Elvin Guri

Elvin Guri is an Albanian-born, Bulgaria-based entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist with more than 15 years of experience in banking and private equity. He began his career as an auditor at Price Waterhouse (PwC) in Sofia, then spent more than five years with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), building a foundation in financial services and investment across the region.

In 2001–2002 Guri co-founded (with Ivan Hristanov) JetFinance International, which grew into the largest independent consumer-finance lender in South-East Europe. The business was sold to BNP Paribas Personal Finance in July 2007 — the exit that established his reputation as a builder and dealmaker in the Balkans.

Guri founded and leads Empower Capital Advisors, manager of the Empower Capital Fund, a fund (variously reported at EUR ~21–26M) financed by the European Investment Fund under the JEREMIE Initiative Bulgaria. Its mandate is to provide equity and quasi-equity funding to growing Bulgarian lower- and mid-market companies. Through Empower he has reportedly helped more than 15 companies expand, with a combined turnover exceeding EUR 250 million and over 5,000 employees.

He holds an Executive MBA from the University of Oxford's Saïd Business School. Guri is also an active philanthropist, supporting Teach for Bulgaria, Junior Achievement Bulgaria, and the American University in Bulgaria (AUBG), and is a frequent conference speaker across the Balkans (e.g., Startup Grind Tirana, Voxxed Days Belgrade, the CEE Investment Conference, and IT Hub Connect).

• Invests in established, growing Bulgarian lower- and mid-market companies rather than early-stage startups — the fund provides expansion equity and quasi-equity.
• Sector-agnostic within the "real economy": manufacturing, retail, transportation/logistics, food processing, facility management, healthcare, IT, education and hospitality.
• Backed by the European Investment Fund (JEREMIE Bulgaria), giving the fund a development-finance mandate: professionalizing and scaling regional companies, not just financial returns.
• Track record orientation — Guri repeatedly frames investing around building companies that create jobs and turnover, citing 15+ portfolio firms employing 5,000+ people.
• Publicly optimistic about Bulgarian talent and the entrepreneurial environment ("There Are Great Things Young People Can Do in Bulgaria").