The Bulgarian software company StivaSoft sold 80% of its startup brand PHPjabbers. The buyer is the Estonian digital company OnlineOnly, and the investment amounts to a 7-digit sum in USD. StivaSoft retains control over 20% of PHPjabbers, and according to the terms of the transaction, finalized in April, the operational and development activities remain in the scope of responsibilities of the Bulgarian team.

PHPJabbers.com is one of the world leaders on the web applications market, in the specific niche of PHP scripts. Its users are mainly web design studios, digital agencies, as well as freelance developers who integrate PHPJabbers’ products in their websites. In the course of 15 years, PHPJabbers has developed 75 applications and has more than 40 000 clients from over 190 countries.

„PHPJabbers was launched as a family startup, which developed successfully mostly because of the team - we have been together with most of it for more than 10 years already. That’s why, to expand the brand we looked for not just a buyer but for a strategic partner that is strong in digital marketing and sales but appreciates the local team’s expertise. We identified the right investor in OnlineOnly. Thanks to its support we can now focus primarily on our second key project – the e-commerce website builder for small and medium enterprises VEVS”, commented Veselin Stoilov, CEO of StivaSoft.

Veselin Stoilov, internet entrepreneur and web specialist, founded StivaSoft as a company in 2009 in Burgas, shortly after he launched the startup PHPJabbers together with a couple of friends. StivaSoft specializes in the development of various web applications. The company has a team of 15 professionals and annual revenues amounting to 1.2 million leva as of 2020.

Following up on PHPjabbers’ success, in 2016 StivaSoft launched VEVS – an e-commerce website builder for small and medium businesses, which is now a completed platform, and has 1000 clients outside Bulgaria.

On the local market StivaSoft is known for its system for kindergarten admission implemented by Burgas Municipality, as well as with the first 1st-grader application platform in the country. Developed in 2012, both systems have been successfully and flawlessly used by the municipal administration and the educational institutions to date.  

The investor in PHPJabbers, the Estonian digital company OnlineOnly, is specialized in online marketing services. For 2020 it reports over EUR 8 million in revenues.

„We acquired PHPJabbers to diversify our business ventures with a sustainable product company which has a huge potential for growth. The decision was made due to its team and our relationship with them - they have a proven track record of running and growing the business over 10 years. We were impressed with what they had built and knew that with our own expertise in design, marketing and SEO paired with StivaSoft's entreprenurial mindset and their vast knowledge of product development, we could take the business to the next level”, commented Mikk Leiner, СЕО of OnlineOnly.com.

StivaSoft is one of the founders of ICT Cluster Burgas, one of the most established and fastest-growing technological clusters, representing the interests of more than 40 companies from the tech sector in Burgas and the Southeast part of Bulgaria.