As Poslovni Dnevnik/Ana Blaskovic writes, a regulatory release capsule, a bicycle village, the transformation of trucks into mobile homes for rent, self-service cereal machines, a piano playing learning application for children, a reproductive mental health centre, a platform for managing tailor-made CVs… the Rijeka startup incubator is simply bursting with creative business ideas from the latest generation of users who took to the facility this October.
“Twenty teams entered the thirteenth generation of users of the Rijeka startup incubator, out of a total of 31 applications. There are currently 18 teams in the incubation process, which are developing their own initial entrepreneurial ideas with systematic support. We’re satisfied with the indicators which, despite the unpredictable and unstable economic and social situation caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, signal that interest in entrepreneurship isn’t declining, rather the opposite,” said the head of the City Administration for Entrepreneurship Jana Sertic.
The new generation has entered the first educational module, and they have lectures and workshops, a workspace with high-speed Internet access for one year and the support of professional mentors in developing their ideas, with all of this support being free and the best teams receiving cash prizes of 100,000, 50,000 and 25,000 kuna, which facilitates and enables starting a business safely.
Many young entrepreneurs from the Rijeka startup incubator will testify that the immense help is assistance in creating a business plan, a kind of ID card in connecting with potential investors and in cooperation with the international startup scene, which opens the door to further business connections. The Rijeka startup incubator, an integral part of the City Administration Department for Entrepreneurship of the City of Rijeka, has otherwise been operating for eight years now. It is designed as a springboard for all individuals who independently (or within a team) want to develop their own entrepreneurial ideas.
Unlike typical business incubators, all natural persons who want to go into business waters can apply in Rijeka. Since its founding back in 2013, 195 teams have passed through it, which means 478 users, 332 training sessions and 1013 individual consultations have been held there.
In the first five years of its existence, it was intended exclusively for young people under 30, but from November 2018, the only condition for application is an idea, regardless of how old you are. Then, monetary awards were introduced to the best teams from each generation of participants, an expanded education programme and a mentoring network.
As of February this year, the Rijeka startup incubator has moved to a new address within the RiHub centre where it operates in a larger space.
In order to move into the Rijeka startup incubator, entrepreneurs need to apply for the incubation programme, which starts every autumn and lasts for eight months.
For more, check out our dedicated business section.
