What UX Bulgaria does

UX Bulgaria (UX България) is a Sofia-based non-profit community organization founded in 2021 that connects UX/UI designers, students, and design enthusiasts across Bulgaria. It is described as the largest active design community in the country and operates through a dedicated LinkedIn group, the annual Sofia Design Summit, free digital tools, and educational content. The founder, Milen Donev, leads a team of approximately 20 employees supplemented by a volunteer network of practitioners from companies including SAP, Meta affiliates, OpenPayd, and neoshare AG.

The organization's core product is the Система за журиране (Jury System), a free Google Sheets-based competition management tool originally built for Design WeekEnd in Plovdiv and now used by major Bulgarian student design competitions. It provides participant registration with QR codes, a Multi-restart Hill Climbing algorithm for team distribution (10 restarts, 20,000 attempts, ~4 seconds runtime), real-time judging sheets, live rankings, and PDF export. Additional offerings include a UX Masterclass, an e-book titled "MORNING AT 10" (СУТРИН В 10), exclusive "Secret UX Meetings", a Competition Organizer's Cheat Sheet, and the upcoming Дизайн студио в училище (Design Studio in School) program launching September 2026.

UX Bulgaria operates as a freemium non-profit. Core tools and educational content are free for students and educational institutions; only the masterclass, e-book, and secret meetings are sold via founder-led Kit.com pages. Revenue is not disclosed, no funding rounds are present, and the organization is geographically confined to Bulgaria. Strategic partnerships center on the Sofia Design Summit 2026, with VentureBoard as general partner, New Bulgarian University as official host, and Investor.bg and Bloomberg TV Bulgaria as exclusive media partners.

Name

UX Bulgaria

Legal name

UX Bulgaria

Website

https://uxbulgaria.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

UX Bulgaria is a Sofia-based non-profit community organization, founded in 2021, that serves as the largest active design community in Bulgaria. It connects UX/UI students and professionals through the annual Sofia Design Summit, a free Google Sheets-based Jury System for student design competitions, masterclasses, e-books, and a new Design Studio in School program.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Design Community & Education Services

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Learning Experience Design (LXD) & UX for Learning (EDAGAKAF)

Keywords

• UX design community
• Design competition management
• UX education programs
• Professional design events
• Design competition judging

Headquarters

HQ city

Sofia

HQ country

Bulgaria

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Community Services: UX Bulgaria operates as a non-profit community organization providing free resources, events, and tools to the UX design community in Bulgaria. The Sofia Design Summit is described as having an educational character and non-profit purpose.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

UX Bulgaria is a non-profit community organization that connects UX professionals, students, and enthusiasts in Bulgaria. It provides a free Google Sheets-based Jury System (Система за журиране) for organizing design competitions, hosts the annual Sofia Design Summit, runs educational programs like Design Studio in School and UX Masterclass, and publishes e-books and cheat sheets for competition organizers.

Product overview

UX Bulgaria is a community platform primarily serving as a hub for User Experience professionals and enthusiasts in Bulgaria. Its core offerings include the Система за журиране (Jury System) - a free Google Sheets-based competition management tool for organizing design contests, and Sofia Design Summit - an annual industry forum connecting top industry leaders with emerging talents. The platform also provides educational resources including a UX masterclass, an e-book titled 'СУТРИН В 10', and exclusive secret UX meetings. An upcoming initiative is the Дизайн студио в училище (Design Studio in School) program launching in September 2026, aimed at bringing design education to schools.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Система за журиране (Jury System) A Google Sheets-based competition management system that handles participant registration, intelligent team distribution, evaluation criteria management, real-time judging sheets, and live ranking. Free for students and pupils organizing design competitions.
• Sofia Design Summit An annual industry forum connecting top industry leaders with emerging design talents, featuring curated discussions on AI, product design, and future interfaces. The 2026 edition hosted 100+ selected attendees with special guest Masha Yoveva from Meta.
• Дизайн студио в училище (Design Studio in School) A program bringing design education and practical design experience to school students across Bulgaria, expected to launch in September 2026.
• UX Masterclass (UX мастърклас) An online masterclass course covering User Experience design topics, distributed through the community platform.
• Е-книга „СУТРИН В 10" (E-book "MORNING AT 10") A digital e-book published by UX Bulgaria covering UX and product design topics.
• Тайни UX срещи (Secret UX Meetings) Exclusive networking events for UX community members featuring private gatherings and knowledge sharing sessions.
• Пищов за организатори (Competition Organizer's Cheat Sheet) A PDF guide for competition organizers covering step-by-step preparation from initial planning to the award ceremony.

