Ecosystem Radar

How EIF-backed capital helped build Bulgaria’s VC market

A new EIB story looks back at how EIF support under the JEREMIE programme helped launch Bulgaria’s first venture funds, including Sofia-based LAUNCHub and Eleven. The piece positions that early public backing as a key factor in Bulgaria’s rise as a regional VC hub.

©

FTS Insights official • For French Tech Sofia, the signal here is less about one standout startup and more about market formation. The article shows how a startup ecosystem becomes durable when it develops repeat fund managers, larger tickets, regional reach and the professional services around early-stage companies. Sofia’s relevance is no longer only founder-led; it is increasingly infrastructure-led.

Key Takeaways
  • Patient public capital helped create Bulgaria’s first generation of venture fund managers.
  • The market has moved from local seed scarcity to larger regional and deep tech investment activity.
  • Bulgaria now matters in southeastern Europe not just as a startup source, but as a venture platform.
  • Repeat fund formation and follow-on investment are key signs of ecosystem maturity.
Why this matters
  • It frames Bulgaria’s tech rise as a financing-market buildout, not only a sequence of startup success stories.
  • Sofia’s regional role grows when local fund managers can keep raising capital and investing across borders.
  • The article ties public anchor capital to private co-investment, ecosystem services and high-value jobs.
  • The JEREMIE extension to 2035 points to long-term policy continuity behind Bulgaria’s innovation finance model.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

March 19, 2026

How Bulgaria became a venture capital hub

by Matt Rees

Read coverage on European Investment Bank

Article Summary

The source describes a 14-year shift in Bulgaria’s startup financing market. In 2012, the EIF used Bulgaria’s JEREMIE allocation to seed the country’s first generation of venture capital managers, splitting €21 million between LAUNCHub (€9 million) and Eleven (€12 million).

According to the article, that first wave of backing helped create a market that previously did not exist. Both managers later raised new funds with continued EIF support, and the EIF approved further commitments to their latest funds in September 2025. The story argues that the bigger outcome was Sofia’s emergence as one of southeastern Europe’s venture capital centers.

The article also points to market depth beyond the first funds. It says nearly 500 of 1,245 startup investments in southeastern Europe over the past five years were made in Bulgaria. It highlights LAUNCHub’s €7 million investment round in Croatian startup SplxAI in 2025 and BrightCap’s €47.5 million second fund, focused on Bulgaria and Romania.

The wider point is institutional. The story links public anchor capital to follow-on private investment, stronger deal flow, higher-value jobs and lower brain drain. It also notes that the EIF and Bulgaria’s Ministry of Innovation and Growth extended the JEREMIE mandate until 2035 at the end of 2025.

Key Highlights

  • The story says Bulgaria’s VC market was effectively non-existent 15 years ago before EIF-backed support began.
  • JEREMIE provided €21 million in 2012 to launch the first funds: €9 million to LAUNCHub and €12 million to Eleven.
  • Almost 500 of 1,245 startup investments in southeastern Europe over the past five years were made in Bulgaria.
  • EIF approved further commitments to Eleven and LAUNCHub’s latest funds in September 2025.
  • At the end of 2025, the EIF and Bulgaria’s Ministry of Innovation and Growth extended the JEREMIE mandate until 2035.

Takeaway

This is a useful reminder that startup ecosystems are built through institutions as much as company wins. In Bulgaria’s case, venture capital now looks less like an experiment and more like part of the country’s economic infrastructure.

Read the full coverage on European Investment Bank(en)

About European Investment Bank

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the lending arm of the European Union. We are the world’s largest multilateral lender and the biggest provider of climate finance.

https://eib.org

European Investment Bank

They are mentioned in this publication

LAUNCHub Ventures

LAUNCHub is a leading early-stage venture capital fund focused on investing in startups in South-Eastern (SEE) and Central-Eastern (CEE) Europe.

Payhawk

AI-native spend management platform that orchestrates bills, cards, expenses, travel, and procurement for global teams. It gives finance teams control, automation, and savings through a connected workflow for business spending.

Dronamics

Dronamics offers an all-in-one solution for the middle-mile powered by our Black Swan cargo drone, a network of droneports, and fully mobile control and cargo systems.

Eleven Capital

Илевън Кепитъл АД е учреден в началото на 2019 г. с 10 милиона лева капитал и към средата на годината изкупува дялове в над 30 водещи стартъп компании.

Related Publications Continue reading

Vagabond Bulgaria's English Magazine / French ambassador Marie Dumoulin uses a new interview with Vagabond to describe Bulgaria through a diplomatic and cultural lens. Her remarks focus on Sofia’s energy, the country’s heritage, and the intensity of artistic and historical ties between France and Bulgaria.

Tech.eu / Quillon, a Sofia-built AI startup focused on technical accounting and financial reporting, has raised $1.5 million in pre-seed funding and rebranded from Acclara AI. The company is positioning its product around traceability for accountants working under audit and disclosure pressure.

SeeNews / Bulgarian cargo drone developer Dronamics has announced a formal step into Japan. The company is opening Dronamics Japan Holdings and said Asia Air Survey has become its first Japanese investor.