March 21; rebounds and new beginnings ☀️
New lockdowns, new investments, new insights... this was my week
Happy Sunday,
It’s almost the end of March, and with winter making a traditional seasonal comeback with snow and freezing temperatures, while an unmistakable new Covid-19 wave is upon us, it does feel a bit like groundhog day here in Sofia.
Still, it also feels like light is visible at the end of this tunnel. The European Commission finally published a Draft Regulation on the Digital Green Certificate, which will allow a unified system for certificating vaccinations and testing, so that events, cultural life, and travel can start coming back responsibly this summer. This is something I’m really looking forward to, and whatever these rules will contain, at least we’ll have a framework on which we can start planning our lives again.
Meanwhile in Sofia, the local authorities have gone 180 degrees on the promise last week not to introduce nationwide lockdowns again, by declaring a new national lockdown, for now for 10 days, starting tomorrow, March 22. Until April 1, all restaurants, cafes, non-food retail, gyms, spa centers, schools, etc. have to shut down once more. Indoors private gatherings up to 15 people are still allowed unchanged, which means most offices are spared, so for me, life will pretty much continue the way it was. I really do hope this measure helps bring the cases down from the current 25% positive test rate on daily rates of 15,000-20,000 tests.
Heading into this locked down last full week of the month, I’ve indulged in a visit to one of my favorite restaurants in Sofia, Made in Blue, for a portfolio company dinner meeting, and all hopes are on April to bring us warm weather, a sharp decrease in cases, and with vaccinations back on track, finally the beginning of the end of this ordeal.
First time for everything: Fashion 👗✨
It’s been one of my main personal ambitions in the entire three years that we were building the Vitosha fund: to be able to grow venture-grade businesses outside pure tech.
And thankfully, that’s exactly what we’re doing with e-bike manufacturing, shared mobility solutions, and now even with high-street fashion. This week I shared my impressions on the story behind Eirene Studio, and our investment in the Bulgarian startup that’s taking over the lucrative new field of upscale apparel for children.
Eirene Studio just moved to their new headquarters in downtown Sofia, only 5 mins walking from our Vitosha office, and my colleagues and I paid them a visit, savoring the fantastic decor and ambience that Eirene founder Irina Nedkova and her team created there.
My profound excitement about companies that cover non-tech, high-growth sectors is based on two assumptions:
Digital infrastructure creates (near-) exponential growth opportunities for non-digital players, who are early to adopt technologies like digital marketing, fulfillment management, supply-chain optimization, and the various cloud-based data solutions becoming mainstream;
Specifically in a market like Bulgaria, after a decade of widely available seed funding, an entire class of entrepreneurs who know how to use these new techniques and technologies has developed, while the country still has all of the “emerging economy” advantages like low taxes, low costs, and most importantly, widespread personal ambition to succeed.
And it’s along those thoughts that with the Vitosha team we’re so excited about Eirene Studio. With a market growing 5% year-on-year, and solid experience in design, production, and distribution, we’re positioning this investment as a lower-risk, higher-return-probability bet in our venture spread.
Electric driving myth-busting 🚙⚡️🧐
Ever since getting my first EV two months ago, I’ve been learning first-hand what’s true and what isn’t when it comes to popular opinions about battery-electric vehicles. Which is gratifying, as it feels like getting a sneak preview and prep course to our future.
One of the things I often hear when I tell people I prefer to drive electric, is that I’m not helping with lowering emissions or reducing my carbon footprint; I’m just moving the pollution elsewhere. One important angle on which it’s easy to refute this is the fine-particle pollution part; most of the air quality detriment comes from fine particles in urban and industrial areas. Cars are responsible for about 20-30% of that, so even if they emit the same amount, but through electricity generation elsewhere, it’s already a considerable lifting of the burden.
But then there’s CO2, which is the main driver of the greenhouse effect and global warming. I decided to do a quick calculation to see how much exactly is the difference between my diesel car and my EV when it comes to CO2 emissions:
Burning diesel produces 2.64kg of CO2 per liter
According to ENTSO-E, Bulgaria’s current average CO2 per kWh of electricity consumed stands at 344g
My diesel car average consumption is 7.8 liters per 100km (it’s bad, I know)
My EV average consumption is 23kWh per 100km
I.e. my diesel car produces 206g of CO2 per km
I.e. my EV is responsible for 79g of CO2 per km. Quite a difference!
That’s almost three times less CO2 per km driven. And that’s in Bulgaria, one of Europe’s least energy-efficient countries. The CO2/kWh production average in France is 65g and in Norway even 42g, almost ten times lower than in Bulgaria. So as we get less dependent on fossil fuels and more on renewables and nuclear (controversial!), the CO2 difference could well go from 3x to 6x, 10x, and beyond. Good to know!
In Sofia, there’s a cool startup called Travel By Electric that offers for-rent EVs to get used to electric driving, complete with guidance on charging best-practices, workshops on range-optimal driving, and more. Check it out:
Meet our investment team at Vitosha
In times when physical meetings are rare, and travel abroad non-existent, it’s hard to build and maintain the personal relationships needed for… well, anything and everything. At our office, we decided to host a couple of Ask-Us-Anthyhing sessions through our Insta account @vitoshavp, which our communications lead Alexandra then mashed up into a reel with selected insights on often-asked investment and startup topics. Have a look, and follow us @vitoshavp for more:
Watch on Facebook | Watch on IGTV
Thanks for checking in today and talk to you next Sunday! 😇
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