Bulgarian business
Founded in 2017, SMSBump by Mihail Stoychev and Georgi Petrov, in addition to being the third largest software deal for a Bulgarian company, is also the largest acquisition of a startup in which a Bulgarian venture capital fund has invested. For its three-year independent operation, the company has received a total of 375 thousand euros of investment, one from a business angel and 200 thousand euros from the second venture capital fund Eleven against a 5.7% stake in the company. SMSBump’s revenues for 2019 before its acquisition are BGN 7.5 million, and the profit – BGN 2.9 million.
Now the business is setting a new record – for the first time a Bulgarian company is part of a startup unicorn. This will allow for the development not only of the SMSBump solution, but also for the expansion of the R&D team in Bulgaria. Currently, the SMS marketing platform is used by over 90 thousand online brands. According to Georgi Petrov, SMSBump reports 170% revenue growth on an annual basis and is the fastest growing product in Yotpo’s portfolio. “The main growth factors are the synergy between SMSBump and Yotpo customers after the acquisition, as well as the e-commerce boom,” he told Capital.
Currently, the company’s office in Bulgaria employs 40 people. The new financial injection will also be aimed at expanding the team. “We have a very interesting 2021 ahead of us, during which we aim to expand the office in Sofia to 80 people, including technical roles as programmers and developers, as well as human resources, marketing and design specialists and others,” Mihail Stoychev told the media.
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