A total of 11 finalists across three categories were recognized in the fourth edition of the national competition "Best Youth Startup in Bulgaria – 2025," organized by the Fund of Funds and Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski."
The competition launched in December and brought together 260 individual participants and teams aged 18 to 29. Supported by over 50 partner organizations, the initiative offered an intensive three-month program featuring dozens of trainings, mentoring sessions, entrepreneurial games, and networking events. The participants competed across five stages under the guidance of Ivaylo Ivanov, Director for Central and Eastern Europe at Founder Institute. They also completed the Founder Institute's Entrepreneurial Aptitude Test. The competition was organized by Dr. Eng. Dochka Vassileva on behalf of the Fund of Funds.
For the first time, participants were able to apply their projects in three different categories: Business Stars brought together entrepreneurs with an idea or a small operational business focused on long-term regional or national growth. Future Unicorns included companies with technological and innovative ideas with potential for rapid growth in international markets. SDG Dragons featured projects with sustainable positive impact on society, cities, and the environment, oriented toward global solutions.
Thirty-four of the strongest projects made it to the finals across the three categories, and the major awards were presented to a total of 11 startups by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Atanas Georgiev – Dean of the Faculty of Economics at Sofia University, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Biser Petkov – Executive Director of the Fund of Funds.
In the Business Stars category, two teams shared third place: Errandix – a platform for hourly youth employment for ages 16 to 24, created by students from the 91st German Language High School and Immunodetox – healthy natural products. Second place was awarded to DigitalArtCulture – a digital art hub uniting audio-visual experts to support initial youth-driven art projects. The grand prize in Business Stars went to Obelisk Interactive – a platform for interactive group-based urban adventure games.
In the Future Unicorns category, third place was awarded to The Professor – an EdTech platform for university students. Second place went to 3D Open Design – a platform connecting clients with 3D farms. The grand prize in Future Unicorns was awarded to Solar Reviver – a team that developed a robot for autonomous cleaning of photovoltaic panels.
In the SDG Dragons category, third place was awarded to Intelecto – a STEM education platform for school students. Two second places were awarded to: ReKosh (an intelligent container for collecting plastic bottles) and RadioSuccess – a digital student podcast incubator. The grand prize in SDG Dragons was awarded to BioBliss – a project for converting organic waste into high-efficiency batteries as an affordable alternative to traditional energy sources. This idea was developed by girls from the Private English Language School "Prof. Ivan Apostolov" in Sofia.
Traditionally, the grand final of the "Best Youth Startup in Bulgaria – 2025" competition and the awards ceremony were held at the Aula Magna of Sofia University.
Part of the final event's program included a discussion panel with founders of successful companies from previous editions of the competition. The founders of BuddyGuard, FoodObox, and Mentor The Young shared their entrepreneurial journeys and discussed how the competition contributed to the development of their projects.
The discussion was moderated by Ivaylo Ivanov.
The event was opened by Martin Danovski – Deputy Minister of Innovation and Growth; Tanya Mihailova – Deputy Minister of Education and Science; Acad. Prof. Toni Spassov – Vice-Rector of Sofia University; Nikolay Genchev – Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Fund of Funds and Ivaylo Ivanov.
The mission of the "Best Youth Startup in Bulgaria" competition is to inspire and support young entrepreneurs in Bulgaria by providing a platform for the realization of their innovative ideas. Each year, the competition grows in the number of participants, partnering companies and organizations, and in the variety of its mentoring program, helping teams to develop their ideas and prepare for the finals.
This year, over 50 organizations from the startup, investment, entrepreneurial, and academic ecosystems in Bulgaria supported young people with ambitions to start their own businesses. They shared their expertise during the training sessions held from January to April and will continue to provide a supportive environment for the young entrepreneurs even after the competition's conclusion.
Here are the awards and prizes provided by the competition’s partners:
- Laptops were awarded to BioBliss, Solar Reviver, and Obelisk Interactive by the Fund of Funds;
- Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" awarded books and discount vouchers for the university’s publishing house to all finalists;
- Founder Institute will provide free participation in its accelerator program to The Professor;
- BioBliss will receive a business visit to Brussels from the European Commission;
- Sofia Municipality awarded certificates for innovative urban ideas to the startups ReKosh and BioBliss;
- The Bulgarian Stock Exchange awarded a prize of BGN 3,000 to BioBliss;
- The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences awarded encyclopedias to all participants with the message to rely on natural intelligence and only moderately on artificial intelligence;
- United Bulgarian Bank will provide mentorship from its management team and social media promotion for Errandix;
- Sofia Tech Park will provide six months of free access to coworking space, laboratory consultations, and photo sessions to several teams;
- GATE Institute will provide access to its expertise and computing resources to Solar Reviver;
- Cleantech Bulgaria Foundation awarded opportunities for participation in platforms and grants to all four teams in the ESG Dragons category;
- Junior Achievement will provide access to training sessions from EIT to all participants;
- Vitosha Venture Partners awarded mentorship and potential investment opportunities to The Professor and Errandix;
- Innovation Capital will provide mentorship to BioBliss and RadioSuccess;
- Morningside Hill Capital Management awarded BGN 500 to 3D Open Design and Solar Reviver;
- Silverline Capital will provide mentorship to ReKosh and Intelecto;
- The Investment Council at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry will support BioBliss, Immunodetox, and Solar Reviver with opportunities for entering foreign markets;
- The Innovation Council at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry will provide one-year membership and access to business contacts to Obelisk Interactive, The Professor, and BioBliss;
- Beyond pre-accelerator will provide mentorship to Immunodetox;
- Mentor The Young will provide mentorship to Errandix;
- The Bulgarian E-commerce Association awarded all participants with one year of free web hosting;
- The Health & Life Sciences Cluster and AI Cluster Bulgaria awarded participation in the Spinoff Europe Conference to 3D Open Design and BioBliss;
- New Bulgarian University awarded souvenirs to all finalists.
The Fund of Funds extends special thanks to the Faculty of Economics, the European Commission, the Founder Institute, and all 55 partner organizations for their active support of the youth competition and for providing numerous awards.
Special thanks also to all participants for the inspiration, motivation, and energy. Together, let's create the future you envision!
