Social Enterprise & Capacity Building in Bulgaria Dr. Evgeni Evgeniev Co-Creating Social Entrepreneurship for Growth Copenhagen Business School 2-3 April, 2014

Co-Creation in the Eastern European Context Emerging economies Two key ideas (Prahalad, et al.) -Focus on the centrality of the individual (N=1) -Focus to access to resources, not ownership (R=G) New competition challenge: The meaning of value has changed

Consumer-firm dynamics changed dramatically in past hundred years Momentum Hall, Salt Lake city, USA Establishment: 1998 (Bulgaria) Ownership: Bulgarian Employees: Started with 3 workers, 300 professional staff today. Sales points: over 20 countries Global market: 60 % share Revenues in 2013 – 60 % increase Revenues in 2014 – over 60 % expected Top Markets: US, CA, DE, France Innovation: Unique Designs Applied Walltopia Eco-System – creation and booking of routes (for climbers to share experience) in open online platform in gyms around the world.

Chris Sharma (best climber in the world) is working closely with Walltopia Sender One Hall, near Los Angeles, USA

Figure 2: Bulgaria ranks last among EU member states in terms of Innovation Source: Innovation Union Scoreboard, European Commission, 2014.

Micro and Small Firms are Important in Bulgaria

Government as Innovation Catalyst Figure 7 7 Macroeconomic and regulatory context Education and Training System Outcomes: Growth, jobs, competitiveness State Firms Finance Research National Innovation Capacity Product Communicational infrastructure Market conditions Source: World Bank, 2013.

Tested hypothesis: “Firms with a higher degree of involvement in co- creation activities are in a better position to articulate the innovative aspects of their new products, processes and services.” Source: Tanev, St. et. Al (2011), Journal of Innovation Economics

Sofia Tech Park as a Value Co- Creation Eco-system 1. EDUCATION Existing educational programs Diaspora/New cooperation programs Partnerships with international universities 2. FUNDING RESOURCES Equity funds: JEREMIE (public and private funding) National Innovation Fund Other (business angels, risk funds, etc.) 3. SCIENCE Research teams /projects Diaspora Individual researchers 5. TENANTS Multinationals Local (mature) companies Start-ups 4. MENTORS AND SUPPORT NETWORK Incubation services for start-ups Clusters Global partnership networks

Thank you! Dr. Evgeni Evgeniev Associate Professor, VUZF University Sofia, Bulgaria