Competition History
Together we turn ideas into reality
The national competition “Best Youth Startup in Bulgaria” is organized by the Fund of Funds and Sofia University “Sv. Kliment Ohridski”. It is held under the patronage of the Minister of Innovation and Growth.
The competition is the most significant initiative to support youth entrepreneurship in Bulgaria and a sure springboard for young people to make their ideas for their own business come true. The competition aims to raise the entrepreneurial culture of young people, inform about funding opportunities and provide support for the best start-ups. To this end, all participants get access to a free training programme on skills in idea generation and development, business planning, marketing, pitching to investors and more.
Since the first edition in 2022, more than 750 participants from 50 Bulgarian universities and schools, including students from the UK, Niederandia, Germany, Austria, USA, etc., have been trained in the competition. Dozens of projects have been supported with mentoring and contacts with potential partners, and eight have attracted equity investment from partner investment funds.
The competition over the years
“Best Youth Startup in Bulgaria” has in its history over 80 training sessions, trainings and mentoring meetings. They are led by experts from the competition organisers and experts from all 60+ partner organisations in the entrepreneurial, academic and scientific communities.
The competition started with 10 partners and 25 business ideas from teams and individual participants. Today, “Best Youth Startup in Bulgaria” calls virtually the entire entrepreneurial and investment ecosystem in the country.