Quantifiable outcome

• The Judging System is used by major Bulgarian competitions including Design WeekEnd and Student Design Sprint
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• VentureBoardcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026General partner of Sofia Design Summit 2026. Provides support and involvement in the forum dedicated to the evolution of digital products, connecting leading industry leaders with emerging design talents in Bulgaria.
• New Bulgarian University (НБУ)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Official host of Sofia Design Summit 2026, providing the venue at the Prof. Bogdan Bogdanov Library, Auditorium 1, ul. Montevideo 21, Sofia. The event has an educational character and non-profit purpose under the official patronage of New Bulgarian University.
• Investor.bgminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026Exclusive media partner providing coverage of Sofia Design Summit 2026, publishing articles about the real transformation of design in the AI era.
• Bloomberg TV BulgariaminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026Exclusive media partner providing coverage of Sofia Design Summit 2026, reporting on how designers create entire products without engineers in the AI era.
• Student Design SprintminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Design competition for students in Stara Zagora region that uses the Judging System for managing their competition.
• Design WeekEndcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025The Judging System was originally created for Design WeekEnd in Plovdiv - the most large-scale annual design competition for students and pupils in Bulgaria. Milen Donev (founder of UX Bulgaria) has been an integral part of the judging and mentoring staff for the past 3 years.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Behance: Adobe-owned design portfolio and community platform hosting creative work from millions of designers globally. Broader incumbent serving the same design professional community as UX Bulgaria but at much larger scale, with portfolio hosting rather than event-driven education as the primary offering.
• Smashing Magazine: Long-running web design publication and community producing books, conferences, and educational content for designers and developers. Comparable to UX Bulgaria as a design community publisher of educational content (equivalent to UX Bulgaria's e-books and masterclass) and organizer of industry events (equivalent to Sofia Design Summit).
• Dribbble: Major design community and hiring platform serving millions of designers worldwide. Broader incumbent comparable to UX Bulgaria as a design community but with a portfolio/hiring focus rather than educational events and competition tooling.

Direct peers

• Ladies that UX: Global UX community with city-based chapters hosting events focused on women in UX design. Comparable as a community organization running local events, building design professional networks, and producing educational content for the UX community in a specific geography.
• Interaction Design Association (IxDA): Global network of interaction designers organized through local chapters hosting events, talks, and community programming. Highly comparable to UX Bulgaria's community-and-events model, including the Sofia Design Summit's panel discussions and curated audience format.
• Design Buddies: Design community organization running meetups, networking events, and learning programs for designers. Closely comparable to UX Bulgaria's community-and-events model serving UX/UI designers and students with regular programming and curated gatherings.
• Interaction Design Foundation (IxDF): World's largest UX design education community offering courses, publications, and local chapter events. Directly comparable as a UX education-focused community producing learning content (courses equivalent to UX Bulgaria's masterclass and e-books) and serving both students and professionals globally.
• ADPList: Global design and UX mentorship community platform connecting learners with experienced designers. Most direct peer: both operate as design community organizations offering free learning resources, events, and career-development content for UX professionals and students.
• UXPA (User Experience Professionals Association): International professional association for UX practitioners with local chapters running conferences, training, and certification programs. Comparable as a UX-focused membership community providing educational resources, professional events, and industry networking similar to UX Bulgaria's offerings.
• AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts): Long-standing professional design community running conferences, competitions, and educational programming for designers. Comparable to UX Bulgaria as a design-focused community organization hosting curated industry events with expert speakers and educational content for working professionals and students.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ux-bulgaria

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about UX Bulgaria