The program evolves from Bulgaria Innovation Hub, leveraging a world-class mentor network to propel Central and Eastern European startups onto the global stage
Future Unicorns Accelerator, born from the success of Bulgaria Innovation Hub, announced the official launch of its expanded program targeting high-potential startups from across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), that are looking to expand to the US. The accelerator led by Pavlina Yanakieva boasts an unparalleled roster of mentors from the Silicon Valley VC elite, including partners from Sequoia Capital, Greylock, USVC, and 300+ other successful founders and investors, who believe CEE has the potential to become a major source of future tech unicorns.
Bridging the Gap with World-Class Mentorship
At the heart of Future Unicorns Accelerator is its exceptional mentor network, featuring some of the most accomplished figures in tech, many of which come from CEE’s diaspora, including:
- Bogomil Balkansky, Partner at Sequoia Capital: With over 25 years in Silicon Valley, Balkansky has become one of the most influential figures in the US VC industry. His impressive track record includes growing VMware’s product line revenue tenfold and serving as vice president at Google. Balkansky co-founded Bulgaria Innovation Hub in 2019, creating a vital bridge between Bulgaria and Silicon Valley.
- Galina Antova, Co-founder of Claroty: A cybersecurity entrepreneur and board director, Antova co-founded Claroty, a pre-IPO company that has raised $740M and serves many Fortune 1000 companies. Her experience as Global Head of Industrial Security Services at Siemens brings invaluable industry insights to the program.
- Sim Simeonov, Serial Entrepreneur and Investor: With successful exits from six out of seven companies he’s launched, Simeonov brings vast startup experience to the table. His expertise spans from early-stage startups to unicorn companies, including roles at General Catalyst Partners and Polaris Venture Partners.
- Rika Nakazawa, Group Vice President at NTT: An accomplished tech leader, VC investor, and best-selling author, Nakazawa coordinates co-innovation practices for emerging technologies. She’s had a variety of international senior executives roles in strategy, business development, consulting, and marketing with Fortune 500 companies – Accenture, NVIDIA, Capgemini, Sony – and Silicon Valley startups.
- Jerry Chen: One of the very first supporters of the program, he became a General Partner at Greylock in 2013, and backs founders with a strong product and operational sense across a range of sectors including AI, data, business applications, cloud infrastructure, and open source technologies. He is particularly adept at advising on finding product market fit and go-to-market strategies.
- Mike Donohue, SVP of Global Sales at Gupshup: With over 10 years of experience in VP+ roles within marketing technology, fintech, and SaaS in companies like PayPal and Leanplum, he currently leads a team of global sales and GTM professionals who are responsible for driving revenue growth and customer satisfaction across 30+ messaging channels and 45+ countries worldwide
- Tytus Cytowski, Founder of Cytowski & Partners: A distinguished technology lawyer, Cytowski offers crucial legal insights to help CEE founders avoid common pitfalls and set their startups on the path to unicorn status.
- George Roth: As a seasoned entrepreneur, formerly part of the UiPath mafia, and Honorary Consul of Romania in the Bay Area, George Roth has been at the forefront of guiding startups towards their path to global success for over 20 years.
Other mentors in the program include Dafina Toncheva, General Partner @ U.S. Venture Partners; Anton Lenke, Global Head of Growth, AI Software at Hewlett Packard Enterprise; Masha Ioveva, Director of Product Design at Meta; Villi Iltchev, Partner and Managing Director at Two Sigma Ventures; Delian Asparouhov, Co-Founder, President, and Chairman of Varda Space Industries. While the accelerator boosts a unique network in the US, it’s also well-represented locally in CEE with serial entrepreneurs and investors like Pressian Karakostov and Ivan Dimov, part of the board.
Addressing Critical Challenges
Future Unicorns Accelerator aims to solve key problems facing CEE startups:
- Limited Global Ambition: “My observation is that Balkan founders are relatively scared to dream big compared to US founders,” says Galina Antova. The program pushes founders to think bigger and bolder.
- Lack of Go-to-Market Expertise: While CEE excels in technical innovation, there’s often a gap in product innovation and global marketing strategies. George Roth, UiPath mafia and now CTO of Recognos, notes: “There are two types of innovation. There’s technological innovation, which Romanians and Bulgarians are very good at because the schools are good in this respect. And then there’s product design innovation, where we’ve got a gap in the system in Europe.”
- Limited Access to Global Networks: The program’s Silicon Valley VC ecosystem immersion and unique access to US customers, investors, and partners open doors that would otherwise remain closed to CEE founders. As Roth emphasizes, “These trips are not tourism, they’re about learning to network, a crucial aspect for a startup founder looking to scale.”
- Investor Readiness: Sim Simeonov emphasizes the importance of understanding investor perspectives: “Smart startups use this knowledge to raise more money earlier and at higher valuations.” He adds, “You need to be aiming not for a minimum viable product (MVP) but minimum viable excellence (MVE). You need to stand out, be a far outlier in the distribution of an investor’s deal flow. Growing 100% Y/Y is not good enough if an investor regularly sees companies growing 200+%”
The Impact: Transforming Mindsets and Businesses
Across 9 cohorts under the Bulgaria Innovation Hub brand, the program has already helped 61 companies scale to the US market and collectively raise more than $150 million. Portfolio founders attest to its transformative impact:
Stefan Ivanov, co-founder and CRO of Ampeco, shares: “The biggest benefit from the program was to teach us how to think more ambitiously and gave us the confidence to see that it’s possible.”
Boyan Ivanov, co-founder and CEO at StorPool, adds: “Some of the mentors were very provocative and they challenged our own assumptions. This had a tremendous impact on the way we started to think about ourselves and the company.”
Miroslav Miroslavov, co-founder and CEO of OfficeRnD, notes: “When we started OfficeRnD, we had leading software development teams but we didn’t have a lot of business acumen. By participating in such a program, we gained valuable experience in developing business and working with more experienced people.”
Casius Morea, Founder and CEO of EmailTree.ai, strongly recommends following the program “as early as possible in your startup’s journey. With valuable learnings, insights, and things to do or not to do in your journey.”
The Vision: CEE as the Next Tech Powerhouse
Future Unicorns Accelerator is not just accelerating companies; it’s catalyzing an entire ecosystem. Rika Nakazawa explains the region’s growing appeal: “There are some key ingredients – first of all, some of the exits that have been happening over the past few years in the region of unicorns. The early successes have fostered more opportunities in the region, which becomes a flywheel effect.”
Bogomil Balkansky adds, “The awareness of our region started changing in a major way after the emergence and the huge success of UiPath. When investors evaluate opportunities, they don’t start with ‘Oh, where’s the region?’. They always start with ‘Can this be a big company?'”
By leveraging the expertise of its world-class mentors and addressing key challenges facing CEE startups, Future Unicorns Accelerator is positioning the region to become a major player in the global tech scene. As Balkansky puts it, “Honestly, VC companies are just looking for compelling investment opportunities. And the majority of investors are pretty indiscriminate when it comes to where these opportunities come from.”
The accelerator is now accepting applications from CEE-based startups ready to scale their operations to the US market. Interested founders can apply by February 14, 2025 at https://www.futureunicorns.io/
