Ivaylo Simov is the co-founder of Eleven, a EUR 12 million accelerator venture fund, focusing on early stage startups from South Eastern Europe, which has already invested in more than 30 projects since September 2012. Ivaylo has 15 years of VC and private equity experience, spanning 50 investments for more than EUR 100 million across various sectors, including ICT, retail, FMCG and B2B services. Before setting up Eleven, he was director of Global Finance for Bulgaria. He started his career as analyst and later investment manager at SEAF.
Ivaylo has a bachelor and MBA from Sofia University's Business Schoool and is a board member of its Alumni Association. Over the last two years he's been actively involved in supporting the development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in SEE and has participated as jury and speaker in many startup competitions and events.