IDC European Woman in Venture Capital

EUROPEAN WOMEN IN VC IDC #EUR148997722 © IDC 2022 83 BULGARIA Source: IDC Research European Women in VC; n=303 VCs AuM >€25M, n=822 GP’s Work — 2.5 stars Money — 0 stars Knowledge — 1.5 stars Time — 1 star Power — 3.5 stars Women in Bulgaria have one of the weakest starting positions among all CEE countries when it comes to gender equality. GP Balance — Bulgaria Bulgaria Firepower Male 73% Female 27% 80% 20% Diversity from a Funding Perspective • Though Bulgaria has a weak starting position when it comes to gender equality, there are many initiatives to turn this around. Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, is home to a large number of startups and receives funds from the European Union to spur entrepreneurship. In addition, the IT sector of the country is rising, and women play an important role in it. A substantial share of the workforce in IT in Bulgaria is female, contributing to the tech scene. Other initiatives include: • The Bulgarian Association of Women Entrepreneurs (BAWE) - operates with local businesses, state authorities and NGOs abroad to encourage women’s entrepreneurship in Bulgaria. • The Bulgarian Fund for Women is a local initiative that aims at raising funds and offering grants to NGOs working to advance women’s and girls’ rights and eliminate gender stereotypes, gender-based violence and discrimination, and achieve gender equality in all spheres of life. • Bulgaria does not have a large VC ecosystem. There are not many funds and the existing ones are not that large. However, the larger ones do have female GPs, such as Brightcap Ventures, Morningside Hill or NEVEQ. Startup Perspective • Elena Hristova Marinova, president of Musala Soft, a software services company specialising in complex geographically distributed enterprise projects, has been named Emerging Europe’s Female Business Leader 2020. #of startups from >=2010 that that received funding Source: Dealroom Startup Data Male Female Mix 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 86 % 0 % 14 % 89 % 77 % 89 % 90 % 0 % 5 % 0 % 5 % 5 % 11 % 18 % 11 %