastest-growing branches of the Bulgarian economy and a focal point for attracting young talent from the country and abroad. Marcenac managed to grow his company Call Point to a leader in Europe. It currently employs close to 5000 people, mostly based in Bulgaria and Romania and it is owned by Canadian TELUS International.
In his conversation with Irina, Xavier shares why selling his business was one of his hardest decisions as a manager, but how he also still keeps a close relationship with the team.
He and his life partner Olga Marcenac started their new venture in the promising biotechnology sector. Together they co-founded Nasekomo, a startup converting organic waste into high-value animal protein through the use of insects.
Xavier talks about their dynamic as a duo and how they made it work to build a business together. You’ll also learn what is special about black soldier flies and why it is so beneficial for animals to eat protein, sourced from these insects.
Watch the previous episode to learn why the co-founder of AI-assisted platform for digital transformation FLOWX.AI Ioan Iacob believes that successful leaders are not ego-driven.
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