# Momchil Kyurkchiev

> Bulgarian entrepreneur and software engineer Momchil Kyurkchiev co-founded Leanplum with Andrew First in 2012 after working at Google. He served as CEO and chief product officer before CleverTap acquired the customer engagement company in 2022 and appointed him chief strategy officer. His public work also includes writing, a TEDxVitosha talk, mentoring Bulgarian founders and supporting mathematics competitions at SUNY Brockport.

- **Role:** Leanplum co-founder and startup mentor; on sabbatical in Bulgaria according to Telerik Academy
- **Organizations:** Leanplum by CleverTap, CleverTap, Google, Techstars Seattle, Telerik Academy
- **From:** Ruse, Bulgaria
- **Nationality:** Bulgarian
- **Education:** BS; triple major in mathematics, computer science and computational science, State University of New York College at Brockport, MS in Software Engineering and Management, Carnegie Mellon University
- **Known for:** Co-founded Leanplum and helped build it to more than 100 employees and more than $20 million in revenue, according to CleverTap’s speaker biography., Leanplum won VentureBeat’s GrowthBeat Innovation Showdown in 2014., Leanplum was acquired by CleverTap in June 2022.

## Career timeline

- **2003** — Moved from Bulgaria to the United States to attend SUNY Brockport.
- **2007** — Graduated from Brockport; worked at Google before founding Leanplum.
- **2011** — Completed a master’s degree at Carnegie Mellon University.
- **2012** — Co-founded Leanplum with former Google colleague Andrew First; participated in Techstars Seattle.
- **2014** — Leanplum raised a $4.8 million Series A and won the GrowthBeat Innovation Showdown.
- **2018** — Spoke at TEDxVitosha about bringing personal life to work.
- **2020** — Public Forbes biography identified him as Leanplum co-founder and chief product officer.
- **2022** — CleverTap completed the Leanplum acquisition on June 13 and appointed him chief strategy officer.
- **2025** — Mint reported his departure from CleverTap in July.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Leanplum and helped build it to more than 100 employees and more than $20 million in revenue, according to CleverTap’s speaker biography.
- Leanplum won VentureBeat’s GrowthBeat Innovation Showdown in 2014.
- Leanplum was acquired by CleverTap in June 2022.
- Delivered a TEDxVitosha talk in January 2018.
- Supports annual mathematics competitions at SUNY Brockport.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — At the October research check, Telerik Academy’s public mentor biography describes a return to Bulgaria after 22 years in the US and a sabbatical spent mentoring founders; it does not date the move.
- **2025-01** — CleverTap updated his commentary on changing mobile gaming economics on January 29.
- **2025-07** — Mint reported that he had left CleverTap; the report was published July 21.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/momchilkyurkchiev
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/mkyurkchiev

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/momchil-kyurkchiev
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-22