As Slobodna Dalmacija/Braco Cosic writes on the 25th of October, 2019, young innovator Mario Ljubičić from Runovići near Imotski in Split-Dalmatia County managed to win the prestigious Grand Prix award at the 17th Arca International Innovation Fair in Zagreb.
In collaboration with his cousin Ivan Ljubičić, the author of the bicycle software, he won this prestigious award in a competition of more than 200 innovators from across twenty European countries. Mario Ljubičić exhibited his “talking bike”, which is as impressive as is the conditions its young creator has put behind it when it comes to potential investors.
Croatian innovation quite clearly knows no bounts, and despite the doom and gloom the media loves to pedal, there is a lot to be proud of in this little but extremely talented little country. This, yet another success story started not from Zagreb, but from the rugged Dalmatian hinterland, more specifically the Imotski region. This young innovator presented his invention and stated quite clearly that although he has had offers from abroad, he wants to stay right where he is – in Imotski.
”I must admit that this is the greatest recognition in my career as an innovator, but also the greatest recognition for the Faust Vrančić Society from Šibenik, through which I went to the Zagreb Fair. I can say that the experts who evaluated the innovation were really delighted with what my cousin Ivan and I presented. With my electric car, I have won gold and first prizes at many trade shows, but this year’s “Arca” Grand Prix award is the very top of the top. I was not even aware of the actual importance of this award,” said the Imotski-based inventor.
”At the fair, I also received specific offers from investors, but my first and basic condition was that if we were already going into bicycle production, that it would need to be done in the Imotski region and that young people from our region should be employed as part of the project. Now I’m going to start making about twenty copies of the “talking bike” and I’ve already found subcontractors for individual parts. The most important things I do alone and everything else will be assembled here in Runovići,” concluded Mario Ljubičić.
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