How Does Endeavor Bulgaria and BIH Partner to Help Bulgarian Startups Reach the Global Markets
Endeavor Bulgaria is the local chapter of the leading global community of high-impact entrepreneurs. Established in 2015, the organization is aiming to achieve a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem of those who dream bigger, scale faster, and pay it forward. In the beginning, the organization had 6 Founding Board Members, now more than 100 members, and has helped over 50 companies through its programs.
The three programs Endeavor Bulgaria conducts are the organization’s Global Program, Dare to Scale Growth Program, and Endeavor Regional Support Program. Endeavor Bulgaria has been managed by Momchil Vassilev for the past six years. “Our goal is to impact the community and make Bulgaria a better place to live. And the way to do so is by driving the economic growth of the country. We also want to provide a platform for successful people to pay it forward for the ecosystem,” Momchil highlights.
Bulgaria Innovation Hub shares a similar mission to Endeavor Bulgaria. We want to see founders and entrepreneurs from our country have easier access to the international markets. This makes the collaboration between the two organizations a very natural move.
Building a bridge between Bulgaria and the USA
“What BIH provides for the local ecosystem is very valuable. They help Bulgarian entrepreneurs from Bulgaria, and the region, in scaling their business to the global markets. By establishing great connections with key players on the West Coast, and involving the Bulgarian diaspora across the Atlantic, they shine a light on the local ecosystem,” Momchil highlights.
BIH’s 3-week acceleration program aims to provide Bulgarian startup founders and entrepreneurs with getting to know the US market, and building meaningful relations with key players in the USA. Through the 3-week program, they’re provided with workshops led by Silicon Valley mentors and experts, the founders will gain mentorship and networking opportunities and a chance to collaborate with the alumni and each other. Momchil shares that often he encourages participants in Endeavor Bulgaria’s programs to take part in BIH’s initiatives, if they want to expand their services across the Atlantic.
Supporting the growth of BIH
Endeavor Bulgaria provides organizational support by sharing their experience of building community and developing meaningful relationships with founders. “We see the potential, and the need of an organization such as BIH, so we helped with their go-to-market strategy, with building organizational capacity, establishing board relations, and fundraising,” Vassilev highlights.
As Momchil mentioned earlier, they encourage Bulgarian companies wanting to expand their operations in the US to take part in BIH’s program. “It’s a two-way street of collaboration. Bulgaria Innovation Hub, and especially Pavlina, were very helpful in making Vince Gaydardzhiev part of the Endeavor family. Not only that, but he is very supportive of the growth of our local ecosystem by sharing what he learned through the years,” Momchil explains.
In the future, he sees BIH grow and expand into different locations, basically serving the role of Bulgarian entrepreneurial embassy across the globe.
Success abroad
Both BIH and Endeavor Bulgaria have a similar vision - seeing startups from our local ecosystem grow and expand on the international level. Through its programs Endeavor aims to help scale-ups with mentorship and networking to support them become globally competitive, growth-oriented, and resilient businesses.
“I believe there are a lot of great companies in Bulgaria, and what they need to expand to the US is to have more confidence in their products and the problems they solve. The second thing entrepreneurs have to take into consideration is the knowledge of the market on the West Coast. And the best way to gain such is by developing a great network of professionals with a proven track record over there,” Momchil highlights.
Bulgaria’s top companies
Endeavor Bulgaria has very strict and precise criteria to select the companies taking part in their programs. They’re provided into 2 sectors with 3 main qualities each startup needs to have. The first one is dedicated to the business side, and the second one is about the people behind the company.
“What we look for on the business side is for the idea to be scalable. We want to see a market validation of the product or support from institutional investors, and finally, the business has to be at a turning point in its development. This is the moment where advice and insights from our mentors are of the utmost importance,” Vassilev shares.
“As entrepreneurs are the main driving force of our organization, we take into account the founders and their attitude when evaluating the companies who want to take part in our programs,” Vassilev explains. The three qualities a founder should possess to be part of Endeavor Bulgaria’s programs are ambition to develop on the international stage, eagerness to learn, and to be open to receiving constructive feedback.