Decline in exports continues
Bulgarian exports ended 2024 with a decline for the second consecutive year due to weak external demand and lower prices. Preliminary data from the National Statistical Institute (NSI) show that the total value of exported goods reached just over 84 billion levs, marking a drop of nearly 2.9 billion levs compared to 2023.
The decline was 3.3% in 2024, following an even steeper 6.5% decrease in the previous year. The slowdown in major European economies and industrial struggles have particularly impacted Bulgaria's export-oriented manufacturers, with exports to the EU falling by 2.2% and those to non-EU countries dropping by 5.1%.
Drone tech firm to expand westward
Bulgarian drone technology company Uvionix, founded by Boris Iskreff and Stanislav Durmonski, has raised 3.5 million dollars in funding. The investment round was led by LAUNCHub Ventures, with participation from Hungary's PortfoLion, Romania's Underline Ventures, and Germany's Robin Capital. Uvionix will use the funds to accelerate its expansion into the US and European markets while growing its engineering teams in Bulgaria.
The company's flagship product, U-Vee, is an AI-powered autonomous flying robot that tracks warehouse inventory with 99.9% accuracy, creating digital twins of storage spaces to eliminate manual checks.
A new option for startup funding
The Bulgarian Stock Exchange has introduced SpaceCrowd, a crowdfunding platform that enables startups to raise up to 5 million euros annually by attracting multiple investors. Initially focused on equity financing between 200,000 levs and 1.5 million levs, the platform will later expand to debt financing through loans and bonds.
"There is interest in young companies that are not yet ready for the BEAM market," said BSE CEO Manyu Moravenov at the launch event. SpaceCrowd is licensed by the Financial Supervision Commission, providing a regulated avenue for startup investment.
Decline in exports continues
Bulgarian exports ended 2024 with a decline for the second consecutive year due to weak external demand and lower prices. Preliminary data from the National Statistical Institute (NSI) show that the total value of exported goods reached just over 84 billion levs, marking a drop of nearly 2.9 billion levs compared to 2023.
