About Clairice
We are an independent association working to make AI a practical, profitable tool for Bulgarian companies.
Why we exist
Bulgaria has the ingredients for strong AI adoption: capable engineers, a growing technology sector, and companies used to competing on efficiency. What has been missing is the connective tissue between the companies with a problem and the people who can solve it.
CLAIRICE was founded in 2025 to build that connection. We bring together the businesses adopting AI, the technology providers and researchers who build it, and the European programmes that fund it, so that adoption moves faster than any single company could manage alone.
Our mission
To strengthen the competitiveness of Bulgarian small and medium-sized enterprises through the practical adoption of artificial intelligence.
Everything we do is measured against that. We are not here to promote AI for its own sake, but to help more Bulgarian companies produce more, waste less, and win work they would otherwise lose.
How we work
We start with the business
Every engagement begins with what a company actually does and where it wants to improve. The technology question comes second.
We stay independent
We hold no commercial interest in which solution a company chooses. That is what makes our assessment worth having.
We work in the open
Our guides, findings, and funding briefings are published free. What we learn from one company benefits the next.
We represent you in Europe
We carry our members’ perspective into European AI policy discussions, so decisions reflect what companies here actually need.
What we are
CLAIRICE – the Cluster for AI Research and Innovation for Competitive Europe – is being established as a non-profit association in Sofia under the Bulgarian Non-Profit Legal Entities Act, to operate in the public benefit.
Public-benefit status means our activities serve a stated public purpose rather than the private interest of our members, that our accounts and annual reports are publicly filed, and that we are subject to the oversight that comes with that designation. In practice it is the reason our advice can be independent.
The people
The founding board and core team.
Nikola Krastev
Managing Partner of CLAIRICE, the cluster he helped establish in 2025 to strengthen AI research and innovation in Bulgaria.
An independent European projects and innovation consultant since 2010, supporting companies and research teams in securing over €50 million through Horizon Europe, the EIC Accelerator, Digital Europe and national programmes.
Also EU Projects Coordinator at Transmetrics and Research and Innovation Coordinator at Imagga, coordinating Horizon Europe projects and developing R&D and innovation strategy at both.
Before moving into innovation funding he spent fifteen years in commercial and executive roles, representing Amcor PET Packaging in Bulgaria for a decade and serving as Executive Director of a Bulgarian-US real-estate joint venture. He holds an Executive MBA from the American University in Bulgaria.
Kiril Zdravkov
Two decades of building environmental and waste systems in Bulgaria from the ground up, with earlier executive roles in banking and FMCG.
Company Manager of Agroecosystema since 2016, where he has taken Bulgaria’s national pesticide-packaging scheme to country-wide coverage: more than 4,000 farmers and 11 producers participating, collection up from 60% to above 90%, and recycling above 85%.
Previously CEO of Ecogumi, where he built a nationwide scrap-tyre collection network and moved disposal from incineration to recycling, and before that at the Ministry of Environment and Waters, where he helped draft Bulgaria’s 2010 waste tyre regulation.
Earlier, as CEO of Ecopack Bulgaria, he cut operating costs by over 30% a year while taking more than 50% market share. He holds a degree in International Business Relations from the University of National and World Economy in Sofia.
Evgeni Tsonev
A commercial executive whose track record is in business growth, market expansion and strategic development, across high-value businesses and a range of geographies.
His work spans commercial strategy, business transformation, market entry and growth acceleration, with a consistent focus on identifying opportunities, building businesses that scale, and delivering results that hold.
He has held senior roles with leading organisations in FMCG, banking, telecommunications and advertising, with hands-on project work in high-end electronics, agriculture and e-commerce.
He now combines that corporate experience with an entrepreneurial and advisory role, working with startups in the fintech and benefits-management sectors on building and scaling new ventures, shaping growth strategy, and turning market opportunities into tangible value.
Our work is supported by an expert network of practitioners in manufacturing, logistics, agriculture, and software, who advise on assessments and contribute to our published material.
Work with us
Whether you run a company considering AI, build the technology, or research it, there is a place for you here.