The most spectacular event that Zagreb ever witnessed

A two-day long spectacle in Zagreb had ended by announcing the winners of Zagreb Connect, a conferrence jointly organized by Croatian Business Angels Network, City of Zagreb and EBAN. During the two exhausting days, more than 1200 guests and about 300 business angels and investors have gathered in the Lisinski concert hall.

After two exhausting days of presentations, keynote speeches and startup presentations the largest investment and startup conference in Croatia – EBAN Winter University 2016 was completed. During the conference, only the most important names in the business world had taken the stage of the Lisinski concert hall and shared their knowledge and experience. The eventful two days had been uplifted by the speech from Croatia’s president, by the legendary Iron Maiden singer’s guest lecture and by the debut presentations of the startup Zagreb Connect competition’s finalists. It was also a window to the future, for which we can thank our guest from IBM, Peter Hedges, the creator of the Watson program and our enterpreneur Nenad Bakić.

Where will we be in year 2031

Davorin Štetner, the president of the Croatian Business Angels Network (CRANE) pointed out that the main objective of the conference was to draw the public  attention and raise their awareness about the problems that entrepreneurs face, but also to focus on solving them in order to create a country where one can live and work well.

According to everything being heard during the conference, Croatia conveys a lot of will and desire, but also the creative enthusiasm necessary to get things moving, to boast the startup scene and strenghten the whole Croatian economy. Finally, the conference gave a wider picture of a better and more positive Croatia which welcomes all types of progress.

img_5925This year’s sponsors have provided a special dimension to the whole conference. This particularly  applies to the general sponsor – VIPnet, which involvement in this project is an excellent indicator of Croatia’s recognition of the importance in developing the startup ecosystem. VIPnet also continues to support innovation and entrepreneurs through cooperating with CRANE and the City of Zagreb. At the end of the conference, VIPnet’s CEO Jiří Dvorjančanský addressed the audience and emphasized that their efforts will not stop at this and promised that their doors are open to anyone with a good idea.

Along with VIPnet, a special place belongs to the company SAAB and to many others engaged in supporting the organisation of this event which might represent a large turnover in the way of thinking and encouraging the development of the national economy.

Innovative ideas for a better future

img_5899On the last day of the EBAN Winter University 2016 Conference they announced the winners of the Zagreb Connect startup competition, organized in cooperation with the City of Zagreb. Prior to the announcement, the finalists had three days to prepare presentations and sharpen their presentation skills at the bootcamp workshop before they had the opportunity to present themselves to business angels on the Lisinski stage. At the end of the day, the most reason to celebrate had startups from Croatia, Great Britain and Slovenia – NanoDIY, Gowaft and 45HC – which shared an exceptionally rich prize of one million kunas.

The City of  Zagreb assured that there were no empty promises and announced the establishing of the VC fund and the Technology Park at the next year’s Zagreb Fair as an effort to help startups in more ways than just mentoring.