For serial entrepreneurs Engjell Rraklli, startups are much more than innovation. They have vast potential to improve the economy of a country. This is particularly important for countries in the Western Balkans, such as his native Albania.
Co-founder of several startups in software and game development, Rraklli is one of the country’s young leaders accelerating its growth.
With a background in computer science, he has been working in the world of entrepreneurship since his high school studies. Entrepreneurship came naturally to him, he explains.
“I have had entrepreneurial tendencies since high school, since starting a rock band, and then I started creating games with the intention of monetizing them, offering programming courses, etc. Regarding the startup ecosystem, I personally believe that startups are the way to innovate but also to improve economies, especially in the Balkans. So, as an entrepreneur who has been in the startup scene since its inception in Albania, it is a responsibility for me to give back and try to help grow the ecosystem as much as I can,” Rraklli told The Recursive.
When it comes to developing his local startup ecosystem, he also contributes by participating in various workshops and programs with young entrepreneurs where he shares his experience.
As a software co-founder and CEO business division5 and game development startup BEEZ, for Rraklli, stubbornness is a defining trait for any aspiring entrepreneur, especially when it comes to the Western Balkans. And Albania is one of the examples where this stubbornness can make or break you, says the Albanian entrepreneur.
“We have to be stubborn enough to face all the challenges that come our way, especially in a market that is not as stable as that of Albania. But stubbornness is also a weakness, because it pushes you to pursue goals that might not be realistic. Great entrepreneurs must learn to pivot and to do that we must be willing to change our minds,” Rraklli emphasizes.
While the Albanian startup ecosystem is still very young compared to the rest of the region, there are already positive examples that can move these young startups and companies forward.
“We now have the first startups offering both services and products that are doing quite well. I can proudly say that division5 is one of them in the services section. Cardio is another one in the products section. We are also attracting foreign investment – division5, for example, was one of the first startups to receive angel investment from a foreign company. Others are following and Albania is slowly but surely entering the investor map,” he told The Recursive.
Raise awareness and gain more support for local startups and businesses
However, for Albania there is still a long way to go. According to Rraklii, the startup ecosystem needs more awareness, more support and local examples to move the ecosystem forward.
The young ecosystem currently has over 150 startups, with fintech being one of the verticals followed by many startups in the country. While it may be too early to talk about Albanian unicorns on the horizon, there is great potential for those providing software services.
“Unfortunately, I don’t see a unicorn arriving in Albania in the next few years. Currently, we are strengthening our software development capabilities through the various companies offering outsourcing services. I expect that people working in the service sector today will slowly enter the startup scene and start creating products, but it will take a few years,” the Albanian entrepreneur told The Recursive.
Besides fintech, there are also many other vertical where local startups can succeed, he adds.
“This could be AI, Fintech, AR/VR, crypto, etc. It’s about finding a good idea, getting early support from incubators, accelerators, investors and iterating until product-market fit is achieved. I know some startups that are doing very interesting things in many different sectors in the Western Balkans, and we should definitely continue on this path,” emphasizes Rraklli.
Regarding his personal goals for the coming period, the Albanian entrepreneur wants to expand the companies he has already founded and be able to conquer the software development and gaming markets.
“Division5 is in its development phase and currently has more than 50 people, mostly engineers working together and creating very interesting products for companies in Western Europe and the United States. BEEZ currently provides specialized 3D development services to overseas companies, but we are seriously considering creating a product and entering the gaming industry. If we do this, it will be a difficult problem to solve. The video game industry is very lucrative, but the barriers to entry are among the highest, so we’ll see how it goes,” he notes.
And as Rraklli said before, they are ready to succeed regardless of the obstacles. The same goes for the Albanian ecosystem, he emphasizes.
“Like I said, we’re pretty stubborn. On the other hand, I think the goals of the Albanian ecosystem should be to raise awareness and integrate as many new entrepreneurs as possible,” he concludes.