From the Ardennes to French Tech Sofia

Last week, a French delegation visited Bulgaria!
For the first time, I was representing Bulgaria as part of the French Tech Sofia...

Beyond being grateful, one question made me particularly proud.

What led an “Ardennais” entrepreneur (remote county of France) to Bulgaria?

I could never do the answer justice because there is simply too much to say.
But here were my highlights:
1️⃣ Built for Bootstrapping:
Honestly that was my reason number 1 because I didn’t want to rely on investors for my first business... and knew I had a lot to learn.
2️⃣ Amazing Devs:
I knew I wanted to scale, and scaling would require smart people... still today! So congrats Capto team, you proved Bulgaria is a country full of talent.
3️⃣ Quality of life:
After visiting the country in 2020, and a two-day hike where I crossed only 5 humans, I thought this country was a hidden gem in terms of natural landscapes, well-being and adventures.
4️⃣ Member of the EU:
A big believer in the potential of the European Union, I wanted to stay within the EU while keeping operating costs lower and extending my runway.
BONUS: since then we have the Euro and got into Schengen.
5️⃣ Emerging-market opportunities:
Pragmatic but I thought it would be easier and positive influence to operate in a country where there is GDP growth of 3%.
6️⃣ Strategic location
All the above isn’t only true for Bulgaria, this is true in different ways to all countries around: Greece, Romania, Serbia, Turkey... this has an underestimated influence.

As I said, I would never have had the time to list it all properly, but what would you add?

Thanks to the CCI France Bulgarie team for inviting us with the French Tech Sofia!

Have a great week everyone!
Alexis

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Originally posted on LinkedIn:

https://lnkd.in/p/d3jg97x3