Crystal clear water, scenic islands and good food are what most people think of when they imagine Croatia. In addition to stunning coastline and a relaxing atmosphere, this country boarding the Adriatic Sea is also home to a modest but evermore active startup and tech scene. Since the country’s accession to the EU in 2013, Croatian startups now have access to all the benefits of the European tech scene, in addition to its own ecosystem, which already boasts a few success stories like messaging service Infobip, homework support tool PhotoMath, and smart farming startup Agrivi, as well as government funding, a small connected tech network and region-wide VCs like SC Ventures.
Having scanned the horizon for the talent working hard in this country, here are the young teams founded in the past 3 years, and working on innovative solutions, that we will be watching in 2021.
Gideon Brothers – Gideon, founded in 2017, offers automate-to-grow robotic solutions. The Zagreb-founded team provides autonomous, mobile, collaborative and modular robots for unstructured, indoor, human industrial environments. Their vision for the future? That humans and robots together will build better days ahead. Having grown to a team of over 75 people in the past 3 years and landed €2.7 million in 2019, this objective is in their sights.
CampMap – Founded in 2018, traveltech startup CampMap has developed digital interactive maps of campsites and campgrounds. These digital maps serve more than just the guests – they are useful resources for both camp management and local and regional businesses. Despite the industry taking a hit in the last 12 months, the startup landed €50K funding in 2020 and just closed another round of €250K in 2021.
Worcon – Founded in 2017, Worcon is a B2B marketplace, connecting industry buyers with suppliers in manufacturing and CNC machining industry. Their solution is suited for small and large manufacturers, cooperators or large enterprise companies looking for a new market or looking for specific products with certain dimensions and quality. The Varaždin-based team landed around €400K in 2021.
Orga FPV – Founded in 2017, the name of this startup makes reference to FPV, or First Person View. The Osijek-based team provides FPV for autonomous and remotely operated vehicles, with offices in Croatia, Ireland and the US. Orqa ran a successful Kickstarter campaign for FPV.One after two years of prototyping, and successfully sold more than 600 goggles for FPV racing and freestyle.
Dynamic Division – Founded in 2018, Dynamic Division is innovating in the field of robotics and blockchain technology. The Zagreb-based team has created an ecosystem based on the sharing economy, for the compensation of robotic work, specifically commercial cleaning robots. Users pay a yearly subscription fee, receive robots to their property and pay only when the work is completed.
Node Factory – Founded in 2018, Node Factory describes itself as a blockchain development company that turns ideas into reliable solutions. The team has created a portfolio of solutions for modern companies, including ChainGuardian, Allianceblock, Hactar, NovoProtocol, Lodestar client and more.
Lili – Founded in 2017, Lili has created an AI-assistant that makes your health data work for you in a practical and transparent way. This free solution connects with your Fitbit account and lets smart algorithms work for you – could it be easier? In 2020, the team secured a seed funding round of €75K to push their development forwards and reach more people.
3 minutes job – This Rovinj-based startup has created an HR solution for both job seekers and HR recruiters. Its gateway helps job seekers to find a job abroad whilst (and before) travelling, using traditional written CVs and video CVs as an attraction technique for its users. Having landed a a pre-seed round in 2019 and a seed round in 2020, the platform is set to grow in 2021.
AMPnet – Founded in 2018, AMPnet offers businesses an investment and tokenization platform, integrated marketplace and a multinational legal entity. Their mission? To make renewables viable for a new class of investors. How does it work? It runs under your own brand (your logo, your domain) and integrates easily into existing websites.The team landed around €320K in 2020.
MIRET – This Zagreb-based startup recognises the impact of fast fashion on the planet, and has created a new footwear technology solution using around 97% natural fibres. In 2020, the company closed a crowdfunding round, a convertible note, a grant and a private equity round of around €300K to reach more customers with their sustainable solution.
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