Maria Alexandrova

Maria is heading the innovation projects and sustainability at Nasekomo – a deep-tech scale-up based in Bulgaria specializing in insect protein manufacturing for animal and plant feed. Founded in 2017, Nasekomo (which means “insect” in Bulgarian) is the largest manufacturer of products from the insect Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia Illucens) in Central and Eastern Europe. The company develops automated insect breeding solution that makes it possible to upscale organic waste streams and byproducts from the agro-industry transforming them into high-quality sustainable animal feed ingredients and natural fertilizer. For its innovative leadership, the company was featured among the Top 50 Impactful tech companies in CEE by Deloitte and awarded the “Game Changer in Sustainable  Entrepreneurship” by the PwC ESG Awards, Maria has over 15 years of experience in managing national and international projects and specializes in innovation management, R&D of green technologies and products, and sustainability management. At Nasekomo, she is responsible for the company strategy for sustainability and its implementation across business units and projects.  She has worked with in over 15 international innovation consortia and with over 40 start-ups on climate innovation as business coach and mentor. Currently, she manages a project portfolio of € 4,5M. for new technologies and products development in the field of precision farming, digitalization of insect farming and industrial solutions for circular economy. Before joining Nasekomo, Maria managed the Bulgarian edition of the largest Accelerator for green entrepreneurship in Europe - EIT Climate-KIC Accelerator, through which she also coached over 35 sustainable start-ups. Her coaching and mentorship work continues at present with a focus on bio and agri-tech. Maria has also been a member of the Horizon 2020 National Contact Network on the topic "Climate, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials", and is a certified manager of innovation promotion at EIT Climate-KIC.