For the Western Balkans, a region grappling with economic challenges and striving for a better future, the glimmer of hope comes in the form of the tech industry and the many different startups emerging across a number of verticals. During the first 8 months of 2023, the region is also seeing a significant wave of innovation and investment that promises to put some of these Western Balkan startups on the global technology map.
From a fitness platform harnessing the power of virtual reality to a recruiting tool designed to connect professionals with job opportunities and innovative fintech solutions for banks and traditional financial institutions, the region has seen several startups that aim to be game-changers – and in this article, we take a look at some of the biggest rounds they managed to raise over the year.
P.Designed to reshape the regional startup ecosystem, Rolla, HireApp, Mily Technologies, HULI and FinqUp have been active throughout the year in verticals such as fitness and health, recruitment, logistics, Conversational AI, fintech and much more.
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Rolla
Last round of financing: €6.3 million
Country: Bosnia Herzegovina
Scene: Seed
Investors: Companion Rimac (Rimac Group), Hellen’s Rock
Total funding: $8.8 million
Founders: Igor Krezic
Vertical: Health and Fitness
About: Rolla is a fitness and health platform that helps users track, compete, and have fun while training in virtual reality.
HireApp
Country: Serbia/United States
Scene: Seed
Investors: South-central businesses
Total funding: $1.5M
Founders: Nemanja Stefanovic, Simon Stantic
Vertical: Recruitment and staffing
About: The HireApp platform helps connect professionals with teams available in the hotel and hospitality industry.
Mily Technologies
Last funding round: €1 million
Country: Serbia
Scene: Pre-seeding
Investors: South Central Ventures, Katapult accelerator
Total funding: €1 million
Founders: Miloš Zlatković, Aleksandar Buha
Vertical: Logistics
About: Mily’s platform helps parcel delivery companies analyze their delivery operations.
HULI
Country: Serbia
Scene: Seed
Total funding: €210K
Founders: Alexander Tsepelev
Vertical: Conversational AI
About: HULI is working on technology and chatbots with “human-like intelligence and machine-like precision.”
FinqUp
Country: North Macedonia
Scene: Pre-seeding
Investors: Vitosha Venture Partners, angel investors
Total funding: 100K€
Founders: Dime Galapchev, Igor Madzov
Vertical: Financial technology
About: FinqUp is a fintech startup that offers a suite of products including white-label applications for investment and insurance funds, conversational AI assistants, and specialized tools for tax and accounting professionals.