Centre for European Perspective hosted a group of young entrepreneurs for a three-day training in the field of entrepreneurship and transfer of good practices from Slovenia. The participants visited Maribor, Jable Castle and Ljubljana and had a chance to get to know Slovenian entrepreneurial ecosystem and existing start-up initiatives.
We hosted 40 young entrepreneurs from the Western Balkans, 10 start-up teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and 10 from Kosovo at the PODIM Conference, one of the leading start-up meetings in the region. They were selected on the basis of the PODIM Challenge call that initially received more than 70 entrepreneurial ideas, 48 from Kosovo and 27 from BiH. Young entrepreneurs had to present their idea, team and business plan. Among over 200 start-ups from Slovenia and the region, two teams from BiH, AOX Earth and Koola, got into the semi-finals where 20 best start-up ideas pitched in front of the experts and investors.
Participants had a chance to listen to the inspiring and content-rich speeches and workshops, delivered by serial start-upers, investors, initiators from all four corners of the world. They met with the investors through one-on-one meetings, they widened their horizons at the consulting and coaching sessions and discussed their ideas with the young people with a similar entrepreneurial mindset.
The last day of the training was devoted to the wrap-up session at Jable castle. Participants discussed their experience at the conference and addressed the potentials of cooperation inside their home countries and among the countries of the Western Balkans. Urban Lapajne from Start:up Slovenija initiative talked about the Slovenian experience of the country-wide cooperation and coordination between the incubators, universities, technological parks. In BiH and Kosovo, there is no such coordination platform, which is why the idea was discussed with our young participants. The need for such cooperation was supported also by Ana Anžej from SAŠA Inkubator and Start:up Slovenia. The representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Peter Grk and Alenka Košir discussed Slovenian and EU efforts in the Balkans and the Positive Agenda for Youth in the Western Balkans. In conclusion, the participants visited the ABC Accelerator where they got a chance to present their idea in 1 minute and got a professional pitching feedback from the experienced ABC Team.
The project is part of our program activities, financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Republic of Slovenia in the framework of Slovenia’s development cooperation.
Participants and their entrepreneurial ideas are presented below:
| Antcolony | BiH | HRocket is an Artificial Intelligence recruiter specialist for a screening process that takes skills and emotions into consideration. It is 10x faster than anything else in the industry. |
| AOX Earth | BiH | AOX Development Studio created a complete solution in wireless remote monitoring for irrigation and crop management from the convenience of your computer, smartphone or tablet. Designed to help maintain the water content of the soil at a level adequate to meet the demand of the growing plant using real-time data. |
| Appbites | Kosovo | Appbites is developing custom software for clients, with the main focus being Mobile Apps development on Android and IOS Platforms. |
| BBROS | Kosovo | Deskriptika is developing an integrated CRM system for use in Kosovo’s private clinic sector, with a centralized database that safeguards the patient's basic diagnostic and other delicate information in an encrypted and centralized server, and offers many other useful features for private clinics. |
| blablaDev | BiH | blablaDev is a web service for developers and companies - developers come to blablaDev to enhance their skills and work on given projects, while companies use blablaDev to recruit new and talented employers. |
| Clothy | BiH | Clothy is developing an app to save time to people that are seeking for clothes sales with unique approach. |
| CoffeeTime | BiH | CoffeeTime is developing a social application that helps people see who's nearby and ready for meeting up in order to organize quick meetups, all while making the process fun through a real-time approach and mini-games. |
| FindBug | Kosovo | FindBug offers all–in–one packet solution for web security. Its web-based platform has 100 hackers registered on it. The hackers were identified/recruited during the last three years, by professional jury members, and their nationalities differ from Kosovo, Macedonia, Albania and Turkey. |
| Happy Feet | Kosovo | HappyFeet is developing a mobile app called Happy Feet that enables a personalized shoe fitting experience, accessible to anyone with a smartphone. Happy Feet created a solution that brings fewer returns, higher sales and happier customers. |
| Hivemind | BiH | Hivemind is a software that enables beekeepers to collect information, monitor the genetics of bees, and increase the well-being of their hives. Hivemind's main goal is to use modern technology to stop the rising trend of bee extinction. |
