Real.
Impact.

Rossen co-founded BlackPeak Capital in 2014. He currently sits on the BoD of Walltopia and Resalta.

Prior to BlackPeak, he co-founded Entrea Capital in 2007 and developed it into the leading M&A and corporate finance advisory firm in Bulgaria and exclusive affiliate of Rothschild for the country. 

Prior to establishing Entrea Capital, Rossen worked at McKinsey & Co in New York, where he focused on consumer goods, industrial and private equity clients. He worked on multiple strategy, operations strategy and post-merger integration studies.

Prior to McKinsey & Co., Rossen worked in London as an investment associate at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, where he assisted bankers in structuring debt and equity investments across Eastern Europe. Rossen started his career at Procter & Gamble Balkan Markets in Bucharest

Rossen holds an MBA degree from the Harvard Business School and a BA degree in Economics from the American University in Bulgaria.

Rossen sits on the board of directors of the Trust for Social Achievement – an NGO focused on designing educational and economic policies and programs to help alleviate poverty among Bulgaria’s disadvantaged minorities.

Ivailo Gospodinov co-founded BlackPeak Capital in 2014. He currently sits on the BoD of Software Group, Humanita, and IPS.

Prior BlackPeak Capital, he joined Entrea Capital in September 2013, where he led a number of M&A projects.

Prior to Entrea Capital, Ivailo was Managing Director of Raiffeisen Investment for Bulgaria. He undertook this position back in 2006 with the responsibility to develop the core activity of the investment banking arm of Raiffeisen in the country. During his term Ivailo has successfully built a well performing M&A practice, recognized in recent years as one of the strongest practices on the market.

In the period 2005 – 2006, Ivailo was Corporate Finance director at Forem Consulting – at the time, one of the strong boutique M&A practices in Bulgaria. 

In the period 1996 – 2005, Ivailo worked for Andersen and Ernst & Young as audit manager. Ivailo executed audits of many companies, among which Mobiltel, the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company, and the National Electric Company. During his audit carrier, Ivailo led engagements with various companies and multiple sectors: TMT, energy, ship building, mining, metal processing, retail, financial services, general industries. 

Ivailo holds BSc in Business Administration from Portsmouth University UK and has successfully completed all exams within ACCA. In 2008, Ivailo was invited as a professor in the International University Sofia, where he leads two separate classes in International Accounting and Investment Analysis.

Niklas joined BlackPeak in 2019 as Managing Partner.

Until April 2019, Niklas was Managing Director with Mezzanine Management, the fund manager of Accession Mezzanine Capital I – IV (€850m in AUM), which is the pioneer and leading provider of structured growth financing in CEE. He led the transaction team based in Vienna being responsible for Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, and the countries of former Yugoslavia. Niklas was instrumental in establishing mezzanine and minority equity for SMEs in the region.

Niklas started his career at Vienna Capital Partners (VCP). He worked with clients on local and cross-border buy-side and sell-side M&A-transactions as well as capital raising mandates. Niklas helped to develop VCP’s Research and Analysis department and became a key member thereof. During Niklas’ involvement, VCP became a leading independent M&A advisory and investment house in Central Europe.

Niklas holds a Master of Science degree from the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration. He furthermore pursued various study programmes in the US.

Niklas was a professional tennis player and a member of the Austrian Junior Davis-Cup-Team in 1989.

Kiril Ivanov is a founding team member of BlackPeak Capital in 2014.

Kiril Ivanov was an Associate at Raiffeisen Investment Bulgaria for close to 7 years before joining Entrea Capital in September 2013. At Raiffeisen Investment, he worked on a large number of sell-side and buy-side mandates in a variety of sectors in Bulgaria

He previously worked for 2 years as a futures trader for Harrison Trading Inc. based in Chicago IL, USA. He also worked as a Market Maker on the Chicago Board of Options Exchange for 3 years at Cornerstone Partners.

During his career Kiril developed extended expertise in all aspects of the M&A process, as well as detailed knowledge of most sectors of the Bulgarian economy. He has been particularly involved on the energy sector, participating in the largest transactions in the market, including a nuclear tender, TPP, and renewables. 

Kiril holds an MBA degree in International Business and Finance from the Stuart School of Business at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.

Angel is a founding member of BlackPeak Capital in 2014.

