Thinking about some of the largest startup hubs in Europe, Bulgaria will probably not be the first name to come to mind. Perhaps not even the second or the third. Its startup scene, however, is not be underestimated; it has been developing quietly in the past couple of years, and is now gradually emerging from under the radar.
Most recently, Bulgarian startup iMediaShare – an app that allows users to watch internet videos on their TVs for free – reached over 150,000 downloads in a day after it was featured by Amazon in its app store, as was reported by GoalEurope. But iMediaShare is not an exception.
Apply now: Eleven
“More and more young people realise and embrace the opportunity to start their own company,” said Dilyan Dimitrov, partner at the accelerator venture fund Eleven based in Sofia in an interview. The accelerator venture fund is currently looking for innovative early-stage startups to participate in its accelerator programme. Founded in April last year and co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund and Bulgarian state, the accelerator was selected to manage a 12 million euros acceleration and seed fund to make around 200 investments in startups from the region.
Eleven provide 50.000 for proof of concept duringa 3+3 month acceleration programme in Sofia with the chance to get up to 150.000 euros of follow-on seed investment. Powered by Springboard, the leading European startup accelerator, Eleven promises the participating teams support through business insight and technical expertise from mentors, including Googlers.
With the programme, Eleven target regional startups with a global outlook and believe that their location “on the edge of western and eastern civilisation, modern technologies and ancient traditions, hackers and survivors” is “where life still has a taste.” Sound like your thing? You have until Sunday, 3 February 23:59 EET to apply.
Find more information on their website: http://eleven.bg/
