site.btaBNT Documentary Suggests How Bulgarian Innovators Can Rise to Global Challenges

The more innovative Europe is, the sooner it can outstrip its competitors: China and the United States. That is why the European Union is looking for technological and scientific geniuses, the Einsteins, Teslas and Maries Curie of the present day. Over a million selected individuals will be trained in the technologies of the future on the assumption that they will show very high levels of talent, and the EU will put at least EUR 10 billion in disruptive ideas of scientists in various European countries. How many of the potential great inventors are Bulgarian? And who can discover them?

Bulgarian National Television (BNT) explores the matter in the latest episode of its Sunday evening documentary series Europeans, supported financially by the EU.

Upgrading to the next level

"I do not think that Bulgaria has a bad image in Europe. No, the problem is that it has almost no image at all," European Startup Network (ESN) President Nicolas Brien says in the documentary. He notes that the ESN, described in the film as Europe's largest startup incubator, wants to bridge distances between countries.

Brien visited Bulgaria recently at the invitation of the Bulgarian Startup Association. His aim was to assess whether it is worth making a proposed EUR 24 million investment in Eastern Europe to support bold ideas.

"It is fascinating how good you Bulgarians are when it comes to technology," he says. "You have some of the best experts. World class. What you lack is ambition. It is a little frustrating that these remarkable specialists do not get to create startups." Therefore, Brien wants to prepare the ground for an ESN programme in Bulgaria to help local experts set up a company. "Not just some medium-level company. I want these people to succeed at the continental level. I want to save them time and money."

Brien's idea is to create a startup incubator here, a place where people with ideas can work together to boost the scale of their projects, BNT says. "That is pretty much what we want to tell our Bulgarian friends: set up your startup here in Bulgaria, it is a great country, it offers a lot of opportunity, but you should get to the next level. We do not need Bulgarians who make Bulgarian champions. We need Bulgarians who make European champions. People who reach French investors, get noticed in Germany, Britain, people who solve global challenges, not challenges within their own country," the guest says.

"We are one continent. We either fail together, or succeed together," Brien concludes.

Two ideas with potential

Dealing with the challenges of the century may sound too big, but some Bulgarians do think big, BNT says. For example, a mind-blowing 670,000 tonnes of food is wasted in Bulgaria every year. A young woman named Sisi has sounded the alarm and has actually done something about the issue.

"Restaurants in this country throw away a hundred million servings of perfectly eatable food annually. We have salvaged over 600 kg of food in less than a year and a half," Sisi says. She and her team have set up an online platform for restaurants and stores to report the food they have failed to sell on a given day. People can use the platform to buy food and thus salvage it while getting a delicious dinner.

The choice of restaurants and stores to work with is made after mystery customer visits to each place. Over 100 outlets have joined the network.

This "tasty" startup is not just about eating. More importantly, the people who use the platform to buy dinner are made aware that they are helping to address a global challenge.

The project has reached the EU level. It has received an EUR 50,000 investment from a Bulgarian facility supported by the European Regional Development Fund. "It is a stepping-stone for us," Sisi says. "It has definitely helped us enlarge our team by inviting young people to join us. In turn, we can serve as a stepping-stone for their future careers."

In the same part of the world, another idea is on its way to Level One and needs to be noticed by more people to become useful, BNT says. It is a video game like no other. It takes just a little of your precious time to help you develop quick reflexes, flexible thinking, teamwork skills and intuition. It encourages you to enter yourself rather than getting pulled into the game. "In other words, the game turns you to yourself," says its creator, a young man named Teodor, who has just graduated from the Technical University in Sofia.

The project recently entered its trial phase. The game lays emphasis on using one's left hand, which is usually the weaker of the two hands. With an eye to reducing environmental damage, Teodor has used an energy-saving game engine.

He is looking for his next stepping-stone. Europe supports such projects with a future. At least five facilities with budgets of billions of euro invest in novel ideas. Teodor is investing time in his own idea, and one day he may receive up to EUR 50,000 to develop it through. If he turns it into a small business, he may be supported with up to EUR 500,000 or even EUR 2.5 million, BNT says.