The forum is organized by the Association for innovation, business excellence, services and technology (AIBEST), The Bulgarian Startup Association (BESCO), the Ministry of E-Government, and Sofia Municipality in partnership with InvestSofia. Its main goal was to support the development of the business ecosystem in Southeast Europe and to position the region as a leading destination for high-value-added services in the world. The event managed to gather over 350 business leaders of the leading technology companies and startups in Bulgaria and the countries of Southeast Europe.
The Minister of e-Government in Bulgaria Bozhidar Bozhanov presented the Innovation of the Year award to Sutherland Bulgaria for a digital solution designed to help build employees' cognitive skills by simulating real-world interactions.
The technology company DIGITALL, established last year after the merger of the Bulgarian BULPROS and the German ec4u, was awarded the most prizes. The international jury ranked it first in the Best Business Service Provider, Business Transformation of the Year, and IT Product of the Year categories for its cybersecurity platform iQ.Suite 360.
The Employer of the Year award went to SoftServe for its good employment practices and the company's sustainable HR policy for the development of its employees.
The Best Business Sustainability Strategy award went to Proxiad, which has successfully rebranded, transformed its internal processes, and repositioned itself from a 100% IT service company to a software company that develops its products in a challenging Covid environment
SiteGround was named Most Socially Responsible Company for its investment in society, which has reached BGN 12,500,000 in total in recent years.
The award for Best Partnership between Business and Educational Institutions went to Experian Bulgaria for its long-term partnerships with the largest universities and some of the most prestigious schools in Bulgaria.
The Startup of the Year award was given to Palfinger's Global Business Services Center in Sofia, which covers all administrative activities from sales, supply, and finance to human resources, as well as data processing and reporting.
The statuette for Smart City of the Year for Southeastern Europe was presented by Iliya Krastev, Chairman of AIBEST, to Gencho Kerezov, Deputy Mayor of Sofia for Digitalisation, innovation, and economic development. It commemorated the achievements of Sofia Municipality in digitalizing administrative processes and implementing innovative solutions created and implemented jointly with citizens and the local ecosystem.
The Romanian company DRUID.AI was chosen by readers of The Recursive as The Future Unicorn of Southeast Europe.
SEE ITS Awards were organized with the support of Raiffeisen Property Management Bulgaria, TELUS International, C&W Forton, Ingram Micro, Lion’s Head, Sutherland Bulgaria, Stanton Chase, Unicom Services, and others.
