Board of Directors

Louis Verbeke is an Honorary Chairman at the Vlerick Business School. Mr. Verbeke holds various senior positions in the world of lawyering, not-for-profit and for-profit. He founded the Belgian Institute for Directors and an international law firm, chaired Vlerick Business School for over 15 years as well as several other listed or unlisted corporations. Until 2006 he was Senior Partner at the global law firm Allen & Overy. Mr. Verbeke is also an early stage investor and is a director of the European Policy Centre, a Brussels-based think tank. His main areas of expertise are mergers and acquisitions, governance and ethics, business law and corporate modeling. Mr. Louis Verbeke is a Doctor in Law (Ghent, Belgium) and holds a Master’s Degree from Vlerick Business School. He also holds a Master of Law degree from Virginia University (USA).

Asparuh Koev, founder and CEO of Transmetrics, is a successful serial entrepreneur with a proven record of building companies and leading them to success. Prior to starting Transmetrics, Asparuh had founded Sciant AG, a software outsourcing company in Sofia, Bulgaria. Under Asparuh’s guidance, the company grew to 350 employees/$7 million in revenue per year and was named the second-best employer in Bulgaria. In 2007, the company achieved a profitable exit for its shareholders when it was sold to VMWare and became VMWare Bulgaria. Asparuh also founded IntelliCo Solutions, a consultancy company servicing the cargo transport market. As a Managing Partner, Asparuh grew the company to 18 employees. Among its customers, IntelliCo Solutions has Fortune 500 clients delivering IT projects in the $1 million-$20 million range. The company still successfully operates today. Asparuh has a combination of business and technical background. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from the American University in Bulgaria and an MBA degree from the Vlerick Business School in Belgium (with Great Distinction).

Herman De Bode is a Chief of Staff for the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Security and Interior of Belgium and a former CEO of McKinsey & Company in Benelux. Mr. De Bode joined McKinsey in 1979 and throughout his career has been advising business leaders of public and private companies on strategic, organizational and operational issues. He specialized in serving public sector companies such as transport and telecommunication providers. Mr. De Bode holds a commercial engineering degree from University of Antwerp (Sum Laude), and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Todor Breshkov is a Managing Partner at LAUNCHub, a EUR 9M seed fund, focused on supporting the most promising digital startups in Southeastern Europe. Mr. Breshkov has substantial banking experience and his professional expertise varies within the areas of Finance, Business Development, VC and entrepreneurship. Mr. Breshkov is a founder and Chairman of the Board of Bulgarian Real Estate Fund (BREF), the largest-listed real estate fund in Bulgaria. He has been a Managing Director of First Financial Brokerage House (2001 – 2009) and also a Member of the Board of Directors of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (2003 – 2009). Mr. Breshkov was a Member of the Supervisory Board (2003 – 2011) of First Investment Bank, one of the largest Bulgarian banks. Mr. Breshkov holds a Master’s Degree in Organizational Development and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from St. Kliment Ohridski University (Sofia, Bulgaria). He also holds a brokerage certificate WMBA from London.

Philip Pashov is a Managing Director of the Bulgarian Property Developments EOOD, the leading company in the Bulgarian logistics real estate. He has been managing the company for 10 years. Prior to that, Mr. Pashov worked as a Financial Analyst at the UBS Investment Bank (London, United Kingdom). He worked at the Bulgarian Agency for Foreign Investments where he managed real estate investments. Mr. Pashov also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange.