METRO Cash & Carry and CRANE signed the Cooperation agreement

On Tuesday, January 31, Metro Cash & Carry and Croatian Business Angel Network – CRANE, signed a Cooperation agreement and contract in order to strengthen the digital capacities of small and medium-sized enterpises and to foster the development of Croatian startups by connecting them with their potential partners within the business sector.

“METRO and the US company Techstars have launched the METRO Techstars Accelerator – the first global program designed for startups that offer innovative technological solutions for restaurans, hotel and other catering establishment owners’ business needs. We want to support the development of Croatian startups and utilize the experience gained from implementation of Techstars METRO Accelerator by connecting them with METRO’s professional customers, thus allowing the strartups to further develop their business towatds the latest trends” said Marc Carena, CEO of METRO Cash & Carry Croatia.

While promoting the digitalization of small and medium-sized enterprises, METRO and CRANE will give special attention to the catering sector and to independent dealers, i.e. a group of professional customers and businesss that are continually supported by METRO.

“We accepted the initiative from METRO, as one of the leaders in their sector without a second thought. We welcome and actively support everything that offers new, good opportunities for entrepreneurs. This initiative will enable better detection of startups within the catering and tourism sector and enhance their chance for growth by giving them support from companies such as METRO.” said Davorin Štetner, president of the Croatian Business Angels Network – CRANE.

METRO and CRANE will facilitate networking between Croatian startups and restaurant, hotel and other catering establishments owners along with independent retailers. This will create opportunities for digitalization and modernization of the Croatia’s small and medium-size enterprises and improve their business by encouraging the further development of innovative solutions.

The first step of collaboration between METRO Cash & Carry and CRANE  will be to organize a MeetUp on February 17th, 2017, in the HUB385 Innovation Center.  The MeetUp  will host Croatian startups, caterers and hoteliers who are interested in the business digitalization and innovations offered by the tech startups. Also, the CEO of METRO Techstars Accelerator, Alexander Zumdieck, will talk about the importance of innovation and digitalization within the HoReCa (Hotel/Restaurant/Café) sector.