The First Regional Startup Accelerator Launched in the Field of Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals, and Healthcare

Croatian startups in the fields of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare have the opportunity to participate in the Labena Ventures project, the first regional startup accelerator in this segment, aimed at strengthening innovation and the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Central and Eastern European countries. As stated in the announcement, this is a new project by Labena, a company with 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical, medical, and food industries, and as part of this accelerator, startups and individuals gain access to companies, investors, and venture capital funds that invest over 100 million euros for this purpose.

The innovative accelerator, based in Slovenia, will operate in Eastern and Central Europe and will connect personnel, key knowledge and skills, as well as companies and funding sources interested in supporting projects. As part of this project, startups, universities, faculties, research and development institutions, as well as individuals with ideas will be able to address the challenges of research, practical implementation, and global marketing of new methods for developing safe and sustainable ways of diagnosing diseases and treatments, improving nutrition, and more.

‒ Numerous good ideas end up in a drawer or only in the form of a scientific publication. Through the Labena Ventures platform, we will enable startups and organizations to test their ideas, implement them, and attract investors through the program ‒ said Boštjan Čeh, project and business development manager at Labena.

‒ The focus is on finding, selecting, and promoting startups that can offer innovative solutions at an international level ‒ he concluded.

Labena Ventures is an accelerator that covers multiple countries, including Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Kosovo, thereby opening opportunities for as many as 110 million residents in 17 countries.

Labena began its story by distributing and servicing laboratory equipment, and today operates in the field of laboratory and process analytics to support the pharmaceutical and food industries as well as medicine. It has invested more than 100,000 euros in this project.

‒ Our desire is for innovative projects, ideas, and initiatives to see the light of day and be realized and utilized in practice, as they can contribute to faster development in the fields of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare. This is precisely why we established the Labena Ventures platform. We want to use our knowledge, connections, infrastructure, and laboratories to assist and empower all those who will submit their ideas and projects, wish to test, develop, and commercialize them. We can help them connect with funds in Europe, the USA, and elsewhere in the world ‒ emphasized Borut Čeh, director of Labena, highlighting that they want the best projects and ideas to reach the market, which will ultimately come to life and improve the quality of life and health of people around the world.