Bulgarian high-tech businesses to get €210 million financing boost through EIF-run initiative

Innovative companies in Bulgaria will receive financing of approximately €210 million to develop cutting-edge technologies in strategic sectors such as microelectronics and artificial intelligence (AI) under a European Union initiative to help small businesses expand. The EU programme – called the Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises, or JEREMIE – aims to enhance the entrepreneurial environment and sustainable economic growth in Bulgaria.

The European Investment Fund (EIF) will manage the programme through 2035, extending an existing mandate and focusing on high-tech fields that also include quantum, space and green technologies and scale-up funding. The Bulgarian Ministry of Innovation and Growth and the EIF, which is part of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group, mapped the road ahead today in Sofia at an event dedicated to JEREMIE Bulgaria.

Under JEREMIE, businesses receive support including equity financing, and their repayments go back to the programme for reinvestment. JEREMIE Bulgaria has €160 million in available funds for reinvestment – a sum that will eventually grow as more repayments are made – and is due to get an extra €50 million injection of recycled financing from EU funds.

“The new investment strategy will improve the entrepreneurial ecosystem and the sustainable growth of the Bulgarian economy,” Bulgarian Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov said. “We are not simply financing startups, we are building enterprises, technologies, and infrastructure with strategic importance for Bulgaria and Europe. This is yet another proof that our government operates with clear rules, full transparency, and absolute accountability for every euro spent on Bulgarian entrepreneurs and businesses. JEREMIE gives us the opportunity to retain our talent and intellectual assets in Bulgaria”.

Since its inception in 2010, JEREMIE Bulgaria has supported more than 10,000 small and medium-sized businesses and helped turn the country into the leading startup hub in South-Eastern Europe. It has invested in more than 13 venture capital and private equity funds, thanks to which more than 350 innovative companies and startups have received capital, including Bulgaria’s first unicorn - the fintech company Payhawk.

To date, the EIF has deployed over €1.6 billion in equity investments, loans and guarantees through JEREMIE Bulgaria, multiplying approximately five times an initial €350 million of EU regional-development funding known as “Structural Funds”.

“JEREMIE has helped position Bulgaria as a leader in the market-oriented use of EU funds and has contributed to a dynamic venture capital and private equity system,” EIF Chief Executive Marjut Falkstedt said. “We will continue to ensure that resources are channeled to the most promising projects that develop cutting-edge technologies and solutions driving innovation, digitalisation and sustainable growth.

JEREMIE Bulgaria will ensure that high-tech businesses receive dedicated equity financing. The programme will target technologies with the potential to be used for both civilian and defence purposes to leverage research and development in the field of “dual use” goods. It will support investments in energy, transport and digital infrastructure.

The initiative will also provide scale-up funding in Bulgaria to reduce the risk of successful startups relocating or being acquired by overseas competitors when entering the growth stage. Bulgaria will be the first country in Central and Eastern Europe to participate in EIF pan-European flagship initiative European Tech Champions.

“With the new investment strategy, we are directing resources toward the next phase of growth of the Bulgarian economy. We are making a clear transition from a ‘startup ecosystem’ to a ‘scale-up ecosystem’—the key is no longer just the creation of companies, but their retention in Bulgaria,” said Irena Mladenova, Bulgarian Minister of Innovation and Growth.

EIB Group

The European Investment Bank (EIB) Group is the financing arm of the European Union, owned by the 27 Member States, and one of the largest multilateral development banks in the world. In 2025, the EIB Group signed €100 billion in new financing and advisory services for over 870 high-impact projects under eight core priorities that support EU policy objectives. In Bulgaria, the EIB Group committed over €646 million in 2025, a 72% increase compared to the previous year.

The European Investment Fund (EIF) is the subsidiary of the EIB Group specialised in providing guarantees and equity to improve access to finance for small and medium-sized businesses and startups across Europe. Acting as an anchor investor, through its extensive network of partnering banks and investment funds, the EIF mobilises private investment and nurtures the ecosystem of venture capital funds to support innovative European entrepreneurs.

JEREMIE

The Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises (JEREMIE) initiative is a European Commission programme developed with the European Investment Fund (EIF) that enables EU Member States to use Structural Funds to finance small businesses through loans, guarantees and equity. It operates via a revolving Holding Fund, meaning repaid funds are reinvested into new financial instruments.

JEREMIE Bulgaria is a revolving umbrella fund, set up in 2010 with about €350 million from EU Structural Funds with the aim to boost access to financing for Bulgarian businesses. It is managed by the EIF and overseen by the Ministry of Innovation and Growth. Under the renewed investment strategy, aapproximately €210 million will be deployed across four windows: technology transfer and deep tech, scale-up venture capital, defence equity, and the Three Seas Initiative Infrastructure Fund of Funds.