SDRUZHENIE INDUSTRIALEN KLASTER ELEKTROMOBILI

Their core work

EVIC is a Bulgarian industry association that clusters companies and organisations working in the electric vehicle and electromobility space, primarily around Sofia. Their real-world function is to connect member SMEs to EU-funded research, facilitate knowledge transfer between research teams and industrial actors, and represent the cluster's interests in international consortia. In practice they act as a gateway — giving EU projects access to a network of Bulgarian EV-sector businesses, and giving those businesses access to frontier research outcomes. By 2021 they had extended this brokerage role into digital manufacturing, suggesting the cluster's membership spans both transport and adjacent industrial sectors.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their first project (2017–2020) the cluster was firmly anchored in electromobility — electric vehicles, recharging stations, and urban transport systems. By their second project (2021–2024) the thematic centre of gravity had shifted entirely: the focus became advanced manufacturing, digitalisation, and industrial value chains, with SMEs and clusters as the organising logic rather than EVs specifically. The pivot is sharp rather than gradual, which likely reflects either a strategic broadening of the cluster's membership base or an opportunistic response to funding priorities in the post-2020 programme period.

EVIC is moving away from transport-specific work toward a sector-agnostic industrial cluster role, positioning itself as a connector between digital manufacturing research and SME industrial actors — which suggests future collaborations will be less about EVs and more about Industry 4.0 adoption across their member base.

How they like to work

EVIC always enters projects as a participant rather than a coordinator, which is consistent with their identity as an industry association rather than a research-active institution. Across just two projects they accumulated 17 distinct consortium partners across 11 countries, indicating they operate in sizeable, internationally diverse consortia and are comfortable in that environment. Working with them means gaining access to their SME member network and Eastern European industrial contacts, rather than expecting them to drive the research agenda or lead work packages.

Despite only two projects, EVIC has built connections with 17 unique partners spanning 11 countries — an unusually broad network for an NGO of this size, reflecting the international composition of both MSCA-RISE and IA consortia they joined. Their geographic footprint is pan-European, though their primary value-add to any consortium is the Bulgarian and broader Balkan industrial SME network they represent.

What sets them apart

EVIC occupies a niche that very few Bulgarian organisations fill: an industry cluster with demonstrated capacity to participate in competitive EU Framework Programme projects across two different funding schemes (MSCA-RISE and Innovation Action). For consortium builders needing a credible Bulgarian industry partner — especially one that can mobilise SMEs in the EV or advanced manufacturing space — EVIC offers both the institutional legitimacy of an established cluster and an active EU project track record. Their cross-sector experience (transport to manufacturing) also makes them a more flexible partner than a single-technology SME.

Highlights from their portfolio

• eMobilita
  Their highest-funded project (EUR 162,000) and founding EU engagement, addressing electromobility in urban transport through an MSCA-RISE staff exchange — demonstrating capacity to embed in academic-led international research networks.
• MIND4MACHINES
  Marks a deliberate pivot into digital manufacturing and Industry 4.0 under an Innovation Action scheme, signalling that the cluster is broadening its mandate beyond EVs to serve the wider advanced manufacturing SME community.