Bulgaria Is Massively Underestimated

What is La French Tech? 🇫🇷
And why is there a French Tech Sofia in Bulgaria? 🇧🇬

It’s Sunday, I’m having coffee with friends, and somehow we end up talking about startups, France, Bulgaria… and the same question comes back:
“But what exactly is French Tech?”

So, for once, let me explain it here.

La French Tech was launched in France in 2013.
To me, it was one of those wake-up calls from a country realizing that the world of entrepreneurship and technology was moving fast and that Europe needed to build stronger startup ecosystems if it didn’t want to fall behind.

The goal was simple: help startups grow, connect people, create a stronger ecosystem and put French tech entrepreneurship on the map.

Fast-forward more than a decade, and it has grown far beyond France, with communities all around the world.
And yes, today, when we talk about European tech success stories, France has some serious ones. Mistral AI is probably the most obvious example right now.

But what about French Tech Sofia? 🇫🇷🇧🇬
This is where it gets interesting. What started as a relatively centralized initiative has evolved into a much more decentralized international community. French Tech Sofia is one of those local communities connecting people in Bulgaria with a link to the French tech ecosystem.
And that link can mean many things:
🇫🇷 French founders building in Bulgaria
🤝 French-Bulgarian business relationships
🚀 Startups and entrepreneurs
💡 Tech and innovation
🌍 People with international backgrounds
… and, yes, sometimes French leadership in Bulgaria. Capto 👀

But something even bigger to me:
Bulgaria is massively underestimated.
Following a conversation with Wilfried Durand in the past few weeks, we were basically saying that this is one of the great way to share what is happening... what many Bulgarians don't necessarily realize:
How much innovation and leadership in advanced industries is being built around the country!

So yes, I'm looking forward to the next French Tech Sofia event on October 20th.
Maybe I'll see some of you there.

Enjoy the coffee ☕️
Alexis

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Originally posted on LinkedIn:

https://lnkd.in/p/d2f7AMTC