Update: July 2024

Bulgaria ranked #2 in Southeast Europe by combined enterprise value per capita according to Dealroom data, with Croatia taking the top spot in 2022. In the same year, Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece together accounted for over 70% of the SEE ecosystem enterprise value. 

In 2023, Bulgaria introduced the Variable Capital Company (VCC), which enables entrepreneurs to retain more control and positively impact the local economy. This initiative is part of a broader regulatory framework aimed at creating a favourable business environment for innovative enterprises.

In 2024, Bulgaria has become home to over 370 global companies, and a significant €1B has been invested in Bulgarian and Bulgarian-founded deep tech & AI startups, as highlighted in The Recursive’s report “State of AI Innovation in CEE”.

Bulgaria’s startup scene saw an increase in 2024 and jumped one spot from the previous year, outranking Colombia.

Overview

Over the past decade, Bulgaria has managed to build a thriving startup ecosystem by slowly gaining the expertise, the people, and the skills to become one of the key players in the European startup scene.

According to Crunchbase, there are currently 346 different startups in Bulgaria, which have collectively seen over 587 rounds of funding and $225.2M in investment.

Some of the advantages that Bulgarian companies have over those starting in other markets include a strong outsourcing economy with a solid IT background,  launching and operating a company is fast and inexpensive, business-friendly tax rates (the lowest corporate tax in EU – 10% flat), and developed digital infrastructure. 

Fintech is a particularly strong area for the country, with Sofia being ranked by fDi as the most cost-effective fintech city worldwide for 2019/20. In 2015, Forbes magazine ranked Sofia in the top 10 cities around the world to launch a start-up. In 2017, Bulgaria became the second most innovative upper-middle-income country in the world, the most innovation-efficient country, and the top innovation achiever in Southeastern Europe (SEE), according to the Global Innovation Index 2017 and the Southeast Europe – Fintech and Innovations 2018 report by Seenews.

While Covid-19 was a hindrance in many aspects of our work, the funds, in fact, managed to increase their investment and divestment pace.

Evgeny Angelov, Chairman at BVCA

Bulgaria’s Country Code Top-Level Domain

The domain name .bg is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) in the Domain Name System of the Internet for Bulgaria. It is currently operated by Register.BG. BG domain names can be registered by people and companies in the European Union. Registration is also available for entities outside the European Union, but they must use an authorised person/entity located in the EU. It is important to note that the ability to hide registrant data (WHOIS privacy) is not available for .bg domain registrations. The registrant data can be checked at the site of the global .bg registry, Register.BG. For organisations, all registrant data is disclosed – name, address, phone, email address. For individuals, only the name is disclosed. There are currently 30,559 .bg registered domains with 24,533 active websites.

The extension is mostly used by local businesses or businesses targeting local audiences – global brands like Nike, Chanel, etc., have secured their local presence with the .bg extension. It can also be used in a creative way – Remove.bg is an interesting example of a foreign company that has chosen to use the local .bg extension as a descriptive domain extension to their brand name (Remove Background). The company is based in Austria and has developed a great tool to remove image backgrounds automatically in 5 seconds with just one click, they got acquired by Canva and you can now use the functionality as part of the services offered by Canva for creatives.

We have curated a list of 123 cool Bulgarian companies and startups to follow, such as:

Namepicks

Walltopia

Founded in 1998 in Bulgaria, Walltopia creates climbing walls with different designs for indoor and outdoor use. The company handles everything from the initial design to building, maintaining, and inspecting the walls.

Walltopia employs the industry’s most engineers, designers, and full-time technicians. Their in-house research and development team keeps them ahead with the latest designs and technologies.

The company has built and installed over 2,000 projects in more than 80 countries on six continents. Some of their well-known clients include National Geographic, DreamWorks, and Cirque du Soleil.

The name “Walltopia” combines “wall” and “utopia”, reflecting the brand’s mission to deliver ideal climbing experiences through innovative design and top-quality construction.

You can see Walltopia means business by looking at their domain name choices – the brand has secured Walltopia.com, an Exact Brand Match name with the global .com extension.

