Association Established to Advocate for the Development and Business of Domestic Startups

In Croatia, it is estimated that around six thousand startups are actively engaged in various activities, and as the startup community has been growing in recent years, it is time for it to have an association that will advocate for their development and business, it was emphasized at the presentation of the CROStartup association.

CROStartup is a new national umbrella association initiated by the software exporters association Cisex and many individuals who have already proven themselves in business, particularly from the ICT community, with the desire for startups to receive the greater attention and support they deserve.

– Croatia is among the few countries in Europe that has a strong startup community but lacks an association that represents them. As the EU is increasingly focusing on this, seeing potential for growth in startups, we decided to establish the CROStartup association – said its president Hajdi Čenan.

The association currently has about 20 members who are working on its launch, which, according to Marijana Šarolić Robić from the MSR Law Office, will focus on four main goals.

These are the removal of regulatory barriers, unification of resources and knowledge, strengthening the startup community, and international positioning.

– Everything we do is in line with the former Zagreb startup incubator ZIP, Cisex, HIP ICT, and similar organizations that have worked and are working on this. Support will also be offered to startups, and among the topics we will promote and advocate for are tax incentives for investors, employee shareholding, lobbying at all levels, and more – said Šarolić Robić.

Marija Brkljačić from AlgebraLab, which is already involved with startups, emphasized that there is a lot of knowledge in Croatia that needs to be shared and utilized, for which startups are very grateful, and she also stated that it is the right time to establish a startup during studies or immediately after graduation.

– Obtaining funds to start a business is always difficult and the association will help with that, as well as with education, presentations, and everything that this community needs – added Brkljačić.

The president of Cisex, Davor Runje, believes that it is important to develop the startup community and work together, as well as that the future of the IT sector is a shift from the service industry to the product industry, and startups are very important in this with new ideas.

Both he and others indicated at the presentation that startups, in addition to a lack of funding and weak regulations, also struggle with the frequent inability to find quality personnel, who can be employed in large, reputable companies and receive better salaries, so the association will also address this important segment.

It was also mentioned at the presentation that the association is supported by some strong ICT companies, such as the telecom A1 Croatia, as well as Infobip and Business Intelligence, whose representatives were also present.