Slovenian startups have gotten their home in the USA! After the ABC Accelerator from Ljubljana opened the branch Venture Gates in Munich, ABC Global Home has now opened its doors in the city of San Jose, in Silicon Valley, the Mecca of entrepreneurship and innovations.

Dreams became reality

The new facilities are offering conditions that the startups of the region have been dreaming about. Their opening especially excited those companies of the region that already have an established product and are now looking for bigger investments – the ones that are difficult to get here. A lot of those who wish to try out ABC Global Home as quickly as possible come from the ranks of completed ABC programmes. They were also the ones that contributed to the decision that it is necessary to offer the most ambitious startups a development environment beyond our borders as well.  

More than 200 people at the opening

The opening was attended by more than 200 people, and the names of attendees are proof of the event’s importance. They include Boris Korpivnikar, Minister of Public Administration and Vice President of the Slovenian government, Tomaž Berločnik, Petrol chairman of the board, and deputy mayors of Ljubljana and San Jose.
 

Jure Leskovec also attended

Jure Leskovec, entrepreneur and professor at Stanford university was also present and spoke about the importance of the event: “The opening of the ABC Accelerator is an achievement that we needed. I am very happy that there were people who set this thing up. Now we finally have representation in the Silicon Valley, and with it we gained a way to send people here to live, work and connect. In Slovenia, we aren’t limited to two million people, we have to stay open to the whole world.”
 

The first startups will move in very soon

Management board of ABC Global Home, Silicon Valley, will ensure successful work and connecting. It consists of successful businessmen who know the workings of the Silicon Valley very well, and they will soon introduce the first startups into this exciting entrepreneurship ecosystem. The startups will move into the facilities in a couple of days.
 

New life for BTC and Ljubljana

The project in Silicon Valley would have been impossible without partners of the ABC Accelerator, which from the very beginning included BTC City headed by Jože Mermal. Mermal has always believed in the team and the idea of the accelerator, but was despite this surprised by the rapid development: “A year and a half ago, when we first opened our doors, we truly didn’t expect to be in Silicon Valley today – neither the team, nor us as founders. It was important for BTC back then to build an idea of an innovative city. First, we went to the level of Slovenia, later Europe, but today the accelerator is witnessing the first teams even from the US, China and India. This will bring new life to BTC City as well as to the city of Ljubljana.” 
 

Twinned Ljubljana and San Jose

And the opening of ABC Global Home facilities might truly reach unforeseen dimensions and directly influence Ljubljana. At this opportunity, Mermal suggested to Janković, the mayor of Ljubljana, that the capital of Slovenia could twin with the capital of the Silicon Valley. The mayor accepted the suggestion and thus there are already serious discussions going on between Ljubljana and San Jose about the connection and collaboration of both cities.  
 

The bridge is open, the path to the global market is now easier …

In a good year and a half, the ABC Accelerator made sure that Slovenian startups and companies from the region have a significantly easier path for entering the global market and obtaining high investments. But the main point of the event was best summarized by the vice president of the government, Boris Koprivnikar, who says: “We are proud of the ABC Accelerator. In Slovenia, we have good ideas, smart individuals, but we have to connect. Slovenians aren’t ashamed of being here, because we have a lot to show.”