The title for the most ambitious region in Europe goes to the Alps Adriatic & Balkan region.
Hercules had extraordinary strength and Achilles desired eternal glory, but Alps Adriatic & Balkan region has – *excuse our language* – well, the balls! There’s no doubt the underdog of the European business scene is evolving and competing to be at the forefront of the European tech startup scene. While the most success-hungry startups are – like our most beloved folktale heroes – out there chasing a mythical creature called unicorn, the ecosystem stakeholders are here to support them in this chase.
Joining us on this mission are the best experts, answering the questions like “Who Is Who in the Emerging Ecosystem of the Alps Adriatic & Balkan Region?” and “Is the Regional Ecosystem on the Right Path?”. Not just asking, but also teaching us how to seize the opportunities for growth of ecosystems, dissecting phenomena of the Startup Chile, data-driven tools for managing the startup communities and why building a strong mentorship program is the key.
No matter if you’re a big company, investor, startup or just a business enthusiast, ecosystem collaboration has been proven to be one of the key success factors of innovation leaders. Join us and connect in person with the most influential people of your own regional ecosystem at talks, meetups, panels and workshops of the fourth Podim program block!
MEET THE HEROES OF THE WINNING ECOSYSTEM …
Sebastián Díaz Mesa
is the co-founder and head of acceleration & community at DEEP Ecosystems as well as the CEO of Start-Up Chile, the largest and most diverse startup accelerator in the globe.
Nina Nikolich
is a Swiss Entrepreneurship Program (SwissEP) officer, Macedonian startup ecosystem lead at the Fund for Innovations and Technology Development (FITD) and co-founder of Startup Macedonia.
Jeff Saling
is an angel investor, the executive director and co-founder of StartUpNV, Nevada’s only statewide business incubator. His 501(c)3 nonprofit StartUpNV is dedicated to building a vibrant startup ecosystem to help grow Nevada’s local economies and diversify Nevada’s workforce.
Jakob Modéer
is a regional entrepreneurship program manager for Western Balkans at SwissEP, meaning he’s been working alongside organizations like the World Innovations Forum, Swiss Startup Factory, Business Angels Switzerland and more for many years now.
Milos Matic
is a full-time partner at ICT Hub Venture, investor and board member at Bitebell, and investor at Trickest. He used to be a data collection and labelling associate at Microsoft and a business controller at ALTI d.o.o.
Hajdi Cenan
is the co-founder & CEO of the AI Startup Airt platform, part of the list of the 100 most influential businesswomen in Croatia, president of the Croatian Startup Ecosystem Association, member of the board of the European Startup Network, and the VP of the Croatian AI association.
Alema Pelesić
is an ecosystem facilitator in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the Swiss EP or Swiss Entrepreneurship Program. She used to be an event & community manager at Bizbook.ba and a president of the board of the European Youth Parliament Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Matija Srbić
is a co-founder and CEO of startup Noomly, while also being a startup incubator program director of the Innovation Centre Nikola Tesla and Start-up incubator SPOCK of the University of Zagreb. He is also a senior associate of the Zagreb Innovation Centre.
Angelika Mitteregger
is a project manager at the City of Graz Department for Economic Development, meaning she is responsible for founders, startups and innovation.
…and many other ecosystem builders. Click all of them out in our PODIM program blocks here:
Monday, 16th May | 18:00 – 18:50
MEETUP: Who Is Who in the Emerging Ecosystem of the Alps Adriatic & Balkan Region?
Tuesday, 17th May | 14:30 – 16:00
TALK: From a Gambling Metropolis to a Startup City
TALK: Startup Chile Phenomenom
PANEL: Checkpoint: Is Regional Ecosystem on the Right Path?
FIRESIDE: Learnings and Opportunities for Growth of Balkan Ecosystems
Tuesday, 17th May | 16:30 – 18:00:
WORKSHOP: How the Ecosystem Health Check Helps Startup Communities to Use Data to Strive TALK: How and Why to Build a Strong Mentorship Program
Don’t have a PODIM ticket yet? Hurry up, we’re almost sold out👇:
Our PODIM program is really rock’n’rolling this year, so don’t miss a chance to meet the coolest speakers of the tech world!
