accelerator
Startup Factory
Are you looking to accelerate the development of your idea / prototype?
The award-winning Startup Factory is Croatia’s first acceleration program and takes zero equity / no fees.
The top 3 teams and startups will be awarded EUR 30.000 in total plus EUR 10.800 in in-kind support.
If you’re developing a high-tech product, you are eligible to apply.
Applications are now closed!
Who could apply?
Team
Without a registered company
Will be required to register a company with a company seat in the City of Zagreb prior to receiving financial support
2 to 7 team members with complementary skills
Startup
Companies registered less than 12 months ago with a company seat in the City of Zagreb
Majority of the company owned by natural persons
2 to 7 team members with complementary skills
Startup Factory’s Eighth Cycle
Fall 2023
Fourteen teams/startups that entered the program are now working with our coordination team and mentors on tech product development. Our coaches are making sure they’re pitch-perfect.
They’re participating in 5 bootcamps, including workshops, lectures, and networking events.
Demo Day will take place at Zagreb Connect startup conference in December. Each team will pitch their project for a chance of winning a total of EUR 30.000 and a 12-month entrepreneurship program at ZICER inclusive of office space worth EUR 10.800.
1st Place: EUR 15.000 + EUR 3.600
2nd Place: EUR 10.000 + EUR 3.600
3rd Place: EUR 5.000 + EUR 3.600
What can the teams/startups expect?
They’ll have a refined pitch and pitch deck, a developed business plan, and an advanced version of their prototypes/MVPs. They’ll also join the most prominent startup hub in the country and receive mentorship and PR support.
What do we expect from the teams/startups?
They need to have a proactive approach in terms of program participation and achieving ambitious goals, and a can-do attitude.
Bootcamp 1 — Stategy/Focus (Oct 24–27)
Bootcamp 2 — Design Validation/Investment Academy (Oct 30-Nov 10)
Bootcamp 3 — Business Plan / Product Development (Nov 13-24)
Bootcamp 4 — Branding / Marketing (Nov 27-Dec 1)
Bootcamp 5 — Intellectual Property Protection (Dec 4-8) & Demo Day (Dec 19)
- Pitch
- Demo Day – Zagreb Connect
Startup Factory 2023 Teams
Auclio
Digital transformation is the key to success in the market, but many organizations do not have enough engineering resources for such undertakings, while the development of specialized business applications is often too expensive when working with external agencies. Auclio is a simple platform that allows you to create applications for any business problem without the necessary technical knowledge, intended for end users. Instead of paying external agencies and waiting for an application for months, Auclio allows you to create applications yourself quickly and easily, thus avoiding large financial and engineering resources.
Crobot Buddies
Crobot Buddies is a project by Crobotic Solutions to develop a customizable, modular robot that facilitates learning of intermediate and advanced robotics. Crobotic Solutions designs, develops, and manufactures affordable, versatile robotic products that will be sold to universities, businesses, and individuals worldwide. In addition to custom robots, free self-paced learning materials are offered to show customers how to use, learn, and develop robotic applications based on artificial intelligence. Crobotic Solutions’ vision is to make advanced robotics fun, affordable, and within everyone’s reach.
CyberArrange
CyberArrange revolutionizes the way cyber security exercises are prepared. With CyberArrange, security experts only have to define a set of basic exercise parameters, and the tools create them a complete configuration of the exercise environment and a relevant scenario. Once CyberArrange is fully realized, it will serve as a stepping stone for us to develop and provide new innovative services for cyber security companies.
Cyclops
Cyclops is an open-source tool that simplifies software deployment by offering developers a user-friendly interface. By translating complex configuration files into an intuitive UI, Cyclops aims to help developers work faster and more efficiently while reducing the potential for errors. With a primary focus on the Kubernetes community, Cyclops is a valuable resource for those navigating the challenges of microservice deployment.
Green Energy Pal
Green Energy Pal is innovative company in the field of energy efficiency, energy digitalization and the use of artificial intelligence in energy sector. Green Energy Pal wants to make people aware and knowledgeable about their energy consumption leading them to more energy efficient and sustainable behavior as well as lower energy costs. It’s main product, Enpulse, is a comprehensive ICT tool designed for SMEs, public institutions, and households to track down electricity consumption enabling them to make energy efficiency measures through personalized notifications, suggestions and education material.
Marenda
Marenda is a mobile app that transforms the at-home-dining experience by seamlessly integrating personalized meal planning, streamlined grocery shopping, and gourmet cooking guidance into a single, intuitive platform. With personalized meal recommendations and seamless integration with local grocery stores, it saves users up to 80% of their planning time. Aimed at busy professionals and parents, Marenda is your own assistant that plans your meals, helps you shop for groceries and gives you advice on how to be a better cook, while saving you time and money.
Novela Medica
The Novela Medica project is dedicated to the development of a medical device for automatic respiratory rate measurement. This device is designed to be user-friendly for both medical professionals and the general population. Led by engineer Dominik Vitez and sixth-year medical student Jakov Lonić, the team aims to achieve a high level of functionality and practicality in respiration rate measurement, ultimately enhancing medical practice and healthcare for individuals.
PetChat
PetChat is a platform that enables pet owners to communicate with licensed veterinarians via online video calls. Televet service is our initial offering as we enter the market, but the overarching idea is to provide comprehensive pet services all in one place. You can think of it as Glovo, where each bubble represents a different service
Recall
Recall is an application that helps elementary, high school, and even college students master their course material more easily and effectively. At its core, Recall uses artificial intelligence to generate flash cards, and spaced repetition to enhance long-term retention. The entire experience is gamified to make it competitive and fun.
RECLO
The idea of the RECLO project is based on research that says that on average 1/5 of the surface of each bale of fabric is unused and thrown away. This team develops software to optimize the effectiveness of textile production. The software solves companies’ problems of bluffing with raw materials, brings brands closer to the public, and frees them from paying the penalties of the announced upcoming EU regulations.
Sibux Tech
Sibux Tech specializes in developing high-precision measurement devices for motorsports and the automotive industry.
Technological innovations and advancements in the measurement process have led to a significantly higher level of automation, resulting in increased precision and a faster overall process.
The company aims to help motorsport teams from across Europe to be better prepared for the start of the next season with new and higher-quality measurement equipment.
SUMMIT LOG
SUMMIT LOG – a mobile application for hikers that enables the keeping of a journal and records of climbed peaks defined by hiking trails. Hiking associations can quickly and easily create the conditions for earning a hiking badge upon completing a hiking trail. It allows users to register climbed peaks, dates, coordinates, and upload photos. This user-friendly tool ensures that hiking records are always at the fingertips of outdoor enthusiasts.
Thorondrone
Thorondrone creates specialized unmanned aerial systems for surveillance and monitoring tailored to client’s needs and AI-based software for real-time flight data analysis. The team has developed an innovative UAV design procedure which enables extremely quick and precise system development, with drastic cost and time reduction. This solution allows Thorondrone to build aerial solutions precisely tailored to match specific conditions and requirements, thus ensuring maximum cost-efficiency for end-users, be it for emergency responses, traffic monitoring, or infrastructure surveillance missions.
VendueTech
VendueTech is building an AI platform for (co)investment platform for distressed real estate that can be found on judiciary auctions. We are helping small retail institutional investors discover and analyze new opportunities in an outdated, inefficient, and inaccessible market valued at $200+ billion with more than 600k auctions annually in the US and Europe. A Bloomberg for distressed real estate.