Eight new innovative business ideas closer to the global market

IPC Tehnopolis, the company Amplitudo, and the Science and technology park of Montenegro, with the support of the Ministry of Science, are developing eight new innovative business ideas through the first pre-acceleration program in Montenegro – BoostMeUp. The goal of this program is to enable young people and development teams to commercialize their ideas and bring them to the national, regional, and global markets with financial support of 4,500 EUR, non-financial support from mentors, and the use of infrastructural segments.

The continuation of the program was marked by excellent energy, teamwork, progress, and inspiration. Over 40 team members and mentors gathered at Tehnopolis from June 22 to 24 to meet in person for the first time and continue intensive work on developing the ideas selected to be part of BoostMeUp through workshops.

All working rooms were filled with new knowledge that the seven mentors shared through individual or group workshops, via online platforms or in person. Some mentors were unable to attend, so workshops were held through digital technologies, while those present in person expressed their satisfaction with the entire program, the ideas, teams, and their progress.

They stated that this program is a very positive thing for Montenegrin entrepreneurship, and that live interaction with the team members adds value. The areas in which the mentors transfer their knowledge were, for some teams, previously unknown, but through the entire program, they received the necessary support to perfect their ideas and, ultimately, present a finished product at the final event in September. Here’s what the mentors had to say about the program so far:

The teams participating in the BoostMeUp program—Orhis, Flourish, Seljak.me, Sunrocket Solar Cooker, Solar Villager, Zahn265, Innat, and Partour—are developing ideas in the areas of energy, tourism, agriculture, ecology, ICT, and are focused on the digitalization of society in key strategic areas defined by Montenegro’s S3 smart specialization strategy, which strengthens the competitiveness of the Montenegrin economy by connecting research and innovation strengths with the needs and developmental possibilities of the economy.

After two days of energetic and intense work, team members expressed their satisfaction with the knowledge gained, the opportunity to work with mentors in person, and the chance to exchange experiences and ideas with other teams participating in the program.

The next workshops will be organized in IPC Tehnopolis in mid-July. The teams have one task— to work diligently and persistently on developing their ideas in order to present them at the final event, the Montenegro Pitching contest, which will take place on September 22 during the Western Balkan Startup Forum conference. They will present their ideas to investors, business angels, and successful entrepreneurs from the country and the region.

Through such projects funded by the Ministry of Science of Montenegro, we are confident that we are on the right path in developing the Montenegrin innovative and startup ecosystem, and that the teams will take another step toward the global market, as they will acquire the comprehensive knowledge they need.