Revving Up The Engines: StartUP Weekend 2024

Revving up the entrepreneurial engines, the 9th edition of StartUP Weekend, organized by the AUBG club StartUP, roared into action during the weekend of March 22-24, 2024. 

 

With innovation as their fuel, 54 dedicated participants formed 14 ambitious teams, all geared up to race toward success. Guiding them were 14 field professionals who offered their expertise to fuel the entrepreneurial spirit.

 

Antonia Rusalieva, the president of StartUP, shared her pride in the club’s achievements. When asked about the importance of organizing such events, she noted that all the club members are passionate about helping Bulgaria's startup environment thrive.

 

“We think that more people have to be entrepreneurs and to be brave enough to believe in their business ideas. We want to stimulate and help them not be afraid of trying out their ideas,” she explained.

This year’s event theme was Formula 1, which sparked immense enthusiasm among club members. It turned out that the theme, initially proposed for the StartUP conference, was a perfect fit for the Weekend, adding to the excitement of the event. 

 

“The moment the marketing department shared their idea, we all liked it, as it would complement both the idea of the event and it would also be cool to try and replicate the atmosphere of Formula 1,” she shared.

 

This year, the club exceeded all expectations. A testament to that is the club's innovative teaser reel, which is posted on Instagram. It was created by Asen Dzhalev, the Head of Marketing, and Lora Klassanova, the Treasurer. For its creation, the two members had to learn how to use a new creative platform called Blender.

 

“When they showed the reel to us during one of the meetings, we were all in awe. Nobody expected it to be this great. I am very proud of them,” Antonia said.

 

Initially, the teaser was only to feature the car model drifting on top of the ABF building. However, team members wanted to showcase their sponsors’ logos, which required additional close-up shots. 

 

“I can bet that we have more sponsor logos on our car than any other F1 car, I have counted them,” Asen said, laughing.

 

Creating the teaser took Asen and Lora over a month and a half. Despite the many problems they encountered, the final result was more than impressive.

 

“Both of us are really proud of what we achieved, and all of these sleepless nights were definitely worth it,” added Lora.

 

With everything ready, the StartUP Weekend was launched on March 22 in the BAC Auditorium. However, the road to the event had its fair share of setbacks.

 

For one, the Speakers Department experienced a stressful spring break, as they still had to persuade possible mentors to join the event.

 

“We want to allow more participants to take part in the event, but when you do not have enough mentors, that was stressful, so we had to work during the break as well,” Antonia explained.

 

This stress was also present on the day of the opening ceremony, when, about an hour before the launch of the event, the Sports Hall was not yet ready, with team members still waiting for decorations to arrive from Sofia.

 

“Of course, there is no event without some technical difficulties. One of the videos did not have sound, even though we tested it several times before, and it worked, but this is just another part of the whole organization,” Antonia added.

 

During the event's second day, teams tirelessly worked on their ideas in the professionally decorated Sports Hall. Throughout the day, StartUP offered a wide selection of food, snacks, and refreshments. In addition, there was a Formula 1 simulator, which provided participants with a chance to relax and take a break from their busy schedules.

On the event's final day, March 24, all 14 teams presented their ideas to a renowned jury of entrepreneurs composed of Pavel Velkov, Dimitar Enchev, Pavel Lisev, Marin Iliev, and Bistra Kirova. After hearing the business ideas, the jury deliberated and decided on the top three teams.

 

The first-place award went to Kremena Slavkova, Martin Georgiev, Nikola Jilov, and Elizabeta Donkova for their idea “LEXI.” “LEXI” is an Uber-style taxi company created for women, with only women as drivers and customers. The idea came from Kremena’s own distress at entering a taxi alone, especially at night. 

This business idea has been brewing since last year. However, Kremena couldn’t find the right teammates, so she kept it in development for a little longer. That was until the winter break when she shared it with one of her friends, who was enthusiastic about it. 

 

However, participating in the StartUP Weekend was not easy. According to team members, many people were skeptical of the idea at first.

 

“We started with this idea in the beginning, but then, with the mentor, we realized it was harder than we thought. We finalized the idea on Saturday at noon, and we started working on it only then,” Martin explained.

 

Even after deciding on the project idea, the team was met with another roadblock - Bulgarian legislation does not allow Uber-style transportation in the country. After going back and forth, they ultimately agreed that the United States should be their launch country.

 

“We were arguing about where to launch the idea. Half of us didn’t want to do it in the USA, and the other half wanted to, but we made the right decision in the end,” Kremena explained.

 

Despite their rocky start, the team won the grand prize of 5,000 BGN financing, provided by Eden Tech Labs.

 

And with that, the StartUP Weekend crossed the finish line, leaving participants ready for the next leg of their entrepreneurial journey.

 

Editors: Maria Hristova and Niya Manditsch