The Outsourcing Industry
In the recent years, the outsourcing industry in Bulgaria is rapidly developing, and this fact is supported by a strong portfolio of companies that are entering the market. The success of the development is mainly due to the quality of services. In Bulgaria, the companies are provided with the extremely high quality of services and with regards the price-quality ratio, the country offers a perfect balance. That is why many companies outsource their projects here.
IT industry in Bulgaria consists of:
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International companies such as VMWare, SAP, Microsoft, HP;
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Bulgarian product companies that are positioned globally such as Telerik, Programista, Bulpros (including a large number of outsourcing companies);
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Software Academies such as HackBulgaria, Telerik Academy, CodiCamp and a Software University (SoftUni).
Investments
According to the annual ranking of the Business Processing and Shared Services Locations for 2015, Bulgaria ranks third in the world in attracting foreign direct investments in the outsourcing sector, and first in Europe. The country occupies 12th position in the Global Services Location Index for 2016. The only European country before Bulgaria is Poland.
A Bulgarian company "Bulpros" ranked among the 25 fastest growing IT companies in Central and Eastern Europe in the ranking of the Deloitte Fast 50 for 2016. It was given the 24th place on the rank list.
This year during the European Leadership Summit and Awards in Sofia, the President of Republic of Bulgaria Rosen Plevneliev announced in his statement that lately the country has successfully developed as a destination for investments in the IT and BPO outsourcing, which are the primary drivers for creating jobs this year and last. The number of employed people in this particular sector reached 42 thousand in the last year. Furthermore, the number of companies equals 364, while the total income for 2015 amounts to EUR 1.4 billion, or 3.4% of country’s GDP.
Vibrant Startup Ecosystem
Source: Startup Conference Next
In the recent years, Sofia established a strong startup ecosystem - a network of entrepreneurial organizations and events, funds and business angels, successful companies, and entrepreneurs.
Bulgaria has gradually developed into an entrepreneurial hub in the Balkan region. Last year, the capital of Bulgaria was named one of the top 10 destinations for starting a business in the magazine Forbes. The first venture capital funds, Launchub and Eleven, appeared in Bulgaria four years ago and already have in their portfolio about 200 companies and nearly 20 mln. Euros invested in them. The acquisition of Telerik of Progress Software is one of the largest exits in the region, with a total value of 262.5 million dollars. This is a company with an office at the heart of entrepreneurship at the Stanford University.
Why Bulgaria?
The low tax rate of 10% and strategical location in combination with affordable prices are some of the key factors that attract the investors. Nearly 90% of graduates can freely speak English and have quite good soft skills.
On October 17th, 2016, Financial Times stated in their article “Bulgaria strives to become tech capital of the Balkans“ that “a generation of westernized engineers and programmers with a global outlook now underpins the country’s emergence as the technology capital of the Balkans.“
In Bulgaria, IT specialists find the internet as a great benefit due to the fact that it is one of the fastest in Europe — and in the world.
Why Plovdiv?
Plovdiv is an attractive and affordable destination for outsourcing projects. Several major universities known for its well-developed education system. Higher education in Bulgaria attracts international
students due to its excellent quality and diploma recognition EU/EEA and beyond. The reasonable tuition fees and living expenses, programs in English and Bulgarian and possibility of transfer from other university are among the primary reasons for students to choose Plovdiv. The city has over 40 000 students in 9 universities.
The outsourcing industry is one of the fastest growing sectors of the Bulgarian economy in recent years. The software industry is already formed 1.74% of the GDP of the country, and for the past 10 years, the revenues of IT companies grew by 600%.
Plovdiv has a lot to offer: from a high quality of life and opportunities for sports and recreation, arts and cultural events to comfortable working atmosphere for employees and very insignificant competition for talents in the field of business. Ancient history, various multilingual environments, combined with the opportunities of the modern city make Plovdiv an attractive destination to invest and outsource.
Next Steps:
Imagine if you were here, right on the spot: you could outrun your competition. Imagine how it will speed up the whole development and growth of your company!
Bulgaria is ready for you! Are you ready for Bulgaria?
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Sources:
Forbes.com
FinancialTimes.com
Capital.bg
Investor.bg
Telerik.com