Sofia Tech Park will host two major european events on Technologies and Innovation

On June 13-14th in Sofia, Sofia Tech Park will host the first ever Tech Tour Eastern Europe Tech Tour (EETT), to be held in Bulgaria.

The EETT is a three-day investor roadshow in Warsaw and Sofia, showcasing successful start-ups and SMEs from Central and Eastern Europe.

As part of EETT, an invitation-only strategic policy discussion meeting will be held; it is entitled: Entrepreneurship, Investment, Tech Transfer and Incubation: Best practices and next initiative for cooperation in South Eastern Europe upon the initiative of the Bulgarian Minister of Economy on the 13th of June.

It will convene representatives of Ministries of Economy, Science and Innovation, Venture Capital and Private Equity associations, Funds-of-Funds and National Promotional banks with the aim to discuss best practices for fostering innovation and agree on next common initiatives.

The policy meeting consists of 3 sessions, each consisting of a strategic discussion with introductory presentations followed by interventions by all participants with best practice examples and recommendations:

·         Regional initiatives and challenges of SEE countries fostering entrepreneurship

·          Investment fund formation attracting private capital

·          Tech transfer and incubation leading to societal and economic impact

The meeting will help participants the opportcan bunity to participate in active discussions and to also gain insight from other local and international policy makers, VC and corporate investors and financial institutions, among which IBM, Almaz Capital, Samsung, Microsoft, and Earlybird Venture CapitalAll participants and speakers of the Eastern Europe Tech Tour can be found here.

The full programme is available here.

This meeting format encourages active participation.

To register, please message petar@techtour.com.

During the second day of the  Eastern Europe Tech Tour (EETT), on the 14th of June in Sofia, will be held Innovative Enterprise Week Sofia 2018 (IEW) –  Financial Instruments Fostering Research and Innovation. The event is an initiative of the European Commission with strong senior presence from the EC, EIB and EIF.

A particular focus of the conference will be to enhance interactions between financial instruments to help innovative firms access finance more easily including: Innovfin, COSME’s financial instruments, European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the European Innovation Council, and including instruments at regional, national and local levels.

Discussion topics will include:

·         The next Multiannual Financial Framework

·         Important new financial instruments, such as Horizon Europe, which was announced this week

·         The  €2.1 billion Pan-European Venture Capital Funds-of-Funds Programme VentureEU just announced by the European Commission

IEW will bring together policy makers in research and innovation, including:

• Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Science, Research and Innovation
• Jean-Eric Paquet, Director General, DG Research and Innovation of the European Commission
• Roger Havenith, Deputy CEO of the European Investment Fund
• Jean-David Malo, Director, Open Innovation and Open Science, European Commission

Details about the confirmed speakers are available here, and the event programme here.

Participation in both events is free. I’m attaching a detailed programme of both events.

For more information  about the IEW and to register please contact info@innoweeksofia2018.eu