Diana Stefanova

Managing Partner

Diana brings extensive professional experience from large multinational technology companies and small high-tech startups. She has held different leadership roles in general management, business and finance across Silicon Valley, the US, and Europe.

Prior to joining BrightCap, Diana spent 16 years at VMware, where she was responsible for all of the R&D centers in EMEA, as well as VMware’s Global Sites Strategy. Under her leadership, VMware was recognized as the largest software company in Bulgaria and as one of the most strategic R&D centers for VMware globally. Before joining VMware, Diana was a part of the leadership team of one of the first tech startups in Bulgaria, Sciant, which was later successfully sold to VMware. She joined Sciant after returning from Silicon Valley, where she worked in the management teams of several technology startups.

Currently, she serves on the board of “Teach for Bulgaria,” which aims to ensure equal education for every child in the country.

Diana has a Master’s degree in finance and accounting from the University of National and World Economy, Sofia, and holds a Certified Public Accountant certificate from California, US.

Georgi Mitov

Managing Partner

Georgi brings extensive background both as a founder and an executive in large technology companies.

Prior to establishing BrightCap, he was part of the leadership teams at two successful start-ups, Sciant and Aviaso, sold to two global technology leaders in those sectors, VMware and Honeywell, respectively. During the last few years, Georgi has been leading the aero business of Honeywell in Bulgaria and has been responsible for the development and marketing of the fuel efficiency product that is being used by over 35 airlines, including Lufthansa, Etihad, Turkish Airlines, British Airways. Georgi has been influential in supporting his companies in various roles – from product design and marketing to software development.

Georgi graduated stomatology from Sofia Medical University but has dedicated his career to technology, taking up programming as a student in Sofia Math High School.

Elina Halatcheva

Managing Partner

Elina brings significant experience in investment banking, private equity and new business ventures in New York, London and Sofia.

Prior to establishing BrightCap Ventures, she was part of the early management team at Auxionize, a B2B procurement platform, where she drove the expansion of the start-up into more than 50 industry sectors. Before returning to Bulgaria, Elina was an investor at Citigroup’s private equity funds in New York ($600m) and London (€1.1bn). Previously, she was a research analyst at Wit Soundview, New York, the first online platform for investment banking and research of emerging technology and e-commerce companies. She started her career as an investment banker at Citigroup on Wall Street.

Elina holds an MBA degree from Stanford and a summa cum laude Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Richmond, VA.