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The Largest Funding Rounds in H1 2024 for Bulgaria: Dronamics & Nasekomo Lead the Way

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In the first half of 2024 the Bulgarian innovation ecosystem has witnessed a couple of exciting milestones, marked by a Series A round, multiple early-stage investments, and a few mergers and acquisitions (details of which we’ll share in the coming weeks). This progress has been driven by a blend of international, regional, and local investors. 

Leading the way is Dronamics, a cargo drone airline pioneering technology for cargo transportation, which recently received a grant from the EIC. This summer, they will begin commercial operations in Greece. 

In this article, we’ll delve into some of the biggest funding rounds that influenced the Bulgarian business landscape, spanning across various sectors, including fintech, SaaS, e-commerce, biotech, and agritech. If we are missing something, don’t hesitate and drop us a line at [email protected] 

 

June

  • Tiger Technology, a Bulgarian software company, has secured €2M in convertible loan. IMPETUS Capital has invested €400K, with the remaining funds provided by business angels.

Last round: Early VC

Investors: Endeavor Bulgaria, Bulgaria Innovation Hub, MFG Invest, ImPulse Growth, Stanimir Vassilev, Nedelcho Spasov, Lyubomir Minchev

Total funding: $5.2M

Founders: Alexander Lefterov

Vertical: SaaS

 

March

  • Bulgarian cargo airline Dronamics secured a €10M investment from the European Innovation Council.

Last round: Early VC

Investors: Eleven Ventures, Plug and Play, Bulgaria Innovation Hub, Speedinvest, Founders Factory, Strategic Investment Fund, European Innovation Council, Hardware.co Accelerator

Total funding: $56.8M

Founders: Konstantin Rangelov, Svilen Rangelov

Vertical: Aviation 

 

February

  • Digital insurance broker, Boleron, raised €1.6M euro in IPO on the BEAM growth market of the Sofia stock exchange.

Last round: IPO

Investors: Eleven Ventures, New Vision 3, MFG Invest, Digital SPV, Impetus Capital

Total funding: $2.9M

Founders: Alexander Tsvetkov, Desislava Tsvetkova, Dimitar Kolchakov, Simeon Kostov

Vertical: Insurance Tech

 

  • Digital identity and trust services provider, Evrotrust, secured a €3.3M investment. The round was led by Silverline Capital. 

Last round: Convertible

Investors: Bulgaria Innovation Hub, MMC Capital Communications & Information Fund, Silverline Capital

Read more:  .lumen Secures €4M Funding, Launches New Round on SeedBlink to Revolutionize Mobility for the Blind

Total funding: $6.4M

Founders: George Dimitrov, Konstantin Bezuhanov

Vertical: Fintech

 

  • Smart Farm Robotix, a fully autonomous solar-powered lightweight weeding robot, secured €2.36M in funding from the European Innovation Council (EIC).

Last round: Early VC

Investors: EIC Fund, European Innovation Council

Total funding: $2.6M

Founders: Rosen Kolev, Stefan Stoychev, Veselin Georgiev

Vertical: Agritech

 

January

  • Biotech scale-up, Nasekomo, raised €8M. The round was led by private equity fund Invenio Partners and joined by high-net-worth individuals. 

Last round: Series A

Investors: Invenio Partners Chivas Venture European Commission, New Vision 3, Morningside Hill, EIT Food

Total funding: $24.6M

Founders: Marc Bolard, Olga Marcenac, Xavier Marcenac

Vertical: Biotech

 

  • Swipe.bg, a company specializing in the buying and selling of used smartphones, secured €1.4M in support from Vitosha Venture Partners and NV3.

Last round: Seed

Investors: New Vision 3, Vitosha Venture Partners, SeedBlink

Total funding: $1.3M

Founders: Mihail Dimitrov

Vertical: E-commerce

 

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https://therecursive.com/author/teodoraatanasova/

Teodora Atanasova is a News Editor at The Recursive. She covers everything around funding rounds, exits, startups expanding to international markets, big tech opening R&D in CEE, meaningful for the ecosystem partnerships.