HOME›REPORTS›BULGARIA STARTUP FUNDINGQ3 2026 UPDATE

REPORT / Q3 2026 UPDATE / DATA TO 30 SEPTEMBER 2026

Bulgaria startup funding report

Bulgarian startups raised €199m in 22 rounds in the first nine months of 2026, against €104m in 23 rounds a year earlier.

Funding data for Bulgarian startups is scattered. Rounds are announced by companies, funds, angel networks and the press, often months after they close, and no single database has them all or has them right.

This report builds one record from all of them. We cross check startup databases against company, investor and press announcements, take out grants and loans that are reported as rounds, and add the rounds that were never fully recorded.

It covers venture rounds and exits of startups headquartered in Bulgaria, and of startups that started here and moved their headquarters abroad. It uses the same record and rules as our CEE startup funding report, so Bulgaria can be set against the other nine countries.

We add a quarter every three months. If you are raising in Bulgaria, it shows how many rounds close, at what size, and who writes the first cheques.

Highlights

€199m
Raised in 9M 2026
+91% on 9M 2025

€199m in the first nine months, up 91% on a year earlier (€104m). The largest round is EnduroSat's €178m growth round, 90% of the total.

17
Seed and later rounds in 9M 2026
18 in 9M 2025

17 seed and later rounds this year, against 18 a year earlier, and 22 rounds in all against 23. Pre-seed is where the record of recent rounds is least complete, and its count will rise as late rounds surface.

0
Venture-backed exits in 9M 2026
2 in 9M 2025

No venture-backed exits by September, against 2 in the same months of 2025.

01 / THE MARKET

The market

Capital up 91% on the same months of 2025. Rounds: 22 against 23.

Capital raised by stage, € millions
SHOW DATA
Capital raised by stage
RowPre-seedSeedSeries AGrowthTotal
20244.918342581
20253.71329160206
9M 20262.78.89.1178199

Bulgaria raised €81m in 2024 and €206m in 2025. The largest 2025 round, EnduroSat's €95m, was 46% of that year. 2026 has €199m so far.

9M 2026 covers January to September 2026. The dashed line marks the same months of 2025.

Number of rounds by stage
SHOW DATA
Number of rounds by stage
RowPre-seedSeedSeries AGrowthTotal
202416124133
20256134528
9M 20265151122

33 rounds in 2024, 28 in 2025 and 22 so far in 2026. Some rounds are recorded months late, so the latest quarters will rise.

Same months, like for like: 9M 2026 against 9M 2025
Year to date against the same months last year
Row9M 20259M 2026Change
Capital€104m€199m▲ +91%
Rounds2322▼ -4%
Pre-seed rounds55flat
Seed rounds1215▲ +25%
Series A rounds21▼ -50%
Growth rounds41▼ -75%
Capital by quarter, € millions

Quarter by quarter, capital swings with the timing of large rounds. The count of rounds is the steadier signal.

The latest quarter is still filling in and will rise.

02 / BULGARIA IN THE REGION

Bulgaria in the region

Bulgaria raised €32 per person in 2025, 4th of the ten countries.

The same record and rules for all ten countries, so the comparison is like for like. Capital per person divides each country's capital by its population.

Ten CEE countries, 9M 2026 against 9M 2025, most capital per person first
Capital and rounds by country, 9M 2026, with capital per person
Country€m 9M 2026ChangeRounds 9M 2026Change€ per person 2025€ per person 9M 2026
Estonia133▼ -48%39▼ -49%25897
Lithuania182▲ +3%28▼ -42%7563
Czechia513▲ +101%47▼ -15%2847
Bulgaria199▲ +91%22▼ -4%3231
Hungary122▲ +3%22▼ -35%1313
Slovakia55▼ -24%11▼ -39%2110
Ukraine282▲ +336%50▼ -29%27
Poland226▼ -10%67▼ -27%106
Latvia12▼ -84%4▼ -73%436
Romania105▲ +14%30▼ -6%96

Population on 1 January 2025.

Bulgaria and its neighbours, capital by year, € millions
SHOW DATA
Bulgaria and its neighbours, capital by year
Row202420259M 2026
Bulgaria81206199
Romania115165105
Bulgaria and its neighbours, rounds by year
SHOW DATA
Bulgaria and its neighbours, rounds by year
Row202420259M 2026
Bulgaria332822
Romania634530

In 2025, Bulgaria closed 28 rounds, against 45 in Romania.

03 / STAGES AND ROUND SIZES

Stages and round sizes

The typical seed round in 2025 was €2.0m.

Rounds by company stage. Where one round can move a stage's total, the count and the typical round tell more than the capital.

