Two Montenegrin teams continue the RISE journey

01.03.2023

Yesterday, the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center Tehnopolis hosted a Demo Day as part of the RISE (Regional Incubator for Social Entrepreneurs) project, which was successfully completion of the first phase of the RISE program – the IDEA phase.

During the previous period of three months, five teams from Montenegro, with the support of international and national mentors, developed their ideas and innovative solutions as a response to recognized key and current social problems and challenges. After an intensive program of mentoring sessions of MeetUps, networking events, one-to-one meetings, four teams, Komunumo, Second Mall, Pilates and chill and Piece-out, pitched in front of the expert jury, i.e. presented their ideas:

  1. Komunumo is a digital platform intended for migrants, which in an innovative way combines language learning and employment services of the host country, influencing the economic growth of the country, creating independence of migrants from the state and creating a more inclusive and culturally diverse community.
  2. Second Mall is an “online” shopping center that offers the possibility of buying and selling second-hand clothes with the aim of preserving the environment.
  3. Pilates and chill is a platform intended primarily for women aged 50 to 70, as well as women who have been cured or are in the process of being treated for breast cancer, all with the aim of maintaining and improving their physical condition, vitality and strength.
  4. Piece-out is an application for renting and renting branded clothes, as well as for connecting users with tailors for the purpose of renting, repairing or altering clothes.

I would like to thank Tehnopolis, which provided us with a great opportunity, as well as the jury, which recognized all our efforts and decided to be one of the teams that go further with the development of the idea. Our idea is global in nature and intended to help migrants learn the Montenegrin language and find employment, and thanks to the jury’s decision, we believe we have fulfilled our mission, said Milica, one of the Komunumo team members.

I must say that it was not easy to work on our idea considering that we have a very interesting target group,that is women aged 50 to 70 years. Also, considering that this is our first competition and that we are presenting an idea for the first time, it was not easy to create a business plan and do a market analysis, but thanks to the team from Tehnopolis and our mentors, we succeeded, emphasized Jelena from the Pilates and chill team.

With the decision of the expert jury, the Komunumo and Pilates and chill teams continue their RISE journey through the regional INCUBATION phase lasting 6 months, where they will receive direct financial support in the amount of €2,500.00 per team and non-financial support with ten other selected teams from the Western Balkans, in order to build capacity, test and validate ideas, analyze and research the market. In addition, during the INCUBATION phase, the teams are expected to have a regional BootCamp, as well as the possibility of regional networking with successful organizations and entrepreneurs from the field of social entrepreneurship.

The RISE project is financed by the French Development Agency (AFD) and the Regional Office for Youth Cooperation (RYCO), and coordinated by a consortium consisting of the Regional Office for Youth Cooperation (RYCO), GROUPE SOS Pulse, the Southeast European Youth Network (SEEIN), and the Franco-German Youth Office (OFAJ).

IEC Tehnopolis is a strategic partner from Montenegro and one of 6 strategic partners that implement this program on the territory of the Western Balkans in cooperation with ARNO, Balkan Green Foundation, Nešto više, Smart Kolektiv and Yunus Social Business.

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