A new way of thinking
H359 creates and scales innovative models that tackle critical challenges facing the Republic of Bulgaria and Bulgarian society in regard to innovation, education, entrepreneurship, competitiveness, monetary systems and governmental bodies.
By building meaningful relationships between students, entrepreneurs start-ups, corporates and policy makers, H359 turns the “conversion rate” of innovations into an adopted practice. This has the effect of driving growth, efficiency and productivity in the marketplace, enhancing competitiveness, creating new knowledge and intellectual capital, and improving market prosperity.
H359 process includes several stages:
- Identifying blind spots in areas critical to Bulgaria and the Bulgarian people, which, in addressing, requires changes in mindset and deep adaptation;
- Formulating the desired vision of reality;
- Developing strategies and approaches for realising the vision;
- Piloting a design that creates a new working model or solution as a response to the challenge, in collaboration and partnership with individuals and organisations that are central to the issue.
...our mission is to bring brilliant minds together to explore, discuss and find new ways to create lasting solutions that make a meaningful impact...
What do we do?
Acceleration
H359 offers students and young companies with pioneering ideas within our focus areas the opportunity to access our broad network and accelerate through strategic partnerships and investments with the H359 partner companies. We also act as a collaboration hub that enables projects between our network partner companies. We do this by creating a space and culture of openness for collaboration and by connecting entrepreneurs with partner companies through our collaboration programs.
Lectures & Workshops
H359 offers lectures, discussions, and workshops in Bulgarian and English in our areas of expertise, including innovation and technology transfer, education, leadership, the creation of a sustainable and resilient society, building an entrepreneurial backbone, the Bulgerian people, and socio-economic development in Bulgaria. We are happy to come to your site for such events or host individuals and group events in our offices.
Consulting & Research
We provide research and analysis fundamentals using our years of experience tackling a wide range of issues and acquiring a specific understanding of your extant challenges. We deploy the H359 MINDHIVE methodology with the purpose of identifying and characterising strategic blind spots that lead to inefficient use of time and resources and often portend a future crisis. If you or your organisation is looking for groundbreaking insights or potential future pathways to success, contact us.
What is unique about H359 is the closeness to our partners. Partner representatives are involved in every part of our organisation, from screening new applicants to leading our collaboration program.
Our focus areas (2022 - 2025)
We focus our attention on areas that can drive growth and prosperity in the short term, while building a sustainable, resilient infrastructure to secure lasting scalability and longevity.
By making sure our hubs are targeting their geographic economic zone challenges, we secure impact on the local communities, improving their GDP, economic growth and prosperity.
Innovation and technology transfer
At H359 we work to provide pathways that lead to new forms of innovation. We do this by tackling every project from a variety of perspectives to ensure that we leave no stone unturned in our pursuit of meaningful progress while delivering on both implicit and explicit end customer requirements.
A vital part of this approach includes the adoption of new technologies that can speed up the innovation process or even automate it entirely. By introducing new technologies where beneficial, we enable companies to progress and overtake the competition.
- Promote sustainable development of solutions through new technologies.
- Drive investment projects for technological innovation and the introduction of innovations that will grow Bulgarian GDP.
- Develop and offer strategic investors a new Bulgaria-driven marketplace of intellectual properties, talent and partnerships
- Promote technological development, technical consultancy and joint R&D opportunities in Bulgaria.
Innovation within education
By utilising the best minds in the field, our proprietary methodologies and access to nascent technology, we provide a platform for exploration and innovation within education. By understanding the nature of the changes our world is facing, and the demands of industry and society, we can help to reshape the future of education.
By utilising the best minds in the field, proprietary methodologies and our access to nascent technology, we provide a platform for exploration and innovation within education. By understanding the nature of the changes our world is facing, and the demands of industry and society, we can help to reshape the future of education.
- Facilitate dialogue between private and public sectors, educators and students to provide forums for information exchange and introduction of good practices, ones that are driven by new emerging trends, social norms, new technologies and economic resilience.
- Explore and design new learning models. Re-imagine the future classroom.
- Promote systemic approach to education and educational innovations. Combine multiple disciplines into one streamlined learning process around a defined project.
- Use artificial intelligence and digital twin technologies to secure equal opportunities within the education system.
Good ideas can build businesses. Great ideas can change the world. H359 gives students, entrepreneurs, companies and governments access to a SIMPLE* model designed to curate business challenges and exposes talent, technologies, solutions, partnerships and spin-offs that can address these challenges and open the door to new and emerging business opportunities.
What are the benefits of being a member of the H359?
For partner companies
Partner companies pay a membership fee to support H359’s operational costs and events. This provides our partners with first option rights for investment in start-ups in our acceleration program.
As a partner company you will be able to access new technologies, early stage ideas and concepts that hold the potential to create products, services and business models that can drive new revenues, maximise profit, create new IPs and drive new investments. You will also have direct access to a pool of fresh, high-end talent and have first recruitment options.
For students and entrepreneurs:
As a student you will have the opportunity to work alongside a diverse group of people, co-create, design and develop solutions to real-world challenges.
You will also have access to executive mentors across industry segments that will help you better understand how to structure your ideas, deploy and test your hypotheses in a real-world environment as well get investment and employment opportunities. H359 is a platform for your innovative ideas that provides you with the exposure and network you need to succeed.
For Academia
As an academic institute, partnering with H359 gives you the opportunity to work together with industry partners and other academic institutes and develop new educational partnerships that will result in new programs and research areas that can lead to the creation of new IPs and attract new funding partners.
