Executive Board

The Executive Board of the National Innovation Fund comprises 11 members representing public institutions, the business sector, academia and civil society. Its members were appointed by order of the Minister of Innovation and Growth for a four-year term and may be reappointed for one additional consecutive term.

The Executive Board comprises:

• two representatives of the Ministry of Innovation and Digital Transformation;
• five representatives of the business community;
• two representatives of higher education institutions and research organisations;
• one representative of civil society;
• one representative of the Ministry of Education and Science.

 

Chair: Anton Todorov

Anton Todorov has more than 25 years of professional experience in the development and implementation of innovative business projects for start-ups and established enterprises, financed through private venture investment and European funding programmes.

He served as Chief Executive Officer of New i AD, a company specialising in securing funding for innovative projects under national and centrally managed European programmes, including the EIC Accelerator, Horizon Europe and LIFE. In this role, he successfully managed projects with a total value exceeding EUR 500 million.

He has extensive experience in business and innovation development within one of Southeast Europe’s leading companies providing knowledge-based services, data processing and business intelligence solutions.

He is Managing Partner of the Bulgarian Business Angels Network, the first organisation in Bulgaria focused on venture financing for start-ups. He is also a co-founder and lead consultant of several European Digital Innovation Hubs.

He holds a Master’s degree in International Economic Relations from the University of National and World Economy. He is a PhD candidate in Automated Systems for Information Processing and Management at the Technical University of Sofia.

Vice Chair: Kremena Koleva

Kremena Koleva is a Chief Expert at the Policies and Analyses Directorate of the Ministry of Innovation and Digital Transformation.

Dr Koleva holds a PhD in Chemical Kinetics and Catalysis from the Institute of Catalysis at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

Since 2018, she has held various expert positions within the public administration. At the Directorate General Civil Aviation Administration, her work focused on the implementation of environmental standards and policies aimed at reducing carbon emissions from civil aviation. In this capacity, she served as Bulgaria’s National Coordinator to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in the field of environmental protection.

A significant part of her professional career was spent at the Ministry of Environment and Water, where she contributed to the development and implementation of climate policy, including measures related to the European Green Deal, the Fit for 55 package and the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) in the aviation and maritime transport sectors. Dr Koleva also served as National Contact Point for the EU Innovation Fund.

Since June 2025, she has worked within the public administration in the field of innovation policy, contributing to the development and implementation of policies and support measures promoting green technologies, the circular economy and the bioeconomy.

 

Members

Bojan Boichev

Bojan Boichev is an established expert and executive in the field of technology and innovation, with more than 35 years of professional experience, including over 20 years in leadership positions. His career has focused on the management, development and implementation of complex digital solutions in the fields of software development, digitalisation, research and innovation.

Over the years, he has held leadership roles in companies such as IR Data, BMG Data and ACT Soft, contributing to the strategic development of technological products and innovative projects. He has played a significant role in the implementation of high-technology solutions, including cloud-based financial reporting platforms aligned with European requirements, as well as language products for the Microsoft environment.

Alongside his corporate experience, he has been actively involved in Bulgaria’s innovation ecosystem through collaboration with institutions, research organisations, higher education institutions and start-up companies. He graduated from the Technical University of Sofia and has further developed his professional qualifications through a number of specialisations in information technology.

Vladimir Filipov

Vladimir Filipov is a manager, entrepreneur and internationally recognised expert in the digitalisation of industrial enterprises and manufacturing operations management. He has more than 30 years of professional experience in industrial software development and extensive expertise in Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) and Industry 4.0.

His professional career began in Sweden in 1990. He subsequently held various expert and managerial positions within the international ABB Group in Sweden, Italy and Switzerland. He contributed to the development and implementation of solutions for industrial automation and manufacturing process management across a wide range of industries worldwide.

In 2006–2007, he founded NearSoft Europe GmbH in Switzerland and NearSoft Ltd. in Bulgaria. Under his leadership, the MOM4 platform was developed – a solution for managing and optimising manufacturing processes based on the international ISA-95 and RAMI 4.0 standards.

Vladimir Filipov actively contributes to the development of Industry 4.0 policies and strategies in Bulgaria as an expert and adviser. He has also served as an expert evaluator for European Commission programmes, including Horizon 2020. Since 2020, he has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy in Sofia.

His professional focus is on sustainable digital transformation, technological development and strengthening the competitiveness of industry.

