07.04.2021
EC WITH SUPPORT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF STARTUPS
24 EU countries and Iceland signed a Declaration on a Common European Standard for Startup Nations a few days ago. It will require Member States to apply practices that encourage entrepreneurship and create a more favorable environment for start-ups.
Measures include the introduction of a startup visa, simplified company registration procedures and quick access to the local market, fully electronic communication between companies and administration, fast visa procedures for talent and entrepreneurs from outside the EU, incentives for experts to return in Europe, access to venture and equity capital, equal access to entrepreneurship, etc.
Bulgaria is not among the participants in the initiative. However, some of the practices have already been introduced. Access to capital in our country is supported by 14 venture and equity funds, which invest in companies from different sectors and at different stages of development of an enterprise. A startup visa has been introduced since mid-February, and at the local level the Sofia Municipality is the first to launch its Sandbox for Innovative Solutions program. In it, pilot projects of the capital's business are tested for applicability in a real urban environment.
So far, only Bulgaria, Hungary and Croatia have not signed the declaration.
With the introduction of the Common European Standard for Startup Nations, the EC aims to realize Europe's potential to become the most attractive place to create startups compared to global leaders such as the United States.
"The role that startups can play in the recovery process from the current crisis and in stimulating green and digital transformation cannot be underestimated: they have a proven potential to innovate in response to real-world problems, to create new jobs. and strong synergies with European industry", the text of the document states.
The founders of startups face a number of challenges to the development of their projects. The covid crisis has exacerbated some of these problems, most notably securing the necessary funding: in more than 20 EU countries, including Bulgaria, start-up funds fell sharply in 2020 from a year earlier. This creates a real danger for young innovators to leave the EU and look for places with a more favorable environment, the document notes.
In Bulgaria in 2020, the collapse in startup investments on an annual basis is 5 times - from 149 million euros in 2019 to 35.5 million euros a year later.
