State Secretary Tonči Glavinić at Zagreb Connect conference

The 12th edition of Zagreb Connect, a startup conference organised by Zagreb Innovation Centre (ZICER) in collaboration with the City of Zagreb, was held today. This year’s edition gathered over 200 attendees, and it focused on future technologies and their impact on everyday life and opportunities and challenges they entail. The opening ceremony was also attended by State Secretary Tonči Glavinić.

“Personally, Zagreb Connect is a synonym for persistence and creativity - everything that makes a healthy core of modern, sustainable and competitive entrepreneurship. This is precisely why I want to thank ZICER for their continuous work, for supporting young teams and creating an environment where innovation can grow, develop and, most importantly, turn into specific business solutions,” State Secretary Glavinić said in his introductory speech.

He pointed out that, as a representative of the sector responsible for shaping space, infrastructural processes and state assets management, he is aware of the importance of innovation for developing cities, new technologies and sustainable models of space and resource management.

He also added that the Ministry’s goal is to encourage openness, cooperation and the use of modern technologies in order to build more efficient, more resilient and smarter systems, and to generate conditions where good-quality ideas can be tested, developed and applied in cities, settlements, public administration and everyday citizen life.

Along with State Secretary, introductory speeches were also given by Deputy Mayor of the City of Zagreb Luka Korlaet, Director of ZICER Frane Šesnić, Deputy President of the Management Board of HAMAG-BICRO Ante Janko Bobetko and Executive Director of Strategy Division at the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development Gordan Kuvek.

Korlaet highlighted the importance of cooperation within startup ecosystems and commended the accomplishments of the teams of ZICER, one of the best startup hubs in Europe according to the Financial Times.

“Zagreb Connect is the strongest ZICER pillar and we proudly emphasise that this year it is held for the 12th time. This year the City of Zagreb secured 300,000 euro for developing ZICER acceleration programmes - Startup Factory, Tech Transfer and Global Growth, because we believe that everything happening in ZICER is extremely valuable, meaningful and beneficial for the innovation ecosystem. It is precisely why we continuously support the projects and teams which create innovation of the future here,” he said.

Director Šesnić commented on artificial intelligence, pointing out that it is present in almost all startup solutions developed through ZICER programmes in one way or another.

“This year’s edition of Zagreb Connect is focused on opportunities and challenges arising from new technologies. Artificial intelligence has already changed all aspects of human life. The key message we wanted to convey is that technological advancement must serve people and their well-being, encouraging reflection on how we wish to live and shape our own lives,” he pointed out.

Experiences of startup founders - inspiration for entrepreneurs

ZICER acceleration programme participants presented their work at this year's conference and competed for valuable prizes. The first prize of 15,000 euro was awarded to Holonet startup, the second place and a prize of 10,000 euro went to eDNAture startup, while the third place with a prize of 5,000 euro went to VirusHunter startup.

The audience had the opportunity to hear the experiences of startup founders who have gone through leading global accelerators and are now developing companies with international ambitions, as well as those whose accomplishments inspire many entrepreneurs. This once again confirms the status of Zagreb Connect as one of the key gatherings of the Croatian innovation and startup ecosystem.

Source: ZICER/MPGI

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