In Sofia, from march 27 to April 2, 2023, the “Accelerator Program for startups in the field of agriculture between China and Central and Eastern European countries” was held. The intensive program took place within the Sofia Tech Park complex in Bulgaria and is part of the APACCCEEC pilot project, an initiative formed through cooperation between the People’s Republic of China and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (China-CEE, also known as “16+1”). This initiative is led by the Ministry of foreign affairs of the People’s Republic of China to enhance business and investment relations between China and 16 CEE countries. In 2014, a Memorandum of Establishment of the Association for the Promotion of Agricultural Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries was signed in Bucharest.

APACCCEEC was established under the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Bulgaria, and its operations are funded from the budget of the Republic of Bulgaria through the budget of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Bulgaria, its own revenues, and donations. China and CEE countries do not pay membership fees or other charges to APACCCEEC.

The goals of the accelerator program are to attract young and entrepreneurial individuals into the agricultural sector, as well as to support the development of innovative services, applications, and products in agriculture. The application period for participation in the Accelerator lasted from January 10, 2023, to march 10, 2023. The accelerator program was aimed at creating innovative solutions to reduce the carbon footprint of the HoReCa industry, GIS (Geographic Information Systems) in agriculture, solutions for food waste, carbon neutrality in agriculture, food technologies, irrigation systems, circular economy in food and beverage supply, and more.

On the final day, the teams from 20 startups that actively participated in the program presented their business concepts and projects to an external jury, as well as to investors, representatives from the academic community and business, experts, media, and diplomats from CEE and China. On behalf of the Science and technology park of Montenegro, which is a partner in this project, the Executive Director, mr. Velibor Bošković, participated as a jury member, evaluating the finalists of the competition.

The first accelerator program for startups in agriculture gathered an amazing 20 finalists from 8 countries (Albania, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Montenegro, Serbia). The startup team E&T Healthy Bee, represented by Mitar Đukanović, also participated in the final competition of the Accelerator.

The teams were supported by a mentoring pool consisting of experts and lecturers from 5 countries (Bulgaria, China, Italy, Montenegro, Poland). Montenegro was represented as a member of the mentoring team by the Program Activities Manager, who, together with colleagues from other countries, provided expert mentoring support to the teams attending this demanding program.

The positive atmosphere created during the program was also felt on the final day, when the teams “pitched” their ideas in front of an expert jury and a very energetic audience in the Sofia Tech Park amphitheater. The international jury, which had a very challenging task, selected the top 3 teams, who also won valuable prizes:

1. Lam`on (Bulgaria) – €25,000.00
2. Farma B digital agriculture (Greece) – €15,000.00
3. Bioreaction.tech (Hungary) – €10,000.00

The Science and technology park provided support in organizing and executing the event, which is of great importance for enhancing the innovation process and collaboration between the scientific-research and business communities in the field of agriculture. In addition to the Science and technology park of Montenegro, the partners were the Sofia Investment Agency; Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Sofia Tech Park; Sofia University – Faculty of Economics and Business Administration; Agricultural Academy – Sofia; University of National and World Economy – Institute of Entrepreneurship; Bulgarian Association of Information Technologies (BAIT); Bulgarian-Romanian Bilateral Chamber of Commerce; and the Bulgarian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.