Personality in the News 2021: Dimitar Dimitrov of Allterco. Special Awards: Maria Bakalova, Dronamics, Gymnastics Ensemble, Dr. Kunchev, Dr. Iliev

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For the 21st consecutive year, Novinite.com, the largest English-language news agency in Bulgaria, presents the “Personality in the News“ awards.

Bulgarian businessman Dimitar Dimitrov from the IT company "Allterco" has been selected as the award winner in the annual competition "Personality in the News 2021". The NoviniteGroup team was clear and unanimous in this choice.

"Honorary Ambassadors" awards go to Maria Bakalova, the brothers Svilen, and Konstantin Rangelovi from the drone company "Dronamics" and the National Rhythmic Gymnastics Ensemble. The "Special Award for Contribution" goes to Dr. Angel Kunchev and Dr. Asparouh Iliev. 

Dimitar Dimitrov - entrepreneur and owner of the Bulgarian IT company “Allterco” is Novinite.com’s "Personality in the News 2021" for incredible successes and their listing on Frankfurt Stock Exchange
Dimitar Dimitrov is the Executive Director of Allterco AD. With more than 25 years of professional experience in the field of technology and telecommunications, Dimitar Dimitrov is one of the innovators in the field of the Internet of Things (IoT) and their application in smart home systems in Bulgaria. In 2014, he founded Allterco, which has become a leading European IoT company with the main goal of making life easier for modern people. With a strong presence in the European, American, and Asian markets, Allterco is fast becoming one of the world's leading manufacturers with a partner network in over 100 countries. Allterco's team is setting a whole new trend in home automation systems, GPS/GSM devices, and health monitoring products. The team is committed to developing innovative IoT solutions and products focused on two main product lines - smart GPS devices under the MyKi brand and Shelly home automation solutions. From concept - to realization and from design - to hardware, the products combine the latest technologies with modern design and user-friendly interface.

Allterco AD registered a 51% increase in the consolidated annual sales revenues as of the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to the same period of 2020, amounting to BGN 59.5 million, according to the preliminary financial results on a consolidated basis. Most of them - BGN 55.9 million, come from the Shelly home automation line, which reported 62% growth compared to 2020 based on preliminary internal calculations of the company for the past year. These results are indicative for the company, as they come against the backdrop of the global pandemic crisis and after the reported large shortage of chip supply worldwide. In this context, since the launch of the Shelly home automation product line in 2017, Allterco has managed to deliver over 4.5 million devices to the market.

“We are very happy with our performance in 2021 and we are ready for even better results in 2022. Our success is a reflection of the dedication, professionalism, and talent of the Allterco team, which works tirelessly to develop and deliver the most innovative products and consumer solutions, always listening to their needs. The past year was marked by a number of successful launches of our new products. I am extremely proud of the Shelly Pro and Shelly Plus series, but we have prepared many more surprises for consumers” - commented Dimitar Dimitrov, CEO of Allterco AD.

2021 was a year of many achievements for Allterco. The company's shares were also listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, making the company the first in Bulgaria to trade on the German capital market in the prime segment. The double listing in Prime Standard - the segment with the highest transparency - gave Allterco access to additional groups of investors, increased the company's visibility in the capital markets and increased the attractiveness of its shares. The company continued its growth by founding Allterco Europe GmbH. It was headed by Wolfgang Kirsch, an experienced trade and technology professional who previously held the position of Chief Operating Officer at MediaMarktSaturn. Despite the challenging situation caused by the pandemic, Allterco's team of professionals has grown in 2021 and the company has expanded its range of talents, consolidating its ambition for growth and development both locally and globally.

"Honorary Ambassadors of Novinite 2021" in the "Business", "Culture" and "Sports" categories

The "Honorary Ambassador of Novinite 2021" award in the "Business" category is awarded to Svilen and Konstantin Rangelovi - creators of the most successful Bulgarian startup: “Dronamics”, which attracted interest of BGN 26 million in the public offering of its shares
The two brothers Svilen and Konstantin Rangelovi launched Dronamics in 2014 by registering the company with BGN 1262 capital in shares with a par value of BGN 1. In 2018 the activity was moved from Bulgaria and a company was registered in the UK, as the company's capital is transferred in pounds (£ 1262) with a par value of shares of 0.00001 pounds (one-thousandth of a penny).

In the last few years, several angel investors have invested in Dronamics, receiving a minority stake in the company. Among the early investors in the company are the venture funds Founders Factory (UK), Speedinvest (Austria), and Eleven Capital (Bulgaria), the latter two having about 3% and 12% of the company, respectively. In late 2021 Dronamics attracted interest of BGN 26 million in the public offering of its shares. According to the preliminary conditions, the capital raised through the BEAM stock exchange platform is up to a maximum of BGN 5.87 million.

The mission of the Bulgarian startup is to revolutionize the transport of goods by reducing costs and delivery time. For this purpose, the company is developing a new type of cargo aircraft – “Black Swan”, which it presented on December 7 at Sofia Airport. According to Dronamics data, the aircraft/drone is small, unmanned, and extremely economical, capable of transporting a load of 350 kg over 2,500 km. At the moment, the aircraft will fly with E 10 fuel, and the plans are to switch to bioethanol by 2023.

