The past two days Tehnopolis was the center of the start up scene of the west Balkan. 17 start ups of the region had the chance to cooperate with the international experts and learn how to raise their business to a higher level and iprove their business activities. This activity is a part of the „Western Balkan start up academy“, which is a part of the “Strengthening the Startup EcoSystem in the Western Balkan Region” project, and Tehnopolis is one of the associates on the project.
The workshops are focused on the process of fundraising and strategical approach that refers to that process (no matter what the stage of the start ups is). The focus is the preparation of the first financing – pre-seed or seed, having in mind that the most of the start up participants is in this phase. The workshops will also include the funding by „Business Angels“ and The Seed fund.
Besides this, the start ups will be able to learn how to make a correct pitch structure and present yourself to the investor. During these two days, the lecturers were: Selma Prodanovic, Florian Kandler and Sreten Vranic.
The organizer of the academy, Lisa Zoder, commented on the previous year which was the year of the first start up academy and said: That was the first time we organized this kind of academy. We observed this as a pilot project and did not know how things would be. At the end of this whole thing we were very happy. I think some great founders and start ups participated. We had start ups from each of the six countries, which was one of our goals and I think we can really be proud. I would also say that we had many participants from that start up academy at the pitching contest in Sarajevo Unlimited and I think the success of the academy best describes the fact that jury people said one could see a pretty clear difference between the start ups that had been a part of the academy and those that had not.
The start ups will have the chance to hear some useful advice tomorrow and have a pitching practise.
The project was funded by the Regional fund for the promotion of the foreign trade – GIZ/ORF FT.