Brain Foods 

Brain Foods is a vegan brand that offers healthy snacks and alternatives. The mission of Brain Foods is to be a part of the global movement to limit the use of animal products in the creation of food and beverages and to stop the exploitation of animals in all chains of their production.

 As Vegans and people from the food industry, we always wanted to do some special products for the vegan category. After deep research, we found nishe in the brain foods snacking. We believe in the benefits of the plant-based eating and we wanted to create a brand which will promote this healthy lifestyle and be useful for people to find alternatives to their favorite snacks that are good for the body and the brain, as well as tasty. That’s how we created Brain Foods.”

Brain Food website

The company has secured its Exact Brand Match (EBM) .com domain BrainFood.com along with BrainFood.bio and BrainFood.bg. Domain names are strategic brand assets that can directly affect a brand’s success if used correctly. Most experienced entrepreneurs know that and invest in securing possible typos of their main domain name, different country extensions and domains for specific marketing campaigns, products or sub-brands.

Sopharma 

In 1933, the Bulgarian pharmaceutical industry began in Sofia with the creation of the first pharmaceutical manufacturing lab, marking the inception of Sopharma. By 1942, this lab had grown into the “Galenus” plant, the first modern pharmaceutical factory in the Balkans. After nationalisation in 1953, it became the Chemical-Pharmaceutical Plant, which evolved into Sopharma.

Now, Sopharma PLC is one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in Bulgaria, known for manufacturing high-quality medicines, maintaining modern business ethics, and demonstrating social responsibility. The company has invested in the EBM domain Sopharma.com and also owns the country domain extensions Sopharma.bg and Sopharmagroup.com.

Most successful global brands use the power of domains and maintain portfolios of names that serve different purposes – to protect their brand, as part of marketing campaigns, sub-brands or products, to appeal to specific audiences and many others.

Payhawk

Founded in 2018, Payhawk has established itself as a premier spend management solution for businesses across Europe, the US, and the UK. In 2022, following a successful string of investment rounds, Payhawk became the first Bulgarian company to achieve unicorn status. The company serves businesses in 30 countries across a variety of industries, currencies, and payment methods.

The company initially launched on the Payhawk.io domain but later upgraded to its exact brand match (EBM) domain, Payhawk.com. While .io is a popular choice among startups, it has faced controversies regarding who benefits from the sales of .io domains. EBMs are the preferred choice among fintech companies as they are perceived as the most credible and trustworthy. 

Acquiring Payhawk.com was a significant step in establishing the company’s credibility and trust among potential clients. The shift to a .com domain also aids in brand protection, deterring others from using similar domain names, which is important for preventing market confusion and protecting the company’s intellectual property.

DEMOBAZA 

DEMOBAZA is a Bulgarian brand founded in 2007 by Dimitar Sulev and Teodora Alexandrova. Known for its sci-fi-inspired designs, DEMOBAZA offers a “luxury underground reconstructed futuristic uniform.” Their distinctive clothing was featured in the movie “Dune” and appeals to artists, musicians, and creatives seeking provocative fashion.

The brand’s creativity results from blending raw, reconstructed styles with futuristic minimalism. Each collection tells a unique story, adding new perspectives to their creative journey, which explores various fields of visual art.

DEMOBAZA has chosen a domain name that clearly corresponds to their global ambitions and communicates their vision – DEMOBAZA.com. The company is featured in our list of futuristic fashion brands and their domain name choices.

Highlights

According to our research, 87 out of 123 Bulgarian companies on the list prefer the .com domain extension.

69 companies use an Exact Brand Match (EBM) .com domains. The EBM domain is the natural choice when searching for the company online, ensuring greater brand consistency and improved online presence. 

9 companies incorporate dashes in their domain names. Adding hyphens is generally not recommended as it complicates the domain for users, who often miss the dash when typing in a web address.

While we make every effort to ensure the data on our site is accurate, complete, and up-to-date, we cannot guarantee its reliability. Our data is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, financial, or other advice. We strongly recommend that you independently verify any information before relying on it.

A premium domain name can make all the difference in building a successful brand. If you want to take your business to the next level, consider investing in a premium domain name. Contact us today for more information and assistance in finding the perfect domain for your brand.

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