In the „Culture“ category, „Honorary Ambassador of Novinite 2021“ is awarded to Maria Bakalova for several nominations and awards for her acting career throughout the year
Talented, hardworking, natural - she is the girl who convinced Sasha Baron Cohen that she is the perfect choice for the role of Borat's daughter - Tutar, in a competition with five hundred other candidates. 25-year-old Maria Bakalova is the first Bulgarian actress to be nominated for an Oscar. On July 14, she walked the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival for the premiere of the Bulgarian film "Women Really Cry" as part of the official "Special Look" program. The last two years of her life are a colorful carousel - a rain of nominations and film awards (among them the prestigious award of New York film critics), the presence of fashion shows and acquaintances with world-famous personalities, traveling around the world, and more.

Born in Burgas, Maria prefers big challenges in unusual roles and projects. That is why she embarked on the film adventure of directors Mina Mileva and Vessela Kazakova - "Women really cry", in which the focus is on the relationship between several interesting women. The complete overlap with the heroine is typical for the acting work of Maria Bakalova, who graduated from NATFA in the class of Prof. Ivan Dobchev in 2019. The same year she won the role of Tutar Sagdiev in "Borat 2", for which she was nominated for an Oscar, BAFTA, "Golden Globe". In May 2021, Maria finished shooting the film by American director Judd Apatow - The Bubble and is currently preparing for her role in the thriller Bodies, Bodies, Bodies by Halina Raine. In December 2021 the Bulgarian edition of Forbes magazine put actress Maria Bakalova at the top of its list of the biggest Bulgarian stars. News about Bakalova’s nominations were one of the most read on Novinite.com last year.

In the "Sports" category, the title "Honorary Ambassador of Novinite 2021" is awarded to the Bulgarian National Rhythmic Gymnastics Ensemble for becoming Olympic champions in rhythmic gymnastics during the games in Tokyo

The Bulgarian Rhythmic Gymnastics Ensemble consisting of Simona Dyankova, Stefani Kiryakova, Madeleine Radukanova, Laura Trats, and Erika Zafirova brought Bulgaria's third Olympic gold medal from the Tokyo Olympics in August 2021. Our graces were absolutely dominating in the final and even improved their result from the qualifications by 0.300 points, collecting a total of 92.100. In second place was the Russian Olympic team with 90,700 points, and the bronze went to Italy with 87,700 points.

Our Rhythmic Gymnastics Ensemble brought Bulgaria's first Olympic title in this sport. So far, our country has won bronze from Rio 2016, bronze from Athens 2004, and silver from Atlanta 1996. Simona Dyankova, Stefani Kiryakova, Madeleine Radukanova, Laura Trats, and Erika Zafirova proved that there is nothing accidental in their three gold medals at the World Cup in Sofia in March, the World Cup title in May, the gold medal at the European Championships in Varna in June and the gold medal at the World Challenge Cup in Minsk in July. Thus, Bulgaria finished the Games in Tokyo with 3 gold medals, 1 silver, and 2 bronze medals - a total of 6.

The Special Award for Contribution goes to Dr. Angel Kunchev and Dr. Asparouh Iliev

Associate Professor Dr. Angel Kunchev for his tireless work and solving problems in the health system during the covid pandemic in Bulgaria.
Associate Professor Angel Kunchev was born in 1959 in Simeonovgrad. He graduated from the Medical Institute in Plovdiv in 1985 and has been working in epidemiology ever since. For 15 years he worked in the regional health inspectorate in Haskovo, and in the next 10 years, he held various positions at the Ministry of Health. In 2011, Dr. Kunchev was appointed Chief State Health Inspector of the country. From the very beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic, he has been working actively and tirelessly to control the infection. He was a member of the National Operational Staff until its disbandment in April this 2021. Assoc. Prof. Angel Kunchev received the highest award from his colleagues this year - the prize "Doctor of the Year for 2021", announced by the Bulgarian Medical Union. He has won dozens of awards in the field of medicine. Throughout his professional career, Dr. Kunchev has worked tirelessly to solve problems in the health system, and since the beginning of the epidemic by COVID-19 has shown consistent work, boldly defending his positions. The specialist also took a stand against full lockdown in the country and predicted that soon every second person can be in contact with the disease.

Dr. Asparouh Iliev head of an experimental laboratory at the University of Bern, for his ongoing efforts to scientifically explain the process of vaccination in the world.
Dr. Asparouh Iliev is one of the most successfully Bulgarian specialists abroad. He has been a vaccine safety expert at the German Medicines Agency and since 2015 has been running a laboratory for brain infections at the University of Bern, Switzerland. Since the beginning of the crisis with the new coronavirus, he has been actively commenting on the covid epidemic on social media, informing, answering questions, and refuting false and misleading news. He also advocated for the introduction of mandatory vaccination in Bulgaria and made predictions on the threat of the Omicron variant.

 

You can see who won "Personality in the News 2020" here.

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