Our journey from $150K to $2M ARR just earned us a shot at Startup of the Year—and we need your help to bring it home
We’re absolutely thrilled to share some incredible news: Releva has been named a Regional Finalist for Startup of the Year at the Global Startup Awards Eastern Europe 2025. Even better? Our CEO Georgi Georgiev is also nominated for Founder of the Year.
This is huge for us. Not just because it’s one of the most prestigious startup competitions in the world, but because it represents everything we’ve been working toward since day one: proving that mid-market eCommerce brands deserve enterprise-level AI, and that Bulgarian tech can compete on the global stage.
We Need Your Vote!
Public voting is open right now. If you’ve ever gotten value from Releva, believed in our vision, or just want to support Bulgarian innovation—this is your moment. It takes 30 seconds and could change everything for us.
The Journey That Got Us Here
When we started Releva, we saw a massive gap in the market. Mid-sized eCommerce brands were stuck between basic marketing automation tools (that couldn’t scale) and enterprise solutions (that they couldn’t afford). Meanwhile, AI was advancing faster than anyone could keep up with.
We asked ourselves: what if we could build something that brings enterprise-grade personalization to businesses doing $5M-$100M in revenue? What if we could make AI actually autonomous—not just “smart,” but truly self-optimizing?
The results have been better than we ever imagined.
But here’s what really matters: these aren’t just our numbers. They’re our clients’ numbers. Every percentage point of growth represents a brand that’s competing better, selling more, and building stronger customer relationships.
What Makes This Recognition Special
The Global Startup Awards isn’t like other competitions. It recognizes companies that are actually solving real problems and creating measurable impact. Out of hundreds of nominations across Armenia, Georgia, Romania, and Bulgaria, only seven startups made it to the regional finals in our category:
- Biogen Nanotechnologies (Armenia) 🇦🇲
- BioNova LLC (Georgia) 🇬🇪
- Bluana Foods (Romania) 🇷🇴
- E-Mobility Rentals (Romania) 🇷🇴
- Keepz (Georgia) 🇬🇪
- Quissly (Georgia) 🇬🇪
- Releva (Bulgaria) 🇧🇬
- RepsMate (Romania) 🇷🇴
We’re competing against incredible companies doing groundbreaking work. And honestly? That’s exactly where we want to be.
Why We're Different (And Why It Matters)
There’s no shortage of marketing automation platforms out there. So what makes Releva stand out? Three things:
1. True Autonomy
Our AI doesn’t just follow rules—it learns, adapts, and optimizes itself. Launch a campaign and our agents continuously improve it based on real customer behavior. No manual tweaking required.
2. Unified Operations
Most brands are juggling 5-10 different tools. Email here, SMS there, ads somewhere else. We unified everything into one platform that orchestrates across channels intelligently. Less complexity, better results.
3. Value-Based Thinking
We don’t optimize for vanity metrics. We focus on customer lifetime value. That means turning $135 LTV customers into $1,044 LTV customers—which is exactly what we’ve done for our clients.
Real Results from Real Clients:
- 11.4x ROASÂ on Facebook campaigns using value-based lookalikes
- 311% better ROIÂ compared to standard targeting approaches
- 7.7x increase in customer lifetime value through predictive segmentation
- 60-70% conversion rates on warm retargeting campaigns
What This Means for Our Clients and Partners
If you’re working with us, this nomination is as much yours as it is ours. Your trust, your feedback, your success stories—that’s what got us here.
And here’s what this recognition means going forward:
More Innovation:Â Award recognition validates our approach and fuels our next phase of product development. We’re doubling down on autonomous AI capabilities.
Bigger Vision:Â We’re expanding beyond Europe. Southeast Asia and the US are next, and we’re bringing partners with us.
Proven Approach:Â When you tell someone you’re using Releva, you’re not just mentioning another tool. You’re talking about an award-nominated platform that’s changing how mid-market brands compete.
What Happens Next
Here’s how the Global Startup Awards works:
Public Voting (Now)
Regional Winners Announced
Global Competition
Right now, we’re in the public voting phase. And honestly? This is where it gets real. We can have the best product, the strongest growth metrics, and the happiest clients—but if we don’t get votes, we don’t move forward.
Real Results from Real Clients:
- 11.4x ROASÂ on Facebook campaigns using value-based lookalikes
- 311% better ROIÂ compared to standard targeting approaches
- 7.7x increase in customer lifetime value through predictive segmentation
- 60-70% conversion rates on warm retargeting campaigns
Help Us Bring Both Awards Home
We’re competing in two categories: Startup of the Year (Releva) and Founder of the Year (Georgi). Your vote in both takes 30 seconds and means everything to us.
How to Vote (It's Really Easy)
We know you’re busy, so we made this as simple as possible:
- Click the voting link above (or click here)
- Find Releva in the Startup of the Year category
- Vote for Georgi Georgiev in Founder of the Year
- Submit! That’s it. You’re done.
Bonus points:Â If you could share this on LinkedIn or with your network, we’d be incredibly grateful. Every vote genuinely makes a difference.
Thank You
Whether you’ve been with us from day one or just discovered Releva recently, thank you. Thank you for believing in what we’re building. Thank you for your feedback, your trust, and your partnership.
This nomination belongs to all of us—our team, our clients, our partners, and everyone who’s supported us along the way.
Ready to see what Releva can do for your brand?
Join the companies achieving 53x ROI with autonomous AI-powered personalization.
About Releva
Releva is a unified AI-powered personalization operations platform built for mid-market eCommerce brands ($5M-$100M revenue). We replace fragmented marketing tool stacks with autonomous AI agents that orchestrate personalized experiences across email, SMS, WhatsApp, paid ads, and web—delivering an average ROI of 53x. Founded in Bulgaria, expanding globally. Learn more →