Rounds, capital and median round by stage
Rounds, capital and median round size by stage and year
RowRounds 2024€m 2024Rounds 2025€m 2025Rounds 9M 2026€m 9M 2026Median 2024Median 2025Median 9M 2026
Pre-seed16€4.9m6€3.7m5€2.7m€0.3m€0.7m€0.5m
Seed12€18m13€13m15€8.8m€2.0m€2.0m€2.0m
Series A4€34m4€29m1€9.1m€8.0m€6.6m-
Growth1€25m5€160m1€178m-€32m-

Median shown where at least three rounds of the stage disclosed an amount.

Pre-seed

16 rounds in 2024, 6 in 2025 and 5 so far in 2026. The typical pre-seed round in 2025 was €0.7m.

Seed

12 rounds in 2024, 13 in 2025 and 15 so far in 2026. The typical seed round in 2025 was €2.0m.

Series A

Four rounds in 2024, 4 in 2025 and 1 so far in 2026. The typical Series A round in 2025 was €6.6m.

Growth

One round in 2024, 5 in 2025 and 1 so far in 2026. The typical growth round in 2025 was €32m.

04 / SECTORS

Sectors

AI raised the most this year: €182m in four rounds.

By number of rounds since 2024, the largest sectors are AI (18), enterprise software (15) and energy and climate (12). A company can sit in several sectors, so sector totals overlap.

Capital by sector, € millions
SHOW DATA
Capital by sector
Row202420259M 2026
AI13165182
Energy and climate33160178
Hardware and robotics8.2162178
Enterprise software157.99.9
Fintech0.42.05.0
Health and bio7.62.00.0
Defence and security5.85.50.0
Mobility and logistics261.30.0

Ranked by 9M 2026 capital. Sectors overlap.

Rounds by sector
SHOW DATA
Rounds by sector
Row202420259M 2026
AI954
Energy and climate471
Hardware and robotics344
Enterprise software573
Fintech211
Health and bio110
Defence and security412
Mobility and logistics323

Same sectors, counted by number of rounds.

05 / LARGEST ROUNDS

Largest rounds

The largest round this year: EnduroSat, €178m.

Largest rounds, 9M 2026
Largest rounds 9M 2026
CompanyStageAmountMonthLead or first investor
EnduroSatGrowth€178mSep 2026Riot Ventures
Tiger TechnologySeries A€9.1mJul 20263TS Capital Partners
PaypercutSeed€5.0mJun 2026Concentric
NanogramSeed€2.0mJul 2026LAUNCHub Ventures
nFuse.aiSeed€1.8mApr 2026LAUNCHub Ventures
QuillonPre-seed€1.4mApr 202642CAP
DiscreteStackPre-seed€0.8mAug 2026CleverPine Ventures
Estel TechnologiesPre-seed€0.3mAug 2026Vitosha Ventures
BuddyGuardPre-seed€0.3mJun 2026Undisclosed

Rounds with a disclosed amount.

Largest rounds, 2025
Largest rounds 2025
CompanyStageAmountMonthLead or first investor
EnduroSatGrowth€95mOct 2025Lux Capital
EnduroSatGrowth€45mMay 2025Founders Fund
EnduroSatGrowth€20mFeb 2025Morphosis Capital
Lace AISeries A€17mApr 2025Bek Ventures
Evrotrust TechnologiesSeries A€6.6mNov 20253TS Capital Partners
Acki NackiSeries A€5.5mFeb 2025Blockchain.com
TwinKnowledgeSeed€3.4mApr 2025Camber Creek
UVIONIXSeed€3.2mFeb 2025LAUNCHub Ventures
Blue Longevity ClinicSeed€2.0mJul 2025Eleven Ventures
PaypercutSeed€2.0mJul 2025Concentric

06 / STARTED IN BULGARIA, BASED ELSEWHERE

Started in Bulgaria, based elsewhere

Seven rounds since 2024 by companies that started in Bulgaria and are based elsewhere. They count in the totals.

Companies that started in Bulgaria, or keep their main team here, but are headquartered elsewhere. They count in the totals, under Bulgaria. Companies that Bulgarian founders built abroad, with no base here, are not included.

Rounds since 2024, newest first
Rounds of companies started in Bulgaria and based elsewhere
CompanyBased inAmountMonthIn totals
DronamicsUnited KingdomUndisclosedApr 2026Yes
Lace AIUnited States€17mApr 2025Yes
TwinKnowledgeUnited States€3.4mApr 2025Yes
UVIONIXUnited States€3.2mFeb 2025Yes
MetaSim Learning SolutionsUnited Kingdom€0.1mFeb 2025Yes
Iris.aiNorway€7.6mMay 2024Yes
JumaUnited States€4.1mNov 2024Yes

07 / INVESTORS

Investors

Vitosha Ventures joined the most pre-seed and seed rounds since January 2025: 10.

