Today, 23 July 2019, at the office of the Fund of Funds (FoF), a public meeting took place at which the proposals received in the tender for the award of a public procurement contract for the implementation of the financial instrument Accelerator and Seed Capital Fund II were opened.

The Fund is financed by Operational Programme Innovation and Competitiveness (OPIC) 2014—2020 and co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund.

The Accelerator and Seed Capital Fund II will manage BGN 35.6 mln. — an amount expected to be complemented by at least 10 % in private equity.

The instrument is essentially an accelerator programme providing equity financing to start-ups at the earliest stage in their development, along with a dedicated portfolio for more advanced start-ups. Within the framework of the programme applicants will have access to business angels who will share their experience and contacts and provide practical guidance on the development of individual projects. Training, administrative, accounting, legal and other services or activities may also be provided to participating companies as needed.

The most important criterion for the selection of fund managers is experience in investment at the early stage of company development. This includes the ability to identify and appraise sound business ideas and invest in their future development with a view to ensuring that they become commercially viable.

Another important element is teamwork and the ability to put in place a sound organisational structure and control systems that conform to the requirements laid down in EU Regulations on the management of European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF).

The selected fund manager is expected to finance at least 76 enterprises with individual investment in the range of BGN 30,000 up to BGN 2 mln.

The applicants who submitted proposals within the time period specified are:

1. Vitosha Venture Partners Consortium and the following lead figures: Marin Iliev; Maris Pree, Eric Nickolas, Paul Anderson, Johannes Paul Weinberger, Maxim Gurwitz, Nikola Milkov Stoyanov;
2. Fairpat Venture Fund Consortium and the following lead figures: Bjorn Pirwitz, Yavor Vasilev, Zornitsa Yordanova, Steven Greg Kyle, Alexander Aldev, Mathew Bender.

A review and evaluation of the tenders received in the call will shortly be conducted on the basis of which a financial manager will be selected and a green light given to increasing the number of accelerator and seed capital funds supported by the FoF to a total of three. Neveq Management with a total portfolio of BGN 53.4 mln. and Innovation Accelerator Bulgaria AD with a total portfolio of BGN 30.5 mln. have already launched calls for project proposals in the market.