In the last year, we've been working hard to continuously excel at what we do. Because we believe that companies like Campus X are among the major catalysts for boosting and further empowering Bulgaria's entrepreneurial and IT ecosystems.
Let's do a quick overview of Campus X's highlights in 2019.
1. Expanding our capacity and community
In April 2018, we launched Campus X with only one building and 300 workplaces. But we didn't stop there. At the end of 2018, we've tremendously expanded our capacity to 1,300 workspaces across 3 buildings. Currently, our capacity encompasses 4 buildings and more than 1,500 workplaces.
“We are offering much more than just modern private and shared offices to our members. Even though we are proud of our facilities and infrastructure, we know that buildings don't make companies successful – people do. That's why our main priority is to create a community of like-minded professionals and an ecosystem that nurtures knowledge sharing and innovation within the Campus,” shares Boyko Iaramov, co-founder and CEO of Campus X.
Our goal was to augment our ecosystem, turning it into a preferred home to even more tech startups and established companies with aspirations for accelerated success and greater scale. We're happy to say that our current capacity gives these companies the opportunity to grow within our premises.
“This is already happening – companies that started as 15-20 people are now 50+, with some approaching 100. All companies here are solving challenging problems – so the level of complexity and sophistication of their businesses is significant. This is beneficial as the aggregated knowledge is shared among the tenants so that they all can become more competitive and successful at a global scale,” comments Svetozar Georgiev, co-founder of Campus X.
2. Augmenting the ecosystem by collaborating with LAUNCHub and Eleven
Recently, LAUCHub Ventures has joined the Campus X ecosystem. For the first time ever, the two leading Bulgarian VC funds- LAUNCHub Ventures and Eleven are based under one roof – at Campus X.
The collaboration between the three organizations aims to further support and grow the local startup ecosystem. As Boyko Iaramov comments:
“We’re excited to welcome LAUNCHub Ventures at Campus X. By joining forces with them and Eleven, who are among our first members, we’ll augment the positive impact of our efforts. Thus, shifting the venture of launching companies – that turn into global leaders in their industries – from being a lucky coincidence to a tested, sustainable, and replicable process.”
LAUNCHub Ventures funds mature startups and scale-ups. Their investments range between € 500,000 (seed) and € 2M (in series A). Meanwhile, Eleven invests in early-stage startups with validated products and real customers. Their initial investments vary between 100,000 and € 300,000 (pre-seed). By joining forces and focusing on different company growth stages, the two investment funds will provide a longer financial path to the local tech startups.
“The close proximity between Campus X, Eleven and LAUNCHub Ventures creates a platform for greater collaboration and know-how sharing, taking our efforts to grow the local startup ecosystem to the next level," comments Vassil Terziev, co-founder of Campus X and a partner at Eleven.
3. Supporting our ecosystem by joining forces with PwC
One of the main pillars of the Campus X ecosystem is providing access to leading mentors and industry experts, who can help our members take their companies to the next level.
Therefore, this October we were excited to announce our strategic partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Bulgaria. PwC, which is one of the Big Four auditing firms, opened an office at Campus X and launched the first-ever cohesive hands-on Corporate Governance program, which was exclusively available to Campus X members. Led by vetted PwC experts, the program provided strategic insights into topics like corporate and shareholder structures, tax holding structures, and core accounting and auditing, among others.
“We're happy that a global leader like PwC is our partner and delivers high-class expertise, which is easily accessible to startups. As mentors, investors and advisers for dozens of emerging companies, we know how important it is for them to establish the grounds of good corporate governance from the very beginning. The process is of paramount importance for fundraising and can predetermine the long-term success of the companies,” says our CEO Boyko Iaramov.
4.Wrapping it up by winning the Best Coworking Space Award
This year our efforts have been recognized by the Central European Startup Awards (CES). Campus X won the Best Coworking Spaces award in Bulgaria.
In the humble 1,5 years since the launch, we’ve expanded Campus X's physical space and community, providing an ecosystem where tech startups, scaleups, and international companies can accelerate their growth and revolutionize industries.
This goes all to you – our community of members current and future friends and supporters.
2020 will meet us increasingly inspired to keep on shaping our thriving ecosystem of movers and shakers, and contributing to the success of Bulgaria's tech ecosystem.
