The Techne Summit, a regional entrepreneurship conference known for showcasing innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship to serve the development process beyond capital cities, is to take place this year in Dubrovnik, Croatia. The two-day international technology conference will act as a platform for bringing together global players in the technology industry: speakers, entrepreneurs, startups, investors, users and media.
Taking place from 6-7 May 2017, the event is aimed at providing an opportunity for networking and collaboration between businesses in Eastern Europe, Middle East and North Africa. This follows its successful event in 2016 in Alexandria, Egypt, which brought together 80 renowned global players in the technology industry from 20 different countries, including Cisco, Intel, Google and World Economic Forum Young Global Leaders, along with100 startups and 1,600 attendees.
The conference this year will include a look at the Croatian startup ecosystem from Dražen Nikolić, director of Founder Institute of Croatia, and co-founder of two tech startups. There will also be a talk on the journey of startup founder Renato Libric from Croatia to Silicon Valley, USA.
There will also be a look at challenges for women entrepreneurs around the world, with speakers including Marina Ross, founder of Nanobarrier in Russia, an innovative company that is consolidating the world’s best technologies in the area of nano-coatings and developing unique super-hydrophobic self-cleaning nano-coatings of its own; Iwona Gruszka from Poland, founder of an online business and brand strategy consultancy for female entrepreneurs; Kata Kevehazi from Hungary, who founded the JOL-LET Foundation, whose objective is to eliminate discrimination against women in workplaces; and Andrea Novakovic, executive director of the City of Dubrovnik’s Development Agency DURA – she is also head of the Smart City Dubrovnik project, currently one of the most advanced cities in the region in IoT (internet of things) initiatives.
In addition, futurist Gary Whitehill will talk to Nitin Dahad, entrepreneur and advisor/connector to the tech industry globally, and editor of The Next Silicon Valley, in a fireside chat on the importance of being future ready, and the application of ‘future ready’ scaling techniques for business leaders to achieve exponential benefit by leveraging the tsunami of change to thrive, instead of just survive.
During the conference, selected young entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to compete for prize money in the startup competition, Seedstars World, which was founded in Switzerland and is the fastest growing network of young technology entrepreneurs. There will be a dynamic pitch event at the Techne Summit in Dubrovnik where 10 selected Croatian seed stage startups will compete to represent the country at the regional and global summits of Seedstars World.
The line up of jury members, speakers and mentors of the Seedstars Dubrovnik competition will include Dražen Nikolić, of Founder Institute, Zagreb chapter, Kristijan Ravnić, project coordinator for Startup Factory Zagreb, Fadi Bishara, founder & CEO of Blackbox, Erik Katz, managing director of Hardware Hackers/Founders and Katarina Szulenyiova, CEO at Seedstars World.
In line with its mission to place the spotlight on entrepreneurs from emerging markets, Seedstars World is travelling to more than 65 countries this year to identify the best seed-stage entrepreneurs and provide them with an opportunity to win up to US$1 million and network with investors and mentors from around the world. Its previous participants have raised over US$61M collectively, providing employment to more than 800 employees worldwide.
The companies selected to pitch at the Seedstars Dubrovnik event need to be less than two years old, have raised less than US$ 500,000 in funding and have built a minimum viable product, ideally with existing traction. The Seedstars World team is searching for one additional criterion – the startup’s regional and global scalability. With a strong network of international partners such as BBVA, Merck, Enel, Trecc, Standard Bank and Deloitte, Seedstars World is looking for smart startups that solve regional issues and develop profitable products for the global market, to support their regional businesses and growth.
For more information and to register for Techne Summit Dubrovnik on 6-7 May 2017, and to see the finalists pitch in the Seedstars World competition, click here.
