ETHSofia 2025: Case Study
In September 2025, ETHSofia took place in Sofia, Bulgaria and used Thrilld as its official networking app. In this case study, we evaluate the impact of Thrilld on the event, sharing insights on what went well, alongside the challenges and solutions to consider for future networking partnerships. One takeaway: we came to the realisation that the app can serve the very purpose of gathering attendees’ questions for on-stage speakers! Read on for more & for some pictures.
Background
“Designed for those pushing the boundaries of decentralized technology…” This year, ETHSofia featured some very interesting presentations and discussions on topics in AI & blockchain, DeFi, RWA & tokenization, scaling, trading tech, and Web3 security. The event brought together builders, founders, researchers, investors, devs, and all crypto enthusiasts to learn, build and ponder on the future of Web3 and Ethereum. Indeed, we also left with some new, unexpected ideas and practical insights, for example, how are institutions and businesses entering crypto and building strategic reserves?
ETHSofia took place at Sofia Tech Park, located at the foot of Vitosha mountain in the western part of Bulgaria. Sofia is the capital and largest city of the country and has many of its own unique attractions to visit, including cultural museums and ancient landmarks. For a crypto event, Sofia is a strategic destination with 6.1% of Bulgarians owning crypto, among the highest adoption rates in Eastern Europe. There is also a large pool of talent, 200K+ software engineers, ranking Bulgaria among the top 5 globally per capita in IT talent. Moreover, established in 2016, ETHSofia itself is one of the oldest crypto meetups in the Balkans (also built by one of the organisers of ETH Sofia!), enabling a long-standing Web3 community in said region.
Thrilld was the official networking app for the conference, facilitating communication, connection and event info, all to further enable attendee participation in the event. Alexandra Overgaag, the founder and CEO of Thrilld Labs, was present onsite representing the company and was one of the MCs.
Within the two days, we saw countless keynotes, and panel discussions by skilled speakers from companies like Ledger, Binance, the Ethereum Foundation, Bitget, Liberland, RedStone, Rings Protocol, Pashov Audit Group, and many others. Their talks added significant value to both the main stage and side stage, where additional keynotes and workshops took place. There was also a multi-day hackathon with a pretty generous prize pool thanks to sponsors and partners involved.
The Outcome
ETHSofia 2025 hosted over 200 hackers, 500+ attendees and hackathon tracks, using Thrilld as the official networking app. Below we examine some of the outcomes and future considerations of using Thrilld to continue making the business of business in Web3 even simpler :)
At ETHSofia, Thrilld linked individuals with similar interests to connect and chat. The key challenges our team faced are as follows:
Onsite, we experienced minor issues where at least two individuals' onboarding processes had a few technical difficulties, likely arising from individual devices or unknown bugs relating to our software respective to the devices. Thrilld is compatible with all phones, so some settings in devices may be the cause of an issue, although it also occasionally happens that new device-specific bugs pop up that our development team hasn’t seen before.
Another challenge was the workload, given that we didn't have many team members on-site alongside Alexandra herself, who was oftentimes on stage as the MC. With such a large audience, there is a great need for effective communication and sufficiently-manned (or womanned:)) booth.
Overall, ETHSofia 2025 was a huge success. Thanks to the event team, Thrilld was well represented in prior announcements and on the event website. We are grateful to the ETHSofia organizing team for their proactivity in promoting the app on-site, where there was strong visibility with banners mounted at the entrance.
The Future
ETHSofia was the biggest event in the country of Bulgaria to adopt Thrilld. The organizers of the conference were welcoming and receptive, which contributed immensely to the success of the experience, surely both for ourselves and for the many on-site attendees, partners and sponsors.
For future partnerships, the visibility onsite, in addition to pre-event promotion is essential. This is something we hope to formalize with future partners, as time and visibility are key in people knowing that there is a networking app in the first place.
We also came to the realisation that the app can serve the very purpose of gathering attendees’ questions for on-stage speakers.
Vlad Dramaliev, founder of ETHSofia, noted about Thrilld Labs and the MCing:
"Thank you for being part of ETHSofia ! You were amazing on stage! Born to do it. And thanks Thrilld Labs for the app support!"
From the hackathon to world-class keynotes and panels, ETHSofia 2025 surely contributes to decentralized innovation, knowledge exchange and networking across both local and European builders. A big thanks to the organizing team for their support and cooperation. We hope to be back in Bulgaria again soon, hopefully for the 2026 edition!
Thrilld Labs is thrilld to continue powering Web3 events worldwide, one connection at a time!
About Thrilld Labs
Thrilld, built by Thrilld Labs, lets Web3 professionals find each other, talk business, and build human connections through a fair networking app; online and at industry events. Thrilld Labs is also building a decentralised app that lets Web3 event organizers sell tickets and enhance their reach, as well as attendee engagement.
About ETHSofia
ETHSofia 2025 is the country’s flagship crypto event exploring Ethereum technology and blockchain innovation. Bringing together top builders, founders, researchers, investors, and enthusiasts, ETHSofia aims to empower Web3 talent and foster a collaborative community.
