Once again this year, the Fund of Funds was among the main partners of the international conference Spinoff Bulgaria 2024. The event provided a two-day platform for the exchange of ideas and know-how in the field of technology transfer. This is one of the areas where we are focused in the new programming period and for which we are about to structure the "Technology Transfer Fund" FI, with aims to create a bridge for the commercialization of promising developments from the scientific community.

The event focused on thematic panels on entrepreneurship, innovation and investment in spinoff companies. Our CEO - Pavel Lisev moderated the panel "Funding the Future: Investor Insights into Spinoff Opportunities". He talked to Sven De Klein - Managing Director kickstart Fund & istart.nl Fund, Diane Nevin - CEO of Grit International Female Network, Sebastian Schenk from Verbund X Ventures, Henk Joos - General Manager of MEDVIA and Christoph Pompe - Venture Partner at Wippd Ventures about the development in Europe and trends in the field.

Pavel Lisev asked the experts about the impact of intellectual property agreements between universities and companies, the investment attractiveness and whether universities should invest in promoting entrepreneurship among teachers and students. In the discussion, experts shared views on building a unified technology transfer methodology within academic research centres and what is the best approach to commercialising prototypes. Topics such as the role of government support for funds that invest in local innovation; how Europe can innovate in HealthTech to be competitive with the US and Asia; what are the regulatory obstacles to more innovation in this field, etc. were also addressed.

Participation in Spinoff Bulgaria 2024 gave us another opportunity to declare our willingness to be an active supporter of the development of scientific innovation and technology transfer in the country. Together with a number of ministries, municipalities, professional associations and universities, the Fund of Funds also supports the long-term goal of the forum's organizers to create a favorable environment for the growth and realization of 100 spinoff companies by 2030. They will provide products and services with high added value and would be key to the modernization and innovation of the Bulgarian economy.

This year's conference took place on 20 and 21 June at Sofia Tech Park and provided interactive workshops on choosing financial instruments for scaling innovation, a venue for networking with investors and business leaders, as well as a number of panels on different aspects of entrepreneurship and investment in spinoffs in Bulgaria and Europe.