OP COMPETITIVENESS TO RELEASE ANOTHER BGN 40 MLN FOR YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS

Six projects of young entrepreneurs received the financial support of the 2011 EMPOWER Award. The winner in the race was granted BGN 50,000 and the other five projects - BGN 30,000 each. The first prize was awarded to the Smart Hand project for innovation, public benefit, a quality team, practicality, a clear business plan, sustainability of results and the overall presentation of the idea. The project of Georgi Chipev's team including Dimitar Konev, Valentin Nikolov and Veselin Pavlov uses a new technology for pulse actuation of artificial limbs. The awards were presented by Deputy Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism Evgeni Angelov, H.E. James Warlick, U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria, and the President of the EMPOWER United Foundation, Thomas Higgins. 

A total of 161 young entrepreneurs took part in the competition for the EMPOWER Award, which was held for the second time this year. Some 32% of all submitted projects were in the field of information technology, followed by ideas in the sphere of culture and arts. "Start-ups and innovative small-scale businesses are a basic prerequisite for Bulgaria's economic growth. Over the next two years, another BGN 40 mln will be allocated under OP Competitiveness to support such start-ups via the Jeremy tool to fund several hundred projects," said Deputy Minister Angelov. The organisers pointed out that last year's award winners are financially stable now and continue to develop their projects.