Entrepreneur of the Year 2024: How SMPC co-founders Gueorgui Anguelov and Roumen Petkov are driving the market for electric vehicles

THE KICKOFF: Bulgarian immigrants Gueorgui Anguelov and Roumen Petkov had been telecom engineers for decades before they founded Burnaby-based SMPC Technologies in 2015. “We saw the electric vehicle evolution coming, so we decided to try our luck,” explains Anguelov. Since they had previously worked in an adjacent industry, “it was a really easy transition to EV,” adds Petkov.

ACTION PLAN: SMPC is a B2B platform, but the designs it creates for its consumer-facing customers (which include both off- and on-road EVs) are wide-ranging. To put it simply, says Anguelov: “It’s a design firm—we design battery chargers.”

Anguelov and Petkov credit their passion for competition as their driver for success. “We’re mostly immigrants [at SMPC]… when you immigrate to this country with knowledge and nothing else, if you’re not competitive there’s no way you can succeed.”

With that drive, they managed to acquire a niche market share that they saw as having been overlooked by competitors. Namely, they focused on the North American market, which, in the EV industry, is comparatively small. Anguelov explains that delivering information and knowledge on the company’s complicated projects in an accessible way has been key.

“We talk to the customers first, an EV manufacturer or user, and determine the specifications,” Anguelov explains. After that, SMPC designs, prototypes and manufactures to meet those specific parameters.

CLOSING STATEMENT: “Becoming a successful designer takes time and coaching people is a big part of our activities,” notes Anguelov. That coaching has seemingly paid off: supported by a team of 21 employees, SMPC has doubled its revenue every year for the past four years. “When you catch the wave, you ride it,” he says.

Q+A

What’s your most-used app?

RP: YouTube.

After work we can find you…

GA: Working.