Three days, 54 hours, one goal – to learn what it takes to be an entrepreneur. This is what participants of Startup Weekend Varna are going to find out. From 30 May to 1 June, the sea capital of Bulgaria will host the Startup Weekend for a second year in a row. The long-weekend event will bring together developers, marketers, product managers and startup enthusiasts to exchange ideas, form teams, build products and launch startups.
Everyonewho has an idea or experience in the IT, marketing or other business, can participate. The event is open for subscriptions and you can apply on the website. If you have an interest in business or you just enjoy challenges, this is an event you don’t want to miss. The deadline for the registration is 30 May. This year, there are more foreign participants and, according to the organisers, more interest from venture funds. Also: “This year, a lot of companies from the IT sector will be part of the event and will fund the best ideas,” Zornitsa Doncheva from the organising team said.
Startup Weekends are all about learning through the act of creating. At first each participant chooses a project and a team in which to participate. Teams form organically around the top ideas, followed by a 54-hour frenzy of business model creation, coding, designing, and market validation. The weekend culminates with presentations in front of local entrepreneurial leaders – an opportunity for feedback. The best projects will be distinguished at the end of the event.
Attracting the most promising
Startup Weekend Varna aims to attract resourceful and ambitious young people who are willing to develop their business ideas using the latest methodologies. The model of the event presumes more interest from representatives of the IT industry, so the main idea of the promoters is to give a chance to smaller companies and individuals to show their capabilities.
The event also provides an opportunity to get some one-on-one time with the movers and shakers in the startup community. Participants will be able to rely on the guidance of Bulgarian professionals, external mentors and passionate leaders, who will assist them and provide guidance. Coaches from different sectors like Nikolay Mitev, founder of software development business BeLean, attorney Dimitar Vladikov or Zlatka Lecheva, project manager with 15 years of IT experience will help the participants fostering their ideas.. “Each of them is a great specialist at his sector and will do his best to help our entrepreneurs,” Zornitsa Doncheva from the organizing team said.
The entrepreneurial weekend in Varna is organized with the support of LAUNCHub, VoiVoda Ventures and the Eleven Startup Accelerator. The event organizers have also prepared an entrepreneurship training in June in order to prepare young entrepreneurs with already existing projects for meeting clients and implementing their ideas. Their expectations are high: They expect many interesting people and “more realized projects, [that are] attractive for investors. If the event is going to be successful like the last year, it is planned to organize it two times a year,” Zornitsa Doncheva said. They hope that one day, this could help Varna to become the European Youth Capital.
