Where does Hristo Borisov work?

Hristo Borisov is Founder of Payhawk and Advisor at Bek Ventures.

What companies did Hristo Borisov found?

Hristo Borisov founded Payhawk.

Where did Hristo Borisov go to school?

Hristo Borisov studied at American University in Bulgaria (Bachelor, Computer Science); Harvard Business School (OPM Class 64); Nottingham Trent University (Erasmus Exchange Student, Computing and Informatics).

What podcasts and interviews feature Hristo Borisov?

Tracked appearances include "Building Bulgaria's First Unicorn", "Interview: Hristo Borisov, Cofounder & CEO at Payhawk".

Hristo Borisov

InvestorUnicorn founder

Founder at Payhawk · Advisor at Bek Ventures

Sofia, Bulgaria

FoundedPayhawk$2B

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About

Hristo Borisov built Bulgaria's first unicorn. He co-founded Payhawk in 2018 with his Telerik colleague Boyko Karadzhov, and in 2022 a $100 million Series B extension led by Lightspeed valued the spend-management company at $1 billion — a 75% step-up just three months after its previous round. By July 2026 Payhawk had passed $100 million in annual recurring revenue serving customers in 33 countries. He joined Telerik as a university sophomore and spent more than a decade there and at Progress Software, rising to direct a product division of 180 engineers, and took a double degree in computer science and business at the American University in Bulgaria.

Beyond investing

Founded: Co-founded Payhawk in 2018 with Telerik colleague Boyko Karadzhov; Konstantin Dzhengozov became the third co-founder.
Education: Took a double degree in computer science and business administration at the American University in Bulgaria, graduating in 2010 after joining Telerik as a sophomore.
Communities: A founding member of the Citizens App, a Bulgarian civic-reporting application.
More: The idea came from cancelling his own unused subscriptions between jobs and realising how much companies waste on forgotten software. Heard no from more than sixty investors before Earlybird led a €3m round — with about thirty days of money left. Was mentored at Telerik by co-founder Vasil Terziev, whose push toward business skills moved him from engineering into product.

Mentioned above: the American University in Bulgaria mafia →

From siliconroundabout.org.uk — common ground for a warm intro.

Founder at Payhawk

Intro paths

→

In turn, Hristo can intro founders to Payhawk's investors below.

Payhawk's investors · 8

Earlybird Venture CapitalBerlin · $540K – $12M checks Eleven Bulgaria AD Eleven VenturesSofia · $270K – $1.6M checks · since 2019 GreenoaksSan Francisco · $1M – $50M checks · since 2021 HubSpot VenturesCambridge · $500K – $5M checks Lightspeed Venture PartnersMenlo Park · $1M – $5M checks QED InvestorsAlexandria · $30K – $20M checks · since 2021 Sprints CapitalLondon

Co-founders at Payhawk

Boyko KaradzhovFounder

Konstantin DzhengozovFounder

Konstantin DjengozovFounder

Experience

Payhawk — Business spend, reinvented.Co-founder & CEOcurrent2018 — present
ProgressDirector of Product Management, Progress NativeChat2016 — 2018Sofia
ProgressCo-Founder Darvin.ai (now Progress NativeChat)2016 — 2018Sofia, Bulgaria
ProgressSenior Manager, Product Management2015 — 2016Sofia
ProgressSenior Product Manager, Telerik Platform2012 — 2015Sofia
ProgressTeam Lead, Business Analyst2010 — 2012Sofia, Bulgaria
ProgressSoftware Developer2008 — 2010
ГражданитеFounding Member2015 — 2016Bulgaria
Masthead StudiosSoftware Developer2007

Skills & more

Software Development99Cloud Computing92Product Management83Entrepreneurship26Lean Startup15Mobile Technology17Business Analysis36User Experience12Agile Project Management17Scrum25Start-ups12Silverlight29

+12 more

Agile MethodologiesWeb ServicesTelerikCRMCustomer Relationship Management (CRM)C#ASP.NETWPFMicrosoft Technologies.NETVisual BasicVisual Studio

VHF Short-Range Radio Certificate — Royal Yachting Association (RYA)
Skipper, International Waters — Ministry of Transport and Communications, Bulgaria
Scholarship Donor — American University in Bulgaria

From Hristo's professional profile.

Podcasts & interviews

featuring Hristo Borisov

Building Bulgaria's First Unicorn

Fintech Leaders · open.spotify.com

Interview: Hristo Borisov, Cofounder & CEO at Payhawk

Fintech Business Weekly · fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com

Colleagues at Bek Ventures

Alen Cvisic

Marketing Advisor at Bek Ventures

Arda Kirkagac

Senior Associate at Bek Ventures

Baturay Kaya

Partner at Bek Ventures

Beyhan Kalafat

Executive Assistant & Event Coordinator at Bek Ventures

Burcu Ece Sagar

Executive Assistant at Bek Ventures

Cem Sertoglu

Managing Partner at Bek Ventures

Eleanor Warnock

Communications Advisor at Bek Ventures

Ertunc Alioglu

CFO at Bek Ventures

Frequently asked questions

Who is Hristo Borisov?: Hristo Borisov built Bulgaria's first unicorn. He co-founded Payhawk in 2018 with his Telerik colleague Boyko Karadzhov, and in 2022 a $100 million Series B extension led by Lightspeed valued the spend-management company at $1 billion — a 75% step-up just three months after its previous round. By July 2026 Payhawk had passed $100 million in annual recurring revenue serving customers in 33 countries. He joined Telerik as a university sophomore and spent more than a decade there and at Progress Software, rising to direct a product division of 180 engineers, and took a double degree in computer science and business at the American University in Bulgaria.
Where does Hristo Borisov work?: Hristo Borisov is Founder of Payhawk and Advisor at Bek Ventures.
What companies did Hristo Borisov found?: Hristo Borisov founded Payhawk.
Where did Hristo Borisov go to school?: Hristo Borisov studied at American University in Bulgaria (Bachelor, Computer Science); Harvard Business School (OPM Class 64); Nottingham Trent University (Erasmus Exchange Student, Computing and Informatics).
What podcasts and interviews feature Hristo Borisov?: Tracked appearances include "Building Bulgaria's First Unicorn", "Interview: Hristo Borisov, Cofounder & CEO at Payhawk".