Most active at pre-seed and seed since January 2025: Vitosha Ventures (10 rounds), LAUNCHub Ventures (4 rounds) and Eleven Ventures (3 rounds). Investors are ranked by the rounds they joined, led or followed, over 2025 and 2026 together.

Most active at pre-seed and seed, 2025 to 9M 2026
Most active pre-seed and seed investors in Bulgaria
InvestorBased inRoundsLed
Vitosha VenturesBulgaria109
LAUNCHub VenturesBulgaria42
Eleven VenturesBulgaria32
CleverPine VenturesBulgaria22
ConcentricUnited Kingdom22
Angel InvestGermany21
Passion CapitalUnited Kingdom21
BrightCap VenturesBulgaria20
Robin CapitalGermany20
Sofia VenturesBulgaria20
Most active from Series A, 2025 to 9M 2026
Most active Series A and growth investors in Bulgaria
InvestorBased inRoundsLed
3TS Capital PartnersAustria21
Founders FundUnited States21
Riot VenturesUnited States21
Ceecat CapitalLuxembourg20
Endeavor CatalystUnited States20
GVUnited States20
Lux CapitalUnited States20
MFG InvestBulgaria20
Morphosis CapitalRomania20
Atreides ManagementUnited States11
Rounds with at least one investor based outside CEE
SHOW DATA
Share of rounds with an international investor
Row202420259M 2026
All rounds18%56%56%

Rounds with a fund from outside CEE: 18% in 2024, 56% in 2025 and 56% in 2026 so far, of rounds where investor headquarters are known.

Share of rounds where investor headquarters are known: 22 in 2024, 18 in 2025, 9 in 9M 2026.

08 / EXITS

Exits

The most recent: euShipments, bought by Austrian Post, November 2025.

Nine venture-backed exits since 2024: 6 in 2024, 3 in 2025 and 0 in 2026 so far. Deal values are rarely disclosed, so we count exits instead of summing them.

Venture-backed exits since 2024
Exits since 2024
CompanyMonthTypeBuyer
euShipmentsNov 2025AcquisitionAustrian Post
KlearJul 2025AcquisitionITF Group
QuantiveMay 2025AcquisitionWorkboard
ClaimCompassNov 2024AcquisitionAirHelp
NitroPackJul 2024AcquisitionWP Engine
Flat ManagerJul 2024AcquisitionRenters
RushApr 2024AcquisitionShop Circle
PliantMar 2024AcquisitionIBM
BoleronFeb 2024IPOListing

09 / METHODOLOGY

Methodology

What the report covers

Period: January 2024 to September 2026. Past years are shown in full. The current year runs to the end of the last complete quarter.

Companies: startups headquartered in Bulgaria, and startups that began in Bulgaria or keep their main team here and later moved their headquarters abroad. Every kind of startup is included: software and hardware, business and consumer.

Events: venture funding rounds, and exits (acquisitions, buyouts and stock market listings).

Sources: public sources only, namely startup databases, company, investor and angel network announcements, and the press.

Every round and exit named in the report links to its announcement. Totals, changes and charts are built from all rounds and are not linked.

This edition covers 83 venture rounds (57 with a disclosed amount) at 74 companies, and 9 exits. Next update: January 2027, adding Q4 2026.

Stages

Stages are the label the company announced or the source assigned. Where a label clearly does not fit the size of the round, such as a very large round called seed, the round is placed by its size. Where there is no label, round type and size decide.

How it is counted

  • Funding rounds are equity and convertible venture rounds, including angel network rounds. Grants, loans, state support programmes, crowdlending, secondary sales and investments after a listing are not counted.
  • Amounts are in euros, converted at about 1.10 US dollars to the euro. Rounds without a disclosed amount count toward the number of rounds but not toward capital.
  • Companies that are not startups are left out even when they raise venture money, such as established manufacturers, service firms and lenders.
  • Rounds and exits are cross-referenced against company, investor and press announcements where possible.

Limits

  • Public data does not capture every round, so counts are a floor. Small angel rounds are the most likely to be missing.
  • Some rounds are recorded months after they happen. Each update adds them to the month they happened in, so recent quarters, the latest above all, will rise.
  • Bulgaria's record includes our own search of local press, investor portfolios and companies based abroad (October 2026), which added rounds the startup databases had missed.
  • Where a country raises a few dozen rounds a year, one round can move a total by more than half. Read changes in capital with the largest round in mind.

RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS: BADIDEAS.FUND.

Raising pre-seed or seed in Bulgaria

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