Young entrepreneurs are an important part of the today’s societies as they bring an important energy and enthusiasm to the daily life. CEP has been with support of the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the official development cooperation engaging BiH and Kosovo young entrepreneurs for last four years. They have been given an opportunity to meet among themselves, discuss hot topics with various investors and experienced business men and women. Many of them have received valuable feedbacks, useful suggestions and important contacts. They have spread their business network importantly and have been able to assists younger start ups in their home country.
Workshops in Sarajevo and Pristina in beginning of the year were well attended which proved that young are interested and willing to actively shape their future. They were encouraged to present their idea and apply for participation at the regional conference Podim, organized in Slovenia in May 2018. They have widely taken the opportunity as 34 ideas from BiH and even 75 ideas from Kosovo submitted their pitches. Best 10 from each country have been carefully selected by an expert committee and invited to join the programme in Slovenia.
All participants will gather on Monday, 14 May at Jable Castle for a breakfast with the Ambassadors of their countries in Ljubljana for short discussion with members of Slovene start up environment – ABC accelerator, Technology Park Ljubljana, together with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responsible for the Western Balkan policies.
Selected participants will attend PODIM Conference in Maribor, Slovenia on 15 and 16 May 2018, participate in the biggest networking event for start-ups in the Alps-Adriatic Region, take part in the PODIM Challenge pitching competition and be presented in the PODIM Start-up Catalogue for the one-on-one meetings with PODIM investors and blue-chip partners.
By joining forces, CEP and PODIM conference offer young entrepreneurs an additional learning dimension in the creative process and empowers them to step ahead and present themselves in front of the investors that can help them transform their ideas into a promising start-up company. Additionally, connecting like-minded from the country might bring longer and wider impacts on national entrepreneurial environment and possibly, policies.
The start-ups chosen from Bosnia and Herzegovina are:
The start-ups from Kosovo are:
