AcceleratingCEE founders'   expansion into the US market.

Transform your local success into global impact. Tailored go-to-market strategies, world-class mentorship, and powerful networks to fuel your unicorn journey.

ABOUT US

Mentorship from billion-dollar company builders.

Based in Silicon Valley, Future Unicorns Accelerator provides US go-to-market strategies for visionary founders in Central and Eastern Europe ready to take their startups to the next level. Rooted in a strong community and global ecosystem of serial entrepreneurs and investors, we offer personalized support to help startups master the art of scaling.

By aligning the network expertise with every company's unique journey, our program empowers entrepreneurs to think bigger, innovate boldly at a scale, and achieve success beyond their expectations.

Sponsored by America for Bulgaria Foundation
key benefits

Why join Future Unicorns?

With focus on long-term impact, we look to build sustainable businesses catalyzed for lasting global influence.

CEE-to-US Bridge
Tailored strategies for startups from Central and Eastern European and beyond to successfully enter and thrive in the US market.
Diaspora-Powered Network
Unique access to mentors, investors, and local market experts who share your CEE heritage and have achieved global success.
In-Person Silicon Valley Immersion
Hands-on experience in the world's leading tech ecosystem, not just remote learning.
Global Sales Acceleration
Learn winning sales strategies from Silicon Valley experts, including SDR organization and enterprise sales tactics.
Investor-Ready Transformation
Master the art of pitching, fundraising, and building relationships with top-tier US investors through hands-on workshops led by VCs working at firms such as Sequoia Capital, Graylock, USVP, and Bain Capital.
Founder Mindset Transformation
Shift from local to global thinking, empowering you to envision and achieve exponential growth.
300+
Mentors
61
Graduated Startups
$150M+
Raised by Portfolio
15k+
Clients

Meet our team.

Our vision is to bridge the knowledge gap between CEE and Silicon Valley. We aim to accelerate collaboration, drive innovation and promote the region as a cultural and business destination to US companies and partners.

PAVLINA YANAKIEVA

CEO/ Executive Director

BOGOMIL BALKANSKY

President/Board Member

RIKA NAKAZAWA

Board Member

IVAN DIMOV

Board Member

GALINA ANTOVA

Board Member

PRESSIAN KARAKOSTOV

Board Member

SIMEON SIMEONOV

Board Member

KONSTANTIN KUNEV

General Manager

A world-class network of mentors.

Gain direct access to Silicon Valley's most impactful minds. Our mentors—accomplished serial entrepreneurs, executives, innovators, and investors—provide personalized guidance, deep industry insights, and invaluable connections.

Dafina Toncheva

General Partner @ U.S. Venture Partners

Jerry Chen

Partner at Greylock

Jenn Wei

Vice President Monetization & GM @ Rubrik

Bogomil Balkansky

Partner at Sequoia Capital

Anton Lenke

VP of Sales Development @ SKAEL, Inc.

Galina Antova

Co-Founder, Chief Business Development Officer @ Claroty

Todd Rulon-Miller

Founding Partner @ Apogee Venture Group

Marina Hristova

VP, Growth Marketing @ Okta

Simeon Simeonov

Founder/CTO @ Swoop & IPM.ai

Pavlina Yanakieva

Co-founder and CEO of Bulgaria Innovation Hub, Inc

Deyan Vitanov

CMO @ Playco

Lidiya Dervisheva

Partner @ Next47

Momchil Kyurkchiev

Co-founder/CPO at Leanplum

Dragan Manoev

Managing Director, Technology Investment Banking @ Alantra

Rika Nakazawa

Group Vice President, Connected Industry @ NTT Ltd
View all mentors

Supported by the ecosystem.

Our program is backed by venture capitalists, successful entrepreneurs and other impact driven organizations and foundations, committed to giving back and driving a more prosperous future for the economies and communities of Central and Eastern Europe.

Stay updated on CEE startup opportunities.
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Real stories of our successful CEE founders.

The most impactful takeaway was the Tesla playbook on hiring and building top performing talent.

Svilen Rangelov
Founder & CEO of Dronamics

The best thing about the program is that it really helped me stretch my mind, see new opportunities, and remove mindset barriers that were not helpful for my company's growth. I met with amazing people - experienced, humble, and very willing to help and give back to the community. In general, a great place if you want to level up your startup game!

Karina Karagaeva
Co-founder and CEO of Vodar

The biggest benefit from the program was to teach us how to think more ambitiously and gave us the confidence to see that it’s possible. For us, it was very useful to understand how investors are thinking and how we should be thinking about the whole fundraising process. At the same time, AMPECO was getting good traction and a good amount of customers, so we thought it was a good moment to scale. So, we were looking for advice on the best practices for doing so, and how to avoid some of the pitfalls people have fallen into in the past.

Stefan Ivanov
Co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Ampeco

Since day zero, even before founding my company, for me it wasn't a question whether we will participate, but more of when - the team behind it is just phenomenal! While I wasn't 100% sure what is the best company stage you should be in in order to join the program, now after experiencing it, I would strongly encourage everyone with as early as an initial traction or close to such to join. The program, dear founders, will help shape and strengthen your foundation!

Vesko Kolev
Co-founder and CEO of iCanpreneur

The best way I can describe the program is with one example. Imagine a little kid that goes to the playground with his mom. This child feels empowered to play with the others because his mom is around and will help him if he falls or something else happens. That’s how I see it, as the mother who is always available to help and support tech entrepreneurs and companies.

Maya Zlatanova
Founder & CEO of FindMeCure

When we started the program, we were exactly at the stage of preparing our pitch deck, preparing materials for investors, and also our pitch. So, this focus of the program was enormously relevant and beneficial for us. All of the drills we did and going through them, improving, and iterating, were very helpful for us. Through them we were able to get to the next level.

Iva Gumnishka
Founder of Humans in the Loop

The program was very helpful for us in various aspects. We were able to streamline our sales process, demonstrations, and investor relationship processes.

Georgi Georgiev
Co-founder & CEO of Releva.ai

When we started OfficeRnD, we had leading development teams but we didn’t have a lot of business acumen. By participating in such programs, we gained valuable experience in developing business and working with more experienced people.

Miroslav Miroslavov
Co-founder and CEO of OfficeRnD

The program gave us a really immersive experience, with many lessons learned live, in San Francisco.

Andrei Cretu
Co-founder and CEO, Pluria

Strongly recommend to follow the program as early as possible in your startup's journey. With valuable learnings, insights, and things to do or not to do in your journey.

Casius Morea
Founder and CEO EmailTree.ai