BeamUP lab vol. 2: The evolution of the growth program for Bulgarian companies

UniCredit Bulbank AD
Fri, 17/12/2021

Strong focus on the growth and development of high potential companies                                                                                                                                                                             

The beamUP lab was launched at the end of 2020 as a program aimed at promoting the growth and development of start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises in Bulgaria. The program sponsored by the Bulgarian Stock Exchange in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance, the Bulgarian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Bulgarian Start-up Association was originally designed as a one-year highly competitive initiative that would sift out 20 of the most promising companies on the market and boost their growth through a series of events dedicated to financing opportunities and best business practices. The program was completed during 2021 achieving remarkable success and, hence, the organizers readily launched a second edition in November 2021.

The beamUP lab vol. 2 has increased in size with 2 new companies and now brings together 22 Bulgarian startups and SMEs with a proven business track record that can successfully use the program’s numerous resources. The second edition of beamUP lab has put the emphasis on companies from the technology sector whose main activity concerns software development, data analysis, agricultural technology, financial technology, media monitoring and
e-commerce. Organic production is another industry that the current selection specially leverages on.

More than half of the participant companies have gone through a one round of raising venture capital successfully and have, until now, attracted BGN 70 million in total. In line with the strategy of the program, the average revenue of companies is as much as BGN 1.5 million but the growth in their revenue was more than 70% during the past three years. It is important to note that more than 50% of the companies achieved growth even during the pandemic 2020, which underpins their outstanding performance and potential for development.

With the launching of the second edition of beamUP lab, the Bulgarian Stock Exchange and its partnering institutions reaffirmed their commitment towards supporting Bulgarian companies with exploring financing solutions, accumulating entrepreneurial knowledge and collaborating in order to achieve a sustainable management model in the global business ecosystem.