You will also gain access to new technologies and help to bring business and policy makers together in a collaborative think-tank that aims to define a policy, societal and technological vision for Bulgaria’s future.
Overview of how H359 works
*The Systemic Innovation and Monetization Policy Lab Environment (SIMPLE) offers a range of potential alternatives for corporates, companies (big and small), start-ups and entrepreneurs to explore and test ideas, design new products and services, discover new business avenues and create meaningful partnerships.
(1)
Acceleration
Use policies and capital to drive necessary accelerations of technologies and policies in unique focus areas.
(2)
eLABorator
Utilize the access our capital and experimentation arena to a create pipeline of companies and solutions in the relevant core focus areas.
(3)
Communities
Give top communities and universities access to top tech, talent, mentors and organic labs.
(4)
Knowledge
Aggregate Data and Business Applications Library on a massive scale.
Output for member
(1)
New JVs & investment
Help our members and partners grow globally while attracting new capital and investment via JVs and global partnerships.
(2)
Intellectual property
A new model to capture strategic IPs will directly impact development and growth.
(3)
Human capital
Develop current talent pool and access to the most powerful talent and human capital.
The sum of the parts is the answer. H359 is a non-profit leadership, strategy, and impact organisation, founded in 2022 by Paulina Chotrova and Aric Dromi.
Navigating our future successfully demands access to the insights and experience that few individuals hold. Minds, methods and meetings can make all the difference.
Since the invention of the axe, technology has been the force that paved the way for better and smarter social constructs. From Watt’s steam engine in 1775, sewage systems, elevators, and shipping containers, to screens, smartphones, processing power, and machine learning, it’s the impact of technology and education which helps us to remove barriers and build new horizons. It’s the one function that never stops; it continually reinvents itself and defines new potentials.
Over the past few years, a new wave of technologies have enveloped our world. Artificial Intelligence, robotics, genomics, biotechnology, nanotechnology, terotechnology, augmented and virtual reality enable business, consumers, and governments to re-examine and re-purpose every aspect of our social and financial interactions in real-time. From Digital Twins to the cities we live in; from mobility, energy, and communication to new economic models – the ideas which form the basis of future cities must be anchored in new thinking models.
We believe that “survival of the fittest” doesn’t necessarily mean being the fastest or the strongest, but rather being fit, agile and adjusted to your specific environment and time. This is as true for the individual as it is for business, governments, cities, and societies. Playing with degrees of variation, our mission is to instigate change and transformation on personal, social, societal, and cultural levels.
Using our unique combination of theory, methodology and technology, we identify areas in which ‘blind spots’, in the way leaders perceive a given reality, create a ‘fundamental gap’ in the face of fast-changing realities.
H359 works both in Bulgaria and internationally, engaging across various levels of leadership and society that are relevant to our focus areas. We seek to mobilise adaptive change in these areas and to circumvent potential hindrances to growth and prosperity.
Our team
From entrepreneurs, educators, futurologists and innovation leaders to communication, technology and legal experts, our core team and incomparable network of experts and advisers can deliver a formidable response to any question that can be posed.
Paulina Chotrova
Co-Founder, Chairwoman
#Deeptech, #technology strategy, #womenentreprenuers #talent placement
Kalina Jankova
Board member
#Education, #Music, #child development, #Innovation within music education, #womenentreprenuers
Mira Ganova, PhD
Board member
#Business development , #Communication, #Digital health, #Innovation, #womenentreprenuers
Mihaela Becheva
Board member
#Project management, #womenentreprenuers
Tihomir Stoychev
Executive Board Member
#Legal, #Intellectual properties, #Policy, #mentoring #Music innovation
Nikolay Chotrov
Board member
#Deep tech, #Blockchain #AI, #ML, #software and hardware development, #concept design
Aric Dromi
Co-Founder, Executive Board Member
#Innovation, #monetization strategies #deep tech, #mentoring
FAQ
In a nutshell, what is H359?
H359 is an innovation, education and collaboration hub within focus areas relevant to the growth and prosperity of Bulgarian society. We offer students and entrepreneurs a fast-track into strategic partnerships with our industry partners.
Who are your partners? How are they involved in H359?
We have several industry and academic partners that are the true backbone of H359. They are involved in every aspect – from screening applicants to operational decisions. This tightly-knit way of working is what makes us unique. Our partners meet regularly to discuss current and future challenges and pain points in both Bulgarian business and the country’s educational ecology. These discussions help us to highlight focus areas where we wish to drive impact.
Why should I not just contact one of your partners myself for collaboration?
Approaching a large corporation and finding the right person to talk to is not always easy. With H359 you get connected to experts with the mandate to initiate collaborations. You also get an assigned partner contact that is responsible for the continuous progress of your collaboration – an internal champion!
Why is your HQ based in Plovdiv?
Plovdiv, is a brewing pot for education, creativity and new technologies. It is considered to be at the forefront of innovation.
What about money? Do you buy our technology or do you invest?
H359 does not invest in your company. The goal of our program is for you to enter a commercial project with one of our partners or get investment to spin-off your own company.
In what way is sustainability important to H359?
Sustainability, both environmental and social, is a prioritised and integral part of all our partners' business strategy going forward. For example, the ambition to build a climate-neutral car by 2030, be a carbon-neutral company by 2040, and a circular company by 2050. H359 takes sustainability