| HUM | Kosovo | HUM is a social network connecting people that share similar interests to give and ask for opinions from other users. Their product is a polling system where users connect over voting on pre-defined opinions. |
| Interview App | Kosovo | A unique way to connect job seekers with companies. Apply for a job from the comfort of your own home or wherever you are. |
| KOOLA | BiH | The Koola team has developed a connected car CRM platform that connects car dealerships with its customers, shows service opportunities (service due, crash reports, engine faults, revenue opportunity) and increases customer retention, satisfaction and dealership revenues. |
| Kutia | Kosovo | Kutia was founded with intention of being responsible IT company by providing professional services. |
| Meta 5 | BiH | Meta 5 solution is based on tagging the fruit crates with barcodes and then, through scanning, getting all the information about who picked the fruits and who repackaged the crates. |
| Simplify Tenders Team | Kosovo | Simplify Tenders platform was designed from the beginning to enable European companies easier access to the most important public tenders in Europe. Unlike other providers, they have created an interface specifically for companies that bid in public tenders, and not for complicated needs of government institution. |
| Smart Engineering | Kosovo | Smart Engineering offers fast and efficient solutions to electrical and electronic devices for industrial, telecommunication companies, banks military bases and small businesses by enabling them to design modification and upgrade their electrical systems in new generation electrical system which supports remote control and reduces cost. |
| SyncLab | Kosovo | SyncLab LLC is a creative agency that produces and distributes Augmented Reality (AR) content. The company's idea is to help businesses promote their products and services using new technology with Augmented Reality. |
| Trence | BiH | Trence is a planning platform for travelers so they get the best trip experience.Trence gives users advice about the budget that they need, the travel means and routes they can choose, accommodation management and scheduling. |
| VRET | BiH | VRET is a company developing a software solution for VR devices with primary usage in psychiatry and psychology. Their purpose is to improve traditional therapies, such as anti-stress, fears and phobia. |
Od VR tehnologij in mobilnih aplikacij do hekerskih ter potovalnih platform – usposabljanje za mlade podjetnike iz BiH in Kosova
Center za evropsko prihodnost je v preteklih dneh gostil večjo skupino mladih na tridnevnem usposabljanju s področja podjetništva in prenosa dobrih praks iz Slovenije. Mladi so v sklopu usposabljanja obiskali Maribor, grad Jable ter Ljubljano in se imeli priložnost pobliže spoznati s slovenskim podjetniškim ekosistemom in obstoječimi start-up pobudami in praksami.
Na start-up konferenci PODIM, ki je ena vodilnih v regiji, smo gostili 40 mladih z Zahodnega Balkana. Natančneje, 10 start-upov iz Bosne in Hercegovine (BiH) in 10 s Kosova. Izbrali smo jih preko natečaja PODIM izziv (PODIM Challenge), kamor je bilo skupno prijavljenih več kot 70 podjetniških idej, 48 s Kosova in 27 iz BiH. Mladi so za prijavo morali predstaviti svojo idejo, ekipo in poslovni načrt. V polfinale PODIM izziva sta se izmed preko 200 prijavljenih start-upov iz Slovenije in regije med prvih 20 uvrstili tudi dve ekipi iz BiH, AOX Earth ter Koola.
Mladi so na konferenci poslušali navdušujoče in vsebinsko bogate prispevke govorcev z različnih koncev sveta, se srečevali z investitorji na posebnih ena-na-ena srečanjih, se izpopolnjevali na svetovalnih in coaching posvetih ter z enako mislečimi izmenjevali izkušnje in gradili mrežo kontaktov in podpornikov. Strinjali so se, da je PODIM odlična priložnost, saj je na enem mestu v dveh dneh zbranih ogromno strokovnjakov, izkušenih start-upov in tudi velikih korporacij, ki se ob hitrem napredku procesov raziskav in razvoja vedno bolj zavedajo, da morajo za svojo rast in okretnost v svoje delo vključiti mlade in start-up način razmišljanja.
Na zadnji dan usposabljanja, v petek so udeleženci na gradu Jable delili svoje izkušnje, (izpolnjena) pričakovanja in ideje, kako sodelovanje med start-upi nadgraditi znotraj svojih držav in širše v regiji. Urban Lapajne iz iniciative Start:up Slovenija jim je predstavil, kako je v Sloveniji potekala organizacija podjetniških inkubatorjev, univerz, tehnoloških parkov v nacionalno platformo. V BiH in na Kosovu nacionalne koordinacije še nimajo, zato mlade spodbujamo, da sodelujejo in se povezujejo, saj bodo le na tak način lahko so-ustvarjali okolje, v katerem delajo. To tezo je podprla tudi predstavnica SAŠA Inkubatorja ter Start:up Slovenija iniciative Ana Anžej, predstavnik Ministrstva za zunanje zadeve Republike Slovenije Peter Grk pa je spregovoril o Pozitivni agendi za mlade na Zahodnem Balkanu.
Za zaključek so udeleženci obiskali še ABC Pospeševalnik v Ljubljani, kjer so imeli priložnost svojo idejo predstaviti v eni in minuti in dobili profesionalni odziv izkušene ekipe pospeševalnika.
Projekt je del aktivnosti, ki jih preko mednarodnega razvojnega sodelovanja Slovenije financira Ministrstvo za zunanje zadeve Republike Slovenije.
