Nineteen new startups will receive further support for accelerated development within the second phase of the third cycle of the Raising Starts program: a-Company, BioLat, Bohemian pulp, FoodBioMonitor, Digital Ronin, FAP, Hireclass, Optimus, InLudis, Kripto Shume, mRising, NajMentor, Ralph, RecRobot, Remote Santa, Sezonac, Shosha Games, Qredible and Veles Sense.
Each of the teams in the continuation of the program will be assigned tech and business mentors, depending on the specific needs of the startup, with whom they will work on the set goals, KPIs and further development within individual sessions in the next 6 months. They also expect additional specialized training in the field of business building and startup development, peer-to-peer networking with other startup founders, investors and experts from the community, and the teams will also receive financial support of up to 20,000 CHF (no participation, no equity) for accelerated development of your innovation.
Financial support within the program is intended to cover the costs of prototyping, business model development, market research, testing of first customers, protection of intellectual property and other costs related to the development of new products or services.
At the third public call for the Raising Starts program, a record number of more than 200 applications arrived, and 37 teams were selected to participate in the first phase of the program. During an intensive month of training and workshops, the startups mastered knowledge in terms of acquiring business skills, market validation of problems and characteristics of their own innovative products/services, as well as in the field of intellectual property rights protection, in close cooperation with the Swiss Federal Institute for Intellectual Property, which is active in the program, and The Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Serbia
At the end of Phase 1, teams and companies pitched their ideas at DemoDay in front of the Selection Committee, which needed to make the not-so-easy decision of which startups should receive further support through Phase 2 of the program, and which, through their work and approach, showed the greatest potential for commercializing their ideas and conquering the global market.
Congratulations to all startups, program participants, for their great ideas, dedication and pitches, and especially to the selected Phase 2 participants!
Raising Starts is the first pre-seed program in Serbia, which brings professional and financial support to startup teams and companies in the earliest stages of development for the accelerated development of innovative products and services, on the way from an innovative idea to readiness for investments and entering the global market.
The program is implemented by the Science Technology Park Belgrade with the support of the Swiss Government, in partnership with the Science Technology Park Niš and the Science Technology Park Čačak, within the project “Technopark Serbia 2 – Encouraging exports through the development of technology parks” by which the Swiss Government supports the further development of innovations and technological entrepreneurship in Serbia.
Through the first two public calls for the Raising Starts program, 36 newly founded startups received professional and financial support for the accelerated development of innovative ideas. Of these, almost half raised new investments while participating in the program.