Meet Gentler Stories, Paradigma Technologies, ReCatalyst, Quantifly in Woice! These are the Slovenian startups that, with their innovative ideas and entrepreneurial spirit, have made it to the finals for the coveted title of Slovenian Start:Up of the Year 2023. On 30th May, the award, presented for the 16th consecutive year by by Start:Up Slovenia in cooperation with the Slovene Enterprise Fund, the Ministry of Economy, Tourism and Sport and active stakeholders of the Slovenian ecosystem, will be given to the company whose achievements, actions, reputation and development potential represent a new generation of innovative Slovenian entrepreneurs. 

 

On 24th May, at the SBC - Slovenian Business Club headquarters in Ljubljana, the finalists will courageously step in front of an expert jury and pitch their ideas. But there can only be one winner! Who will it be?

 

Gentler Stories

Do you agree that the health of millennials is increasingly at risk in a world that pushes "higher, faster, harder"? They face obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and depression. Exercise is often the first choice when it comes to health, as it has positive effects on physical and mental well-being. But it can also lead to overtraining and injury because it ignores the body's capabilities. With the Gentler Streak app, we can avoid these problems. 

 

The Gentler Stories team has developed Gentler Streak, a highly personalized iOS & watchOS fitness and exercise tracker that encourages the user to lead a healthy lifestyle. The app provides up-to-date monitoring of basic health metrics and suggests daily activity (and sometimes rest) based on these metrics. By using the app, the individual reduces the risk of injury, overtraining and the development of diseases in the long term. By using it regularly, the user deepens their understanding of their own body, their relationship with it and approaches exercise in a way that has the potential to become a lifelong habit.

 

 

Source: Gentler.app

 

The Gentler Streak app has been available since February 2022 and currently has 25,500 active subscribers. Gentler Streak was selected by Apple as the best smartwatch app for the Apple Watch in 2022 and won the prestigious Editors Choice award.

 

Website: https://gentler.app/

 

Paradigma Technologies

The space industry is currently faced with the challenge of developing sustainable and more cost-effective solutions for high-speed, high-capacity data transmission. To meet this challenge, small satellites are becoming increasingly important due to their lower cost, lighter weight and lower launch fuel consumption compared to larger satellites. Small satellites are now essential for a wide range of applications, including Earth observation, climate monitoring and global communications. Despite their compact size, they still need to provide the same level of performance.

 

The team at Paradigma Technologies provides solutions for miniaturized high-frequency radio systems that deliver the same or better performance as larger satellites.

 

Their products are designed using the latest technology to deliver low power consumption, low weight and volume, and high data rates and throughput.

 

The integration of their solutions into next-generation satellite systems will enable fast, reliable and affordable Internet connectivity, even in remote and hard-to-reach areas. The benefits will include more efficient environmental and climate monitoring, disaster management, urban planning and the development of smart settlements.

 

Source: Paradigma-tech.com

Website: https://paradigma-tech.com/

 

ReCatalyst

Decarbonizing the energy and transport sectors is a global challenge that requires concrete action to achieve a low-carbon society. The solutions lie in alternatives to fossil fuels and internal combustion engines. One such alternative is hydrogen fuel cells. Their mass use also depends on the use of materials such as platinum, which is found in the fuel cell's catalyst. The catalyst, which looks like black powder, is the key component that converts hydrogen and oxygen into electricity in the fuel cell, with water as the only by-product. 

 

The startup company ReCatalyst develops, manufactures and sells next-generation catalysts for hydrogen fuel cells. Their production is based on a patented process that makes better use of expensive and rare platinum. The process partially replaces platinum with more accessible and cheaper metals, and a microscope reveals a uniform distribution of platinum alloy nanoparticles. Even at the current stage of the product, they achieve a reduction of more than 40% in the amount of platinum without compromising the performance potential of the fuel cell.

 

The company has great potential as the market for hydrogen and hydrogen technologies is growing rapidly. With the market expected to grow and a limited supply of excellent catalysts, ReCatalyst is already successfully testing the technology with some of the biggest names in the industry.

 

The technology platform also allows expansion into other types of catalysts, such as electrolysis for hydrogen production and other similar materials where there is a need to make better use of precious metals. 

 

Source: LinkedIn ReCatalyst

Website: https://recatalyst.si/

 

Quantifly

Just like people, organizations can become ill. Symptoms include low employee engagement, poor relationships... All this leads to poorer business results and higher costs associated with absenteeism and recruitment.

 

Most (HR) managers do not deal with these issues systematically but put out fires 'as and when' they occur. Others are already using analytical tools to measure employee engagement and other metrics of organizational vitality. These may indicate symptoms but do not provide insight into causes or concrete suggestions for improvement. 

 

This is where Quantifly comes in, setting a new standard in the way organizations are managed. It provides in-depth diagnostics based on an analysis of team dynamics, structure and culture. A major innovation is the sociometric analysis, which provides insight into the communication networks and accountability structure of an organization. This is where the causes of the symptoms are hidden - unclear roles, inappropriate allocation of people, disruptors of team dynamics, communication problems, etc.

 

Source: Quantifly

Quantifly offers data collection with simple digital questionnaires, hardware and professional data processing to produce diagnostic reports, and a link to relevant HR professionals to help management develop and implement an action plan with measurable results.

 

To date, Quantifly has been trusted by more than 60 national and international companies to improve the performance of their employees through organizational diagnostics and proposed action plans. Best practice examples show that a three-month action plan can increase target metrics of organizational vitality by more than 10%, which is reflected in business results.

 

Website: https://www.quantifly.net/

 

Woice

Nowadays, there are many tools available to facilitate communication and coordination between international teams working remotely. However, these tools also pose significant challenges to teams due to the volume of text in different applications, the noise of channel history and the overload of after-hours notifications while failing to create a supportive culture among colleagues.

 

Introducing Woice, an asynchronous audio messenger tool for teams that works without notifications and helps improve work-life balance across time zones. It allows users to send audio messages that are added to the conversation and automatically subtitled. Team members can listen to them during their own working hours, adapted to their time zone. With Woice, they can replace standard meetings with voice communication, create conversation rooms, read the tone of the message from the voice and avoid misunderstandings that can occur with text messages.

 

Source: Woice.me

They are a fast-growing company, with a revenue of €820,000 in its second year of operation. They sell their products and services to world-famous international start-ups.

 

Website: https://www.woice.me/

 

ARE YOU CURIOUS TO KNOW WHICH OF THESE 5 INNOVATIVE IDEAS WILL WIN?

 

join us on 30th may

 

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Content support for recipients of P2, SK75 or SI-SK financial products under the "de minimis" scheme is co-financed from the Slovene Enterprise Fund and the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund. This is implemented on the basis of the Content Support for Funds Recipients (SMEs) Programme in the 2018-2023 period, under the Operational Programme for the Implementation of the European Cohesion Policy 2014-2020.