For the first time in Bulgaria the qualification for the Startup World Cup 2019 was held. The competition took place in Varna on October 18 and 19, during one of the largest conferences on innovation and technology in Southeast Europe Innowave Summit 2019 and attracted over 2000 candidates. The event was being organized with the support of Startup Europe (an initiative of the European Commission) and the Ministry of Economy, in partnership with Varna Municipality.
The event is focused mainly on digitalization of business and the public sector. The main accent is put on innovations in the fields of marketing, sales, e-commerce and all the other sectors. and in particular on speeding up the digital transformation of the Bulgarian economy, strengthening the partnerships in Central, Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans, and also the partnerships with European and global digital pioneers and leaders.
The 2019 Innowave Summit Forum in Varna garnered over 4,000 visitors in the two days. Lecturers were distinguished specialists in marketing, e-commerce and blockchain from the USA, Canada, UK, Luxembourg, Romania, Poland, Spain, Bulgaria.
As a final result, Innowave Summit 2019 together with the European Commission and Startup Europe will select and promote the 300 European projects with the best prospects for development and 20 European ScaleUps best prospects before them.
The competition jury of the Startup World Cup 2019 in Varna included speakers, representatives of global investment funds, business angels (private investors, people with experience and funds investing in non-public, mostly start-up companies) and investors from all over the world.
The winner of the Bulgarian edition, Colibra and other startups from Europe, will have a unique chance to compete for a prize pool of $ 1,000,000. Their businesses will be presented in Silicon Valley in front of Steve Wozniak, Reed Hoffman and a number of successful investors from the whole world. The finale will be held in San Francisco on May 22, 2020.
