UT alumni win startup competition with secure AI platform for SMEs

Wednesday 5 August 2026

Three UT alumni have won first prize in the ‘Future Unicorns’ category of Best Youth Startup in Bulgaria 2026 with their startup EduWiseBot. Anton Tsankov, Valeri Andreev and Stijn Schuurman beat more than 300 other teams in their category with their AI platform.

Best Youth Startup in Bulgaria is the country’s largest competition for young entrepreneurs. The annual competition is organised by the Fund of Funds and Sofia University 'St. Kliment Ohridski', under the patronage of Bulgaria’s Minister of Innovation and Growth. More than sixty organisations are involved as partners in the programme.

Participants take part in a free three-month programme featuring training sessions, workshops, mentoring, networking events and several competition rounds. Startups can compete in three categories: Future Unicorns for innovative technology companies with international growth potential, Business Stars for young entrepreneurs and SMEs, and SDG Dragons for ventures that contribute to societal and sustainability goals.

Secure AI for SMEs

Tsankov (M-BIT), Andreev (M-BIT) and Schuurman (B-BIT, M-CS) won the Future Unicorns category with EduWiseBot. Their platform is aimed at startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that want to benefit from artificial intelligence while maintaining control over their business data.

EduWiseBot provides companies with their own private AI environment, tailored to the organisation and its information. The platform can connect to existing systems such as SharePoint, Google Drive, Canvas and internal databases. Employees can then ask questions in plain language and quickly retrieve information from different sources.

The system can also take into account departments, roles and different levels of access. The principle is that employees only have access to the information they are authorised to use.

According to the founders, the idea for EduWiseBot grew out of a problem they repeatedly encountered in practice. Companies want to benefit from AI, but at the same time are reluctant to share sensitive business information with public AI tools. For smaller companies in particular, existing private AI solutions can also be expensive or complex to implement. Beyond cost and complexity, the founders believe privacy and full data ownership must be done the right way. Existing solutions tend to privatise documents on the surface. In reality, they still access raw data in order to deliver their privatised versions, therefore asking companies to place significant trust in third-party institutions not to share the preprocessed documents. EduWiseBot is built to eliminate that dependency, ensuring that data never leaves the organisation's own systems.

Keeping control of data

EduWiseBot aims to bridge this gap between affordability, data governance, and data ownership. Built to enable companies to achieve frontier-like automation and performance with smaller, less powerful models, the platform can be deployed on-premises or within a controlled company environment, giving organisations full ownership of how and where their technology operates. This allows companies to retain control over the storage of and access to their data, while reducing their dependence on large cloud providers.

According to the founders, using smaller models offers another advantage. By preparing company data effectively and making search processes more efficient, less computing power and energy may be required. This can help reduce both the costs and environmental footprint associated with the use of AI.

The combination of practical applicability, data security, affordability, and scalability was an important factor in the startup’s success in the competition. As AI becomes increasingly integrated into business software, the founders expect organisations to have a growing need for a secure internal AI layer that connects different data sources and applications without sacrificing control over company data.

Twente background

The three founders bring together expertise in software engineering, enterprise architecture, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. Tsankov and Andreev studied Business Information Technology at the UT. They have also been heavily involved within their program’s educational staff as mentors and head teaching assistants, including being former members of the BIT Programme Committee. Schuurman studied both Business Information Technology and Computer Science at the UT. Together, they have close to 30 years of combined industry experience, working on projects for more than 150 clients across sectors including finance, healthcare, legal services, education, and marketing.

By winning first place in the Future Unicorns category of Best Youth Startup in Bulgaria 2026, EduWiseBot gains access to a network of investors, venture capitalists, investment funds, collaborating institutions, mentors, industry partners, visionaries, and other partners. This year's competition places an increased emphasis on connecting promising startups with investment opportunities and international expertise. This win also gives the founders, former students, and now Twente alumni, the opportunity to share their journey and inspire the next generation of young entrepreneurs.

From left to right: Anton Tsankov (M-BIT), Valeri Andreev (M-BIT) and Stijn Schuurman (B-BIT, M-CS)