Nice example of innovation network is coming from Bulgaria and theire project is now on Kickstarter.

Innovator Creative Spaces – the first national network of shared innovation centres

The first national network of shared creative spaces for makers and start-up entrepreneurs will be launching in Varna. The company Innovator Creative Spaces kicks off from the Sea capital as part of one of the projects at program European Youth Capital – Varna 2017.
The goal of the first chain of innovation centres is to create a collaborative network of shared creative centres across the whole country. The main focus is to provide shared, hi-tech workshops
for software development, hardware prototypes and works in different technical, scientific and cultural fields. The workshops will be equipped with 3D printers, CNC routers, VR labs, Internet of
Things, laser cutting and other advanced technology, as well as conventional equipment. The long-term goal of “Innovator – Creative Spaces” is to build a network of high-tech workshops across
Bulgaria, while the regional characteristics and needs for each location will be taken into consideration.
The team behind the project is part of the global Makers Movement manifesto, unifying a network of more than 6000 collaborative spaces and more than 135 million people across the whole world.
The project aims to form a constructive, modern environment that will stimulate the entrepreneurial and creative thinking, similar to successful practices in countries like the USA, Germany, Japan and others. Only in the last 12 months, 150 similar spaces were created around the world.
The founders of Innovator Creative Spaces are looking to develop tech-laboratories and workshops, business incubator, pre-accelerator, mentorship programs, academy conducting training for
students, event hall, social zone, co-working space and offices for start-ups and specialists. In addition, the start-up companies will have the opportunity to receive help by consultations about
their marketing, branding, design, administration, finding initial (seed) capital, etc.
The project focuses on the development of social centres that co-operate with each other to facilitate the potential advance of the new wave of the entrepreneurship culture in Bulgaria.
“We are confident that our project not only helps to deal with youth unemployment, but also improves the re-qualification opportunities and entrepreneurship by discovering new possibilities for
personal development in Bulgaria. We believe that the future of our country is in the capable hands of young and pro-active people and given the fact that a lot of successful start-ups around the world “Maker Movement” is a trend that unites inventors and entrepreneurs from all over the World, as well as 6000 co-operating spaces and an audience of 135 million. The movement turns ideas into
practical products by providing an environment with the necessary equipment, access to funding and training, as well as publicity. It is very popular in the USA and Western European countries, where successful start-up businesses launch their products from similar shared innovation centres/workshops.

The long-term mission of the project is to turn it into an attractive centre for enterprising and creative people, which will enhance the development of the entrepreneurship education and
support the needs of local, as well as the national economy, in various fields such as high technology, innovations and research. The project will expand in other major towns such as Plovdiv, Stara Zagora and Sofia.
The first centre will be based in Varna, in the new “art area” of the town – Talyana, No.1 Sofia street. Local businesses and specialists showed great interest in Innovator Creative Spaces, and very soon the pre-form registrations for participation in the project, as well as the first partnership organisations, will be announced.