The Bulgarian Entrepreneurship Center (BEC) Foundation is a Bulgarian public benefit foundation formed to encourage and support aspiring entrepreneurs in Bulgaria.

Its mission is to help Bulgarians develop an entrepreneurial ecosystem whereby programs are formed to educate, mentor, fund, and service entrepreneurial endeavors, on an all-inclusive basis, and thereby promote prosperity through economic development.

In short, BEC Foundation works to inject entrepreneurial attitudes and skill sets into the Bulgarian DNA in order to inspire and enable people to prosper and serve their community.

BEC is represented in Bulgaria by partners within the local venture capital, educational and business communities, such as Vassil Terziev of Telerik and Rumen Iliev of LAUNCHub, and Program Managers Lilly Drumeva and Valya Nadova.  Many of the supporters of BEC are entrepreneurs and businessmen from Bulgaria – such as Dafina Toncheva of US Venture Partners and Bogomil Balkansky of Google – with established successful track records and a desire to give back to the community that was once their home. BEC is also actively supported by Larry Biehl of InterCulture, Doug Pica of Provitech, Norman Winarsky, “father” of SIRI, and Michael Marvin, mentor to over 100 startups.

Many of BEC’s programs are conducted by entrepreneurs from across America – from Tech Valley to Silicon Valley – to create a “bridge” between Bulgaria and the United States for the exchange of knowledge, expertise and resources.