Are We Going to Crawl or Fly

Innovation, innovation… we often talk about innovation, and considerable public resources are put away for supporting them. But are they enough? Don’t they sink like water into the sand? Here are two perspectives.

Radoslav Markov, Radoslav Corporation – R&D in audiovisual archives:

Radoslav Markov is the winner of the Innovation of the Year Award 2016. He has an innovative development in the field of post-production cinema and is a lecturer at some of the biggest international events

To me, innovation is something completely new, which, with its emergence, leads to a revolutionary change, and is not just a clever little thing that “discovers” the wheel again, but in a slightly more rectangular shape. There is no way for discoveries to happen every day. Innovation solves a current or future problem in a way that has not been applied before – and is cheaper, faster and more convenient than the existing practices. It is useless for the entire ecosystem to give money for “harmless innovations” that simply absorb a lot of funding, and then their creators start to whine how they have failed to develop them and bring them to the market. This stops the real new technologies as it becomes more and more difficult to sift the grain from the chaff. Many organizations have also appeared that support startups and innovations, producing only “vapour” and absorbing money. 

There are multiple funds now that invest somebody else’s money and are not as careful as they would be with their own finances. There are no good experts who can actually evaluate the potential of innovation. I am convinced that in Bulgaria an anti-gravity engine and a time machine cannot be invented simply because there is no one to finance such a thing.

Elitsa Stoilova, founder and СЕО at Umni – the first chatbot agency in Bulgaria:

The know-how acquired from several accelerators helps Elitsa Stoilova to successfully develop a chatbot agency for automation of communication

Innovation and the desire to create something that others have not created is a way of thinking. However, the realization of the idea depends on how the society treats innovators and whether it supports them in their efforts.

The lack of funding at a very early stage is detrimental to startups that deal with innovative technologies and approaches. At the very beginning, there are costs, but no revenue, which is why young businesses rely mostly on their own resources. And if they can find funds, it is possible for them to exist. Otherwise, they have to go back to work. Another problem is that developed companies are not open to using new technologies created by startups. This is a factor that influences the implementation of significant innovations that are at an early stage of development. There are companies in the West that announce competitions addressed to startups for solving particular problems. This helps to connect with businesses.

Accelerators provide knowledge and are a necessary investment that many do not have access to. Mentors give know-how and basic guidelines to startups and help them build contacts. But most of the accelerators don’t provide money, and only small fraction of the people and the teams with ideas for innovation can be accepted. I know from experience that many people with good ideas were forced to return to the corporate world because, as entrepreneurs, they did not get to the right place with the right people and did not find support. After Umni has gone through three accelerators, our survival will depend on meeting people and companies who would put their trust in us. If we are to develop, we will need an investment – so that we don’t crawl, but fly.