Before joining Entrea Capital in 2013, Angel Stefanov spent 2 years at Raiffeisen Investment Bulgaria as a Junior Associate, working on a variety of sell-side and buy-side mandates across various sectors in Bulgaria.

Prior to Raiffeisen Investment, he completed a long-term internship at the Global Wealth Management department of Bank of America Merrill Lynch in the United States where he assessed investment opportunities and portfolio risk/return characteristics for $10m+ individual client equity portfolios.

Angel also completed an internship at the Portfolio Analytics Group of BlackRock in the United States where he assessed portfolio-/asset-level risk analytics, asset valuations, and trading strategies for large scale institutional fixed income portfolios. At BlackRock, Angel worked in the team responsible for the asset-level risk modeling of the $30bn portfolio of mortgage-related securities, residential and commercial mortgage whole loans and associated hedges, purchased from the recently collapsed investment bank Bear Stearns.

Angel holds an MSc degree in Accounting and Finance from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and a BSc (Magna Cum Laude) degree in Business Administration from the Ithaca College School of Business in the United States.

Virgil joins BlackPeak Capital in 2023 as a Romania Lead, based in Bucharest, Romania.

Virgil is an investment banking professional with 10+ years of financial services experience, across various industries and EMEA geographies

Most recently he served as Vice President in EMEA Sponsors Investment Banking for Citi in London. Since 2011, Virgil has held increasingly senior positions with Citi in Amsterdam, Bucharest, and London
Previously he spent three years in Corporate & Investment Banking with Citi in Romania, during which time he executed transactions exceeding US$ 6bn

He holds an MSc in Financial Economics and MSc in Econometrics and Operations Research from Maastricht University (Netherlands). BSc in Finance from the Bucharest University of Economic Studies

Virgil brings a wealth of financial services expertise and successful transactions in various industries, such as TMT, power, consumer, and chemicals, with a focus on EMEA markets. In BlackPeak he oversees our investment activities in Romania and is a part of BlackPeak’s Investment Committee. Virgil leads our effort to deploy up to EUR 40 mn in high-growth SMEs in Romania, in addition to our investment in Verdino Green Foods.

Valentina joined BlackPeak Capital in 2021.

Prior to joining BlackPeak Capital, Valentina worked as a Senior Consultant at the Advisory Services practice of PwC Bulgaria. She has over 4 years of professional experience providing financial advisory services including a number of financial due diligence assignments, buy-side and sell-side assistance, M&A projects, preparation of marketing materials, industry research, valuations, SPA negotiations support, etc. 

At PwC, Valentina served international clients in their envisaged acquisitions/disposals in Bulgaria and SEE. She participated in projects in various industries including consumer goods, distribution, manufacturing, IT, energy, agriculture, TMT, mining, real estate, healthcare, financial services, insurance, aviation, education, etc.

Before PwC Valentina gained accounting and financial reporting experience working for several companies including Devin JSC, the leading mineral water bottling company in Bulgaria, and Walltopia, a worldwide leading manufacturer of artificial climbing walls. At the beginning of her career Valentina, worked at EY Bulgaria where she provided outsourced accounting, financial reporting and tax compliance services to clients in various sectors including a worldwide IT company, a global media company, a real estate company, a ground handling company etc.).

Valentina holds a Master degree in Finance and Banking and a Bachelor degree in Economics from Sofia University ‘’St. Kliment Ohridski’’. She is a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). 

Petya joined BlackPeak Capital in 2021.

Prior to joining BlackPeak Capital, Petya pursued a Master’s degree in Portugal focused on M&A and restructuring, Private Equity, and Venture Capital. Prior to her studies, Petya was a deals intern at EuroFinance AD, a Bulgarian financial intermediary.

Petya holds an MSc degree in Finance from Nova School of Business and Economics, Lisbon, Portugal and a BSc degree in Economics from the University of National and World Economy.

Marko joined BlackPeak Capital in 2024 as a Senior Investment Associate. Based in Zagreb, his focus is on investments in Croatia and Slovenia. 

Prior, Marko was managing the financial advisory services at the boutique M&A firm Marčinković & Partners, including M&A, due diligence, valuation and restructuring.

He also has 7 years of experience as an Investment Advisor and Head of Trading at one of the biggest investment and brokerage companies in Croatia, part of Agram Group.

