Voices 2025 - Master Mind
A fascination with the world of computing as a child, Dimitar developed a keen interest in programming from an early age. In college, studying computer science in his native Bulgaria, he shifted his focus on creating technology that would solve real-world problems and, while working as a software developer, he decided he wanted to further his studies – and his horizons – by doing a Master’s abroad.
“We Bulgarians are a nation of emigrants: it is really common to live, work and study in other countries. Many go to places like Germany but I wanted to go somewhere different. I didn’t know anything about Ireland but I had a strange feeling it was going to be a good move for me. I knew it was a real IT hub, with Google and Facebook based there.”
Dimitar undertook an MSc in Software Engineering at DCU in 2010.
“There was a very high employment rate for graduates and the software engineering programme seemed like a perfect fit for me. Every single course I covered was great – nothing was boring or not useful. In fact, if I had to plan a software engineering curriculum now, I would probably choose exactly the same.
"DCU really raised the bar for me. I had to focus, turn around a lot of work and meet deadlines, but if you want to be successful you have to work very hard. I learned a lot about managing my time. It was a great experience – everyone worked together and pushed each other on.”
One of Dimitar’s professors encouraged him to pursue a thesis in records management, which he could work on in Norway.
“When I arrived in Norway to start my thesis I was supposed to be working on a module for an existing open-source records management system but soon realised the system was not great so I had to rewrite it completely.”
This Master’s thesis ended up being the seed for the establishment of Documaster in 2014 – an innovative Norwegian - based provider of digital infrastructure for streamlined document management and e-archiving, which was acquired earlier this year by Main Capital Partners in a multi-million-dollar deal.
“Documaster was a start-up that I co-founded, based in Norway. We opened an office later in Bulgaria and over 10 crazy years we built something amazing!”
The services provided by Documaster, Dimitar explains, simplify the processes of capturing, storing, organising and retrieving documentation, addressing the common issue of time-consuming searches for business-critical information within disorganised document systems.
Today, Documaster serves approximately 750 customers, over 90% of which are public sector organisations, complemented by clients in highly regulated private sectors.
“A few months ago our company was acquired by a large software investor: I am so proud of what we achieved in ten years. Most startups last around two years. We created a company with great people, who became true leaders – turning over €11m in annual revenue!”
"After so many years of growing the business, I wanted to step back, take some time for myself and figure out the next step. I am not sure what that will be – I might start another business, or go back to my programming roots, or even write a book!
"But I know without DCU and my time in Ireland I really don’t think Documaster would have been born: my life would have been very different. The university supported me in every way it could, so without it there would have been no company, no acquisition and none of this success I have enjoyed.”