Amid the waves of one of Europe’s biggest surf competitions – La Vaca (Spanish for “cow”) – a surfer clad in a cow-patterned wetsuit is impossible to miss. That surfer is Spaniard Nagai Puntiveiro, and his suit is the creation of Runawave – the first Bulgarian wetsuit brand. Only a few years after its establishment, Runawave already outfits professional athletes and stands among the world’s top brands in water sports equipment.

A distinctive feature of Runawave is the option for customers to order a fully personalized suit – tailored to their measurements and customized with colors, prints, zippers, and knee pads. The brand’s founder, Georgi Marinov, shares that his team draws inspiration from people’s imagination. Among the most unusual wetsuits they’ve produced are one with a banana print and a 9-mm model designed for gold prospecting.

The production facility is located in his hometown of Smolyan. “The idea was to grow the brand in my native region – the Rhodope Mountains – because it is one of the most underdeveloped areas of Bulgaria, with high unemployment and poor working conditions,” says Georgi. In their pursuit of constant development and product improvement, the company involves professional athletes who provide regular feedback to help advance the brand.

Their drive for improvement goes beyond production. As sports enthusiasts, Runawave are also nature lovers, dedicated to its preservation. In 2022, they launched a circular economy project: recycling used wetsuits and producing new items. This pioneering initiative in Europe is being carried out with the support of Norway’s Innovation Fund. Runawave’s Bulgarian partner is BDB Leasing, which has financed almost the entire production, equipment, and an accompanying photovoltaic power plant.