Coca-Cola HBC Bulgaria’s #YouthEmpowered Initiative Launches Partnership with Sofia Up to Support Young Entrepreneurs

Coca-Cola HBC Bulgaria’s educational initiative #YouthEmpowered has launched a partnership with Sofia Up – an initiative of Sofia Municipality aimed at young entrepreneurs, startups, and people with ideas.

The shared goal of the partnership is to create more opportunities for young people to develop key skills, entrepreneurial thinking, and the confidence needed to turn their ideas into reality.

The Sofia Up initiative was created as an open platform for the exchange of knowledge, practical experience, and real-life examples from the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The format will take place once a month, with free entry and prior registration, and aims to build an active and sustainable entrepreneurial community in the capital through meetings with established professionals, interactive discussions, and strongly practice-oriented content. Sofia Up events will combine a lecture component with interactive formats such as practical challenges, discussions, and Q&A sessions, giving participants the opportunity to ask specific questions related to their ideas and projects.

The partnership builds on Coca-Cola HBC Bulgaria’s long-standing commitment to supporting young people through the #YouthEmpowered program. In 2025 alone, the program has delivered training to 4,121 young people, and since its launch in 2017, the initiative has helped nearly 36,000 young people develop skills for a successful career start.

“We believe that every young person deserves the chance to grow and succeed. Through our flagship programme #YouthEmpowered, we are addressing one of the most significant challenges in our markets – improving youth employability. Since 2017, we have trained over one million young people at group level, which surpasses our Mission 2025 target,” said Jacklin Tzocheva, Corporate Affairs & Sustainability Director at Coca‑Cola HBC Bulgaria, and added: “We will continue to prepare young people for the work processes that await them and to equip them with the skills, confidence and connections needed to build sustainable careers.”

A new event organized as part of the partnership will take place on February 15. Participation is free of charge and requires only prior registration. More information is available here: https://www.facebook.com/events/2585249215179477/.