Where Innovation Meets Responsibility: Fireside Chat with Kamen Slavov and Jennifer Boca
The fireside chat was part of the SCION Accelerator Demo Day in Bucharest, Romania - the culmination of the first Accelerator cohort’s journey into building successful NatureTech innovations. The Accelerator, conducted in partnership with Rezolv Energy, is a 10-week programme created to empower early-stage startups operating at the intersection of ecology, science, and scalable technology.
Bucharest was still buzzing from ten powerful founder pitches from the first part of the Demo Day programme when the room shifted gears for a moment of reflection. SCION’s co-founder, Kamen Slavov, sat down with Jennifer Boca, Chief Sustainability Officer at Rezolv Energy, to explore what the first cohort truly meant for the region and where the momentum is heading next.
A partnership built to go beyond the project site
Rezolv builds renewable energy projects. SCION builds innovators. The Accelerator became the meeting point: a shared belief that a just energy transition requires more than infrastructure, it needs founders who understand ecosystems, communities, and real-world environmental problems.
Jennifer put it plainly:
“We build renewables projects, but we care deeply about the communities where we operate. Supporting entrepreneurs is one way to multiply that impact.”
Two months earlier, this cohort had walked into their first session in Sofia, Bulgaria. Hearing their progress on stage, Jennifer said she felt “goosebumps”.
A region with everything it needs to lead
Kamen raised the question often hanging over Central and Southeastern Europe: Can this region genuinely lead in NatureTech?
Jennifer did not hesitate:
“There’s no reason why this region can’t be a centre of excellence for innovation. The evidence is already here.”
She pointed to the digital fluency, the ambition of young founders, and the increasing regional integration across Bulgaria, Romania, and neighbouring countries. Combined with EU regulatory alignment, this gives startups both a real testing ground and a large unified market to grow into.
For SCION, this reinforces a conviction we already share: the region is not “emerging” — it is rising.
Innovation must stay connected to people
Much of the fireside chat centred on one principle: NatureTech only succeeds when grounded in communities and local realities.
“At the end of the day, everything we build intersects with people,” Jennifer said. “If communities say no, we can lose our licence to operate entirely.”
She spoke about co-designing nature reserves with local communities near renewable energy sites, supporting farmers whose land is affected by development, and prioritising local expertise over external solutions.
Kamen echoed this from the founders’ perspective:
“Technology only succeeds when it aligns with local contexts and the communities it aims to serve.”
This alignment is not a ‘nice-to-have’ — it is a strategic advantage and a source of resilience.
The future is already in the room
Looking ahead, Jennifer pointed to the innovations showcased at Demo Day - drones for environmental monitoring, AI in agriculture, decentralised energy systems - and saw immediate opportunities for collaboration.
“The solutions are already here. The exciting part is finding ways to work with them.”
For Rezolv, this means exploring pilots, partnerships, and skills programmes that connect large-scale renewables projects with early-stage innovators. For SCION, it means nurturing the ecosystem that connects founders to these opportunities.
Where SCION stands now
This first cohort has demonstrated what is possible when scientific depth, entrepreneurial energy, and mission-driven capital come together in one place. The fireside chat captured that feeling in its clearest form: the region is ready, the talent is here, and the work ahead is both ambitious and necessary.
SCION’s role is to continue building the platform that will enable this momentum to have a long-term impact. By expanding our community, strengthening regional collaboration, and opening the doors for the next generation of founders.
Applications for the second cohort of the SCION Accelerator are now open.
Find out more here.
