– Our goal is to join forces in the search for talent in the region and to assist them with their startups – emphasized Mihovil Barančić, co-founder of the Zagreb Entrepreneurship Incubator (ZIP), at today’s signing of the strategic partnership between ZIP and the investment funds Pioneers Ventures and Speedinvest.
Marius Starcke from Pioneers Ventures stated that he is familiar with the entrepreneurial potential in the region, as startups from our areas have been winning at the competition organized by their fund for several years.
– This collaboration is merely formalizing what we have already been practicing, which is helping companies in the seed and pre-seed phases – highlighted Starcke, adding that they do not offer entrepreneurs just money, but also a wide network of international connections.
– Speedinvest has a sum of 60 million euros that it wants to invest in the region’s talents, we also have an office in Silicon Valley which is very important for tech startups, and what distinguishes us from typical venture capital funds is the fact that we are not bankers but entrepreneurs who have gone through the process of founding companies, so we can help beginners with firsthand experiences – stated Marie-Helene Ametsreiter from Speedinvest, known to the Croatian public as the former CEO of Vipnet.
The signed partnership will enable startups that go through the ZIP program easier access to much-needed financing in the pre-seed phase (up to 125 thousand euros), early stage, and growth phase of companies (up to 3 million euros). Applications for the ZIP Startup program are open for regional startups until September 25.
