XL Radar e-Commerce and What Startup Founders Need to Know About Fundraising | Innovation Capital's July Newsletter

Dear Innovation Capital followers!

We’re very happy to introduce the maiden edition of our newsletter! In this format we will be sharing everything about Innovation Capital, our portfolio companies, mentors part of our acceleration programs, news from the VC scene, and advice from our experts on fundraising.

Traditionally, most people spend a part of the month near the seaside. That was the case for us as well. But we were not only chilling at the beach, but at the Chengene Skele StartUp Village, we organized the Demo Day of XLRadar e-Commerce. A jury of experienced investors and business angels selected 4 companies that received term sheets for investment of €50K each. We’re continuing the talks to potentially support 4 other participants.

In the beginning of July we threw a party for the founders part of our portfolio. We were very happy to see some very inspiring entrepreneurs, and catch up with them. It was also very interesting to hear about their development, and plans for the future.

This month’s edition of the newsletter will give the opportunity to learn more about Econic One , one of our portfolio companies. The organization announced a €6M investment round, and we’re happy to be part of it. In July we joined Bloomberg TV Bulgaria ’s “The Daring Ones” - the first-ever TV startup competition in Bulgaria.

Our maiden newsletter will also make you familiar with Yavor Gochev ’s advice for startup founders about raising capital and working with investors. In July we saw our Executive Director Vassil Christov discuss all things technology and innovation at a National round table on the topic, organized by the Administration of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria. He was also a guest at BNT’s morning program, where he discussed the matter.

XLRadar e-Commerce Demo Day

We organized a final Demo Day for our XLRadar e-Commerce acceleration program on July 15, 2022. During the event participants in the program presented their ideas in front of a jury, which consisted of experienced investors and business angels. Push Marketplace , Youth Inventor /Млад изобретател, PriceMind, and Revio, were the four companies which received a €50K term sheet for investment each. We’re continuing the talks for support with 4 other projects.

XLRadar e-Commerce was dedicated to helping founders and entrepreneurs start developing its business in the e-commerce industry. A plethora of mentors helped participants to start selling instantly by providing them with practical advice and insights from the industry. Mentors helped them in every aspect of developing a business - sales, marketing, consulting, and many more.

“The Daring Ones”

Bloomberg’s Bulgarian department has announced the first-ever TV startup competition. It aims to find the most promising business ideas in Bulgaria. We’re happy to see Angel H. Angelov, CF , our Managing Partner,? among the mentors of the competition. He will share with participants insights about raising capital, business development, and sales. 21 of the startups will be selected to participate in the live TV show. Applications to join the “The Daring Ones” are extended until September 15th.

Meet the Mentors

Today we want to share with you more about one of the mentors of XLRadar e-Commerce - Jeko Kolev . He is a CEO and Co-founder of Nextoria . He shared with participants best practices from the industry, based on almost 2 decades of experience in developing businesses. His speciality is working on M&A deals.

During his mentorship lecture, Jeko showcased to participants how to build an exit-optimized e-commerce business. With his expertise he showed the do’s and don'ts when developing in the industry.

Econic One

In July we’re continuing to support Econic One ’s efforts to develop on the international stage. We joined their new investment round of €6M, which will help them to expand its operations into the DACH and the USA markets and strengthen its in-house R&D, production and technology development teams, and facilities.

Econic One is a Bulgarian e-mobility company that specializes in the design and production of smart electric bicycles. Formerly known as Eljoy, the e-bike startup was created to fill the market’s need for a smart versatile bike that gives its users freedom, comfort, and security. The company combines proprietary hardware and software and has its own smart-bike application for consumers and a fleet management software platform for business customers. Learn more about the company.

Investing Advice

To celebrate the first edition of our newsletter, we’re not giving you just one piece of advice, but 10. They come from our Senior Investment Manager Yavor Gochev , who shared them with The Recursive . He shared his thoughts on what makes a startup stand out from the crowd, the perfect timing to raise capital, how to approach investors, and many more.

“Startups need a solid team and some skin in the game. Founders can successfully fundraise without any income generated. That is why it is crucial to talk to potential investors from day one!” This is one of the key takeaways from Yavor’s participation. Check out the whole article to see the rest.

Hope you enjoyed the newsletter and we wish you a very happy summer!