From 14 to 16 November 2025, Challenge Lab Bulgaria 2025 took place—an intensive format aimed at fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in the agri-food sector. The initiative brought together young innovators, students, and entrepreneurs who worked on real-life challenges related to the future and sustainable development of the food system.

As part of the event, six teams took part in developing their business ideas and solutions, with each team given five minutes to present its concept to the jury. The projects stood out for their diversity, innovative approaches, and strong potential for practical application, making the evaluation process particularly challenging.
  

The jury for Challenge Lab Bulgaria 2025 included Prof. Dr. Teodorina Turlakova, Dilyan Popov, and Yuriy Zarev. The projects were assessed against predefined criteria, including innovation, feasibility, and potential impact.

As a result of the evaluation, the awards were allocated as follows:

First place and 1000 BGN prize were awarded to Eco Pulse team (Nikola Pavlov, Kiril Gramatikov, Dimitar Raichev, Stefan Michailov and Ivaylo Velchev).

Second place and 500 BGN prize was awarded to team Fermata  (Ivelina Marinova).

The special prize of AgriVentures at the amount of 200 BGN was awarded to team SoilSense (Ivan Kurkov, Pavel Petrov, Teodor Iliev, Tsvetan Zhelev and Yordan Dragiev).

As part of Challenge Lab Bulgaria 2025, RAPIV also awarded a special prize in the form of support through participation in the Ecosys4you mentoring programme. This opportunity for further development and expert support was provided to the teams Aqua Pure (Pierre Kiffì and Dian Angelov) and Mangitata (Denitsa Dimitrova, Monika Atanasova, Merilin Al Sherif and Daria Petrova).

Challenge Lab Bulgaria 2025 once again demonstrated the importance of such formats in stimulating entrepreneurial thinking and the development of sustainable solutions in the agri-food sector. For RAPIV, supporting young talent and innovative ideas remains a key priority and an integral part of its long-term mission to foster a competitive and sustainable agri-food ecosystem in Bulgaria.