The joint initiative of American University Bulgaria (AUB) and Business Center – Sandanski, SEAccelerator – Cross-border accelerator for business ideas – First season 2022-2023, started with a series of one-day trainings in Kardjali, Haskovo and Blagoevgrad. More than 70 participants took part in events – pupils, students, start-up entrepreneurs and people interested in starting their own business.
The topic of the trainings was business modeling through a business model canvas. The business canvas is a tool that allows you to quickly and easily determine the key elements of a business idea. It is based on nine building blocks or elements and can be applied regardless of the type or scale of a business idea.
During the trainings, experienced trainers from AUBG presented the main blocks of the canvas, as well as examples of canvases from successful businesses. At the end of the trainings, each team had the opportunity to present their canvas to all participants and mentors and receive feedback and guidance. The most active and motivated participants received certificates and the opportunity to join the next stage of the Accelerator – Level 2: Individual mentoring and consultations by experts.
What is next is a selection of the received and developed business ideas. After the selection is completed, the best ideas and teams will continue to Level 2, where Accelerator mentors will prepare individual mentoring and consulting plans for each business idea. The goal is for participants and mentors to further develop their business ideas before Level 3 – SEA Bootcamps – intensive two-day entrepreneurial camps with top speakers and mentors from Bulgaria and Greece. In Level 4, participants will receive personalized coaching on how to present their business ideas to potential investors – the so-called pitching In the final stage of the Accelerator, the finalists from Bulgaria and Greece will have the opportunity to present their business ideas to potential investors and interested parties, within the framework of the final conference and brokerage event in Blagoevgrad in 2023.
SEAaccelerator is an initiative that takes place within the framework of project “Smart Cross-border Entrepreneurship Accelerator” (acronym “SEA”), financed under the Cross-Border Cooperation Program INTERREG V-A “Greece – Bulgaria 2014 – 2020”.
