Forty-five startup teams will receive expert support for accelerated innovation development within Phase 1 of the second cycle of the Raising Starts program for startup teams and companies in the earliest stages of development of innovative products and services, which Science Technology Park Belgrade (STP Belgrade) in partnership with the Science Technology Park Nis (STP Niš) and the Science Technology Park Cacak (STP ČaČak).

Congratulations to all selected teams!

The second public call for Raising Starts received 115 applications, and in fierce competition, 45 of them secured participation in the first phase of the program, during which they will undergo training and workshops to develop their business skills, market validation and innovative products/services, which will provide the necessary direction and focus in their accelerated development. Participants will also receive special support in the field of intellectual property rights, with the support of the Swiss Federal Institute for Intellectual Property and the Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Serbia.

The first Raising Starts 2.0 workshops will start on February 28, and the teams will work with local and international mentors, experts with many years of experience and significant references in the fields of business building and startup development.

The second call for the Raising Starts program was announced for three regions/areas, so out of 45 teams that passed to the first phase of Raising Starts 2.0, 31 are from the Belgrade region, 10 from Niš, and 4 from ČaČak.

At the end of Phase 1, which will last about a month, teams and companies that meet the pre-set criteria will present their ideas on DemoDay to an expert jury. According to the decision of the jury, up to 25 teams will have the opportunity to participate in Phase 2, in which they will receive additional training and mentoring sessions in the amount of up to 10,000 Swiss francs for software development and up to 15,000 Swiss francs for new product development.

Raising Starts is the first program in Serbia that provides startups in the earliest stages of development with both professional and financial support for the accelerated development of innovations. The goal of the program is to accelerate the development of innovative products and services and support startups to overcome obstacles on the way from a business idea to readiness for investment and entry into the global market. The Raising Starts program was created through the project “Technopark Serbia 2 – Encouraging exports through the development of technology parks” with which the Government of Switzerland supports the further development of innovation and technological entrepreneurship in Serbia. Through several public calls until the end of the Project, Raising Starts will support the establishment and development of up to 100 new startup companies in the regions of Belgrade, Niš and Čačak.

You can see the teams selected to participate in the first phase of the program on the LINK (the order of the teams is given in alphabetical order).