Sofia Electric Brewing is the big winner of Demo Day – the final event of Endeavor’s growth program – Dare to Scale, which took place on 13 December 2022. Simeon Parvanov, the company’s founder, was awarded by the jury, who evaluated the participants’ performance on three criteria – what the company’s global growth potential is, how clearly defined the company’s strategic goals are, and how strong are the founder’s presentation skills are. The jury members include business leaders from various fields and industries: Asen Yagodin (Postbank), Kalin Radev (Software Group), Boyko Takov (BSMEPA), Miroslav Stoyanov (EBRD), Alexandra Mircheva (VM Finance Group).
Based on their overall performance in the program, the awarded companies include also:
• Appolica with the Straight-A Participant Award – for being the most active company at the workshops, events and sessions.
• C4 Nexus with Dare to Scale Ambassador – for the company that most actively reflects its participation in the program, shares its progress across channels and inspires the next cohort of entrepreneurs.
• Swipe.bg with Collaboration Champion – for a company that successfully used the opportunities of the program to scale its business
Dare to Scale is a four-month growth program of the international entrepreneurial network Endeavor, which supports advanced-stage startups. It took place for the fourth consecutive year and ran from September to December, with 20 entrepreneurs from 11 companies selected for this year’s cohort. They went through six workshops and individual mentoring sessions led by successful business leaders from the Endeavor network and consultants from PwC. The trainings covered topics where companies most often face challenges – organizational management, marketing, sales, business planning and capital raising. Admissions for the fifth edition of Dare to Scale are expected to open in the spring of 2023.
The program is implemented with the main partner Postbank and is supported by Software Group and the Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency (BSMEPA). This year, Endeavor partnered with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), with whose financial support the consultancy company PwC provided experts to assist the entrepreneurs. Partners and directors from PwC Bulgaria worked individually with all participants to help them with their experience and expertise in overcoming challenges and developing opportunities in their businesses. The program was also joined by an equity partner, Seedblink, which provided an additional opportunity for the participants to access funding. Partners of the Demo Day event are Enira Estate Winery, Sofia Electric Brewing, who are also a participant, and Trastena wines, whose founder – Olya Malinova – was a presenter at the event and was a finalist in a previous edition of the program.
