2025 – A Year in Review
Endeavor in Numbers
A Decade of Impact
300+
Guests
10+
Countries
On September 10, with the National Museum of History as our backdrop, we hosted over 300 guests, many having traveled internationally, as we celebrated 10 years of impact and achievements in Bulgaria, and now Southeast Europe.
The evening held many surprises – awards, a live podcast recording, a DJ set to remember – formed new connections, opened up many conversations, and was absolutely unforgettable.
However, at Endeavor we are always entrepreneur first. That is why, in the leadup to the big night we organized three side events to give our guests varied opportunities to create connections.
Simeon Simeonov (entrepreneur, VC, angel investor, TechStars All-Star mentor, and board member in both the US and Europe) hosted a session dedicated to sharing mistakes founders continuously make, and how to avoid them.
We held a Endeavor After Hours – a private gathering of Endeavor Entrepreneurs, board members, and regional guests. Off-stage, over drinks, is where some of the most valuable connections are made.
And of course – our Investor Matchmaking, which brought 35+ SEE Investors, 30+ companies from 7 countries and facilitated 90+ in-person & virtual investor introductions.
New Endeavor Entrepreneur
Boris possesses all the qualities of a generational founder – grit, obsession with product & customer and the capacity to build not for tomorrow, but for the next decade. From VMware in Sofia, META in San Francisco, and now building Lace between both, his journey reflects the entrepreneurs and ventures we are honored to back.
Lace is revolutionizing the home services industry through human + AI automation, helping companies exponentially grow revenue and deliver better experiences for customers.
We look forward to supporting Boris as he builds the category leader.
Knowledge Sharing Sessions
As part of our Founders’ Navigator series, we brought together our portfolio founders for an intimate knowledge-sharing dinner with Delian Asparouhov (Founders Fund), centered on building and scaling frontier technology companies. The evening combined candid insights from a global investor with meaningful founder-to-founder connections across space, deep tech, and beyond.
We hosted a leadership-focused session with Alex Vassilev, who shared hard-won insights from scaling global organizations across WeTransfer, SportAlliance, and Google. Through an open fireside chat, founders explored what it takes to evolve from founder-led execution to systems-driven growth and build organizations that scale sustainably.
Endeavor Expansion Day brought together founders from the Dare2Scale Bulgaria and Western Balkans cohorts alongside Endeavor portfolio companies, creating a shared space for learning, connection, and honest conversations about cross-border growth.
Doruk Mutlu (CEO of EVAM, Endeavor Entrepreneur Turkey) and Pawel Goch (Insider, Endeavor company & Sequoia Capital–backed unicorn) shared firsthand lessons from scaling globally – grounding the day in real Endeavor journeys and reinforcing the power of learning from founders who’ve already been there.
As part of our People & Culture series for Endeavor portfolio companies, we hosted two dedicated sessions led by long-time Endeavor Mentor Maria Gushterova, each tackling a different but equally critical dimension of building strong teams.
The first focused on intentionally shaping company culture as organizations grow, while the second dove into people strategy as a core business driver – giving founders practical frameworks and tools to build scalable, resilient teams aligned with long-term growth.
Our CFO Circles brought finance leaders together for two focused sessions designed for companies in scale mode.
The first CFO Circle of the year was a hands-on financial training with PwC on ERP implementation. The second – a strategic conversation on what’s next for finance teams during The Future CFO Talks, led by Payhawk.
Our C-level initiatives, People & Culture series, CFO circles, and other workshops are exclusive to our portfolio companies.
Who is part of our Endeavor Portfolio?
- Endeavor Entrepreneurs (EEs)
- ScaleUp Entrepreneurs
- Alumni+ Entrepreneurs
- Dare2Scale cohorts
- Entrepreneurs part of our Open Innovation initiatives
Dare2Scale
Dare2Scale wrapped up its seventh edition with a Demo Day showcasing 16 late-stage startups and two NGOs from Bulgaria and the Western Balkans – Albania, Kosovo, and North Macedonia. For the second year, the program welcomed founders from across the Western Balkans, strengthening regional collaboration. During Demo Day, Ethermind – an AI company transforming how organizations retain and scale internal expertise – won the Jury Award for Best Pitch.
Learn more about Dare2Scale and express your interest for the 2026 edition – whether for your company or a founder you believe should be on that stage next year.
Dare2Scale Demo Day 2025
Dare2Scale Kick Off 2025Clearly, 2025 was a big year for all of us – as a community.
As we wrap it up, we, at Endeavor, would like to thank everyone who made this year memorable.
All our board members, entrepreneurs, mentors, partners, collaborators, everyone we have the privilege to call “friend”. Everyone who amplified our mission and carries the pay-it-forward mentality far beyond our entrepreneurial circle.
One message rang strong in 2025 – that we are stronger together. As a community, we prove this to be true day in, and day out.
We wish you a holiday season full of warmth and togetherness. Be merry, be jolly, and we can’t wait to continue all our work together in 2026!