Kristina Nikolova

Kristina Nikolova is a Chief Expert at the Science Directorate and a representative of the Ministry of Education and Science.

She holds a Master’s degree in Project Management and a Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration. She has worked at the Science Directorate of the Ministry of Education and Science since 2013.

Her administrative experience is related to the development of proposals and draft documents concerning the implementation of national research policy; activities related to the implementation of the National Strategy for the Development of Scientific Research and the National Roadmap for Research Infrastructure; and activities aimed at supporting and retaining young researchers and postdoctoral fellows.

She contributes to the preparation of legislation and secondary legislation related to the activities of the Directorate. She also participates in interinstitutional and internal working groups, as well as in national and regional initiatives. She is involved in the administration of national research programmes and other related activities.

Lazar Petrov

Lazar Petrov holds a Master’s degree in Law from the Faculty of Law of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, with a specialisation in International Law and International Relations.

Between 2008 and 2011, he worked as a lawyer at a law firm, providing comprehensive legal services to the firm’s clients, including the preparation of contracts, applications, orders, annexes and agreements, as well as legal actions relating to the initiation and conduct of enforcement proceedings concerning loans assigned by banks.

Since 2011, he has held various expert and managerial positions within the public administration, including at the Administration of the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Innovation and Growth, the Ministry of Justice and State Fund Agriculture, among others.

He has expertise in the management of European projects and programmes, including project management processes, expenditure verification and the application of financial corrections.

He has participated in numerous working groups responsible for drafting laws and secondary legislation relating to the judicial system and matters falling within the competences of the Minister of Justice, as well as draft laws and secondary legislation assigned by the Council of Ministers.

He played a key expert role in the process of structuring the National Innovation Fund, including its registration and the organisation of the procedure for selecting the members of the Executive Board.

Momchil Vasilev

Momchil Vasilev is Executive Director of the Bulgarian office of the global entrepreneurial network Endeavor.

He has more than 30 years of professional experience in the management and business development of companies at different stages of development. For 17 years, he was part of the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) team, where he led projects in audit, mergers and acquisitions and organisational restructuring, progressing to the position of Senior Manager.

Before joining Endeavor, he led the Corporate Development function at an investment company developing projects across different industries. He is also an active mentor and investor in technology companies.

He holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of National and World Economy and has completed an entrepreneurship programme at Harvard University in Massachusetts.

Momchil Vasilev is a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), a member of the management boards of BESCO and the Club of Financial Directors, and a member of the Advisory Board of BVCA.

Prof. Dr Rumen Yankov

Prof. Dr Rumen Yankov is an established scientist and expert with longstanding contributions to mechanics, engineering sciences and applied innovation. He graduated from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” with a degree in Mechanics and earned his PhD in 1985 at the Institute of Mechanics of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Since 2000, he has been Professor of Mechanics of Deformable Solids.

He is the author of more than 100 scientific publications with over 500 citations in international scientific literature. He has undertaken specialisations at KU Leuven in Belgium, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in Spain, the University of Thessaly in Greece and TU München in Germany through international research programmes.

Prof. Yankov has extensive experience in the management and evaluation of research and innovation projects funded by NATO, DAAD, DFG, the Bulgarian National Science Fund and the National Innovation Fund. He has participated in the National Center for Mechatronics and Clean Technologies and the National Scientific Programme “Security and Defence”.

His research interests include digital twins, numerical methods for analysing complex physical processes and engineering applications in energy, medicine, construction and industry. Throughout his professional career, he has successfully combined fundamental research with applied innovation and industrial collaboration.

Prof. Dr Teodora Georgieva

Prof. Dr Teodora Georgieva has more than 25 years of teaching and research experience in higher education.

She is Professor in the field of strategic management of science, technology and innovation at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. She leads the Master’s programme “Innovations and Digital Transformation in Agribusiness” at the Faculty. Prof. Georgieva is part of the team of AgroHub.BG – a European Digital Innovation Hub for the agribusiness sector in Bulgaria.

She participates as a jury member and mentor in the “Agribusiness Accelerator Programme” at the Center for Promotion of Cooperation in Agriculture between China and the Countries of Central and Eastern Europe under the Ministry of Agriculture and Food.

Her research activities include participation in projects funded under the European Commission Framework Programmes for Research, COSME, regional cooperation programmes, the World Bank and others. Until 2024, Teodora Georgieva served as editor and coordinator of the annual “Innovation.bg” report.

Lyubomir Stanislavov