The newly opened Zagreb ‘coworking’ and innovation center HUB385 will gather companies from various sectors that seek more technological knowledge and accommodation for their innovative departments, and through Academy 385, organize courses, lectures, and other activities for the needs of the ICT and other sectors.
Presenting the center to journalists on Friday, where the first few smaller companies will move in on Monday and the nomination for the Croatian music award Porin will be held, one of its three founders, Ivana Šoljan, who is also a member of the management board of the IT company IN2, emphasized that such centers are a trend worldwide and that they found inspiration in similar centers in Berlin, as well as in Sarajevo’s HUB387.
“In Croatia, this is a unique ‘coworking’ space where people of different profiles and sectors work under the same roof, meeting each other, which leads to the creation of new ideas and business collaborations that might not exist if they were not in the same space,” explained Šoljan. She believes that the center will attract large companies, city administrations, various institutions, and others who could send their employees for education in IT professions, and even find quality and innovative IT solutions for the problems they encounter in business.
So far, 500 thousand euros of private capital has been invested in the rental and high-tech, energy, and other equipment of the space across three floors and 2,500 square meters. Šoljan believes that the rental prices, along with the content and expert assistance for everyone who comes, are competitive for the Croatian market, ranging from about 825 kuna per month for a workspace (which means a desk, chair, connections, etc.) to about 3,300 kuna per month for an entire office.