Marko has gained extensive knowledge in capital markets as part of significant securities issuance transactions, overseeing all stages of the process. He is an expert in advising institutional investors, ensuring compliance with regulatory framework, and delivering comprehensive financial analysis.

Marko holds a master’s degree in Analysis and Business Planning from the University of Zagreb and is a CFA charterholder, a designation awarded by the CFA Institute.

Sylvia Gansser-Potts was Managing Director at the EBRD, where she was responsible for all investment and policy activities in Central and South Eastern Europe (18 countries).

Sylvia joined the EBRD in 1992 as a banker, and held a number of positions at the Bank . Between 2007 and 2011, Sylvia was Director of the Property and Tourism team, heading EBRD’s activities in the real estate sector across all the countries of operations

In 2011, she joined the Financial Institutions Group as a Director, covering the EU countries until 2014, then leading the Financial Institutions team’s activities in ‎Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, and Turkey. In addition, Sylvia also oversaw the relationship with some of the large European banking groups.

In September 2015, Sylvia was appointed Managing Director, Central and South Eastern Europe, overseeing a EUR 14bn investment portfolio, with EUR 3.5bn invested in 2016. She was responsible for 170 staff in 16 offices.

Since 2018, Sylvia has been a member of the Investment and Foreign Exchange Committees of the European Fund for South Eastern Europe (EFSE), a public-private partnership providing development finance to micro and small enterprises with an outstanding portfolio in excess of EUR 900 million.

Sylvia is also a member of the Supervisory Board and of the Audit, Risk and Remuneration Committees at CITADELE BANK, Latvia.

From 2002 to 2016, while employed at the EBRD, Sylvia has held non-executive roles, serving as an Investment Committee/Advisory Board member in 18 private equity funds, managed by prominent private equity managers, such as Enterprise Investors, Mid-Europa, Advent International, Baring Vostok and Quadriga Capital Russia.

Before joining the EBRD, Sylvia worked at UBS first in Capital Markets then in Corporate Finance, both in Switzerland and Japan.

Sylvia holds an MBA from INSEAD in France and is a graduate of the Université Paris IX Dauphine. She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Japanese Language from INALCO (Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales) in Paris.

Zornitsa joined BlackPeak Capital in 2021.

Prior to joining BlackPeak Capital, Zornitsa was a Manager in the PwC SEE Deals team, based in Sofia.

Zornitsa has a strong background in project management, deal origination, team coaching, workstreams coordination and financial analysis, backed by 14+ years in financial due diligence, M&A mandates, valuations, and industry studies. Zornitsa has extensive experience in analyzing business drivers, providing deal insights, and critically assessing strategic business initiatives. Broader areas of expertise include the oversight and management and preparation of financial statements, budgets and forecasts, KPI tracking with underlying analysis.

Prior to joining PwC Bulgaria, Zornitsa was part of the KPMG Bulgaria audit department, where she was the team leader on annual audits and agreed-upon procedures for international clients, controls review and process, evaluation and analysis of internal reporting documentation. Primarily focused on media, energy and FMCG.

Zornitsa holds  BSc in Business Administration from Sofia University and is Fellow of the British Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, UK.

Simona joined BlackPeak Capital in 2022.

Simona is experienced corporate communication and ESG professional with a true passion for sustainability and a Forbes 30 under 30 environmental activist. 

She is co-founder and Managing Partner of the Bulgarian sustainability consultancy Osnova and author of the blog Zero Waste Sofia. Together with her partner, Simona helps local and international companies to develop comprehensive ESG strategies and implement them. Simona is also a European Climate Pact Ambassador and part of the Ashoka Climate Innovators network for CEE.

Prior to her current role, Simona led the Corporate Communications team of TELUS International in Bulgaria. She previously also worked as a communications specialist for A1 Bulgaria and NN.

Simona has a Master's degree in Marketing from the Technical University of Sofia and a Sustainable Development specialization from the University of Colorado. 

Nikoleta Angelova joined BlackPeak Capital in 2023.

With more than 12 years of experience in global companies like EY and The Walt Disney Company, Nikoleta brings to the team versatile knowledge, complemented by strong organizational skills and eagerness for learning.

Nikoleta supports the team with administrative processes, executive assistance, office management and marketing activities.

Nikoleta holds a bachelor’s degree in Bulgarian Philology from Sofia University, St. Kliment Ohridski.