In collaboration with the Initiative Start:up Slovenia and the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, the Slovene Enterprise Fund published a new tender SK200 on Friday. It is meant to finance quick global growth of innovative companies and enables the companies to obtain 200,000 € of seed capital in the form of a public equity investment. Following the trend of the latest business hubs, its content is improved with the new business accelerator Go:Global Slovenia. The latter doesn’t only help entrepreneurs submit an application and obtain an investment, but also provides all elements for fast global growth – the latest knowledge, skilled mentors, additional private investors, international promotion, a network of connections, the entire infrastructure and administrative support.
 

Two reasons less to leave for abroad

On June 20^th this year, the Slovene Enterprise Fund announced SK50 – the first tender for ensuring seed capital for the launch of innovative companies. Same as SK200, it allows entrepreneurs to acquire financing as well as participate in an excellent business accelerator. Both accelerators (overview in the table below) ensure a significant move in the right direction for financing Slovenian innovative companies. It’s a turning point in the enrichment of our start-up ecosystem, which has lately been witness to increasingly more frequent departures of talents into modern business hubs and start-up accelerators in USA, England, Bulgaria, Italy and elsewhere in the world. 

Up to 27 innovative companies financed

The Slovene Enterprise Fund managed to ensure 2.4 million € for both tenders in the year 2014, which will help them finance 27 innovative companies (start-ups): up to 20 within the tender SK50 and at most 7 within the tender SK200. Both projects are being carried out for the first time this year and with them, Slovenia wishes to be placed alongside modern international business hubs in the long term. This will also help prevent the mass departures of young talented entrepreneurs and start ensuring an environment and conditions alluring for innovative start-up companies from abroad.
 

Where and when to get information

The initiative Start:up Slovenia will organise an all-Slovenian roadshow on September 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th. The roadshows will be in the form of introductory workshops in Ljubljana, Maribor, Nova Gorica and Celje, where entrepreneurs will get details about the conditions of participation and how both accelerators work. They will get first-hand information about the content and all legal-formal requirements of both tenders.
The workshops will also offer personal consultations for preparing and submitting applications, as well as discussions on frequently asked questions and dilemmas of entrepreneurs deciding to apply. Recognized Slovenian entrepreneurs will share their experiences of obtaining an equity investment.
 

How to obtain capital and excellent mentors

After participating in the workshops, the path to an approved investment will lead the entrepreneurs across four basic parts. The written applications and a short personal presentation in front of the pre-selection committee will be followed by a working weekend (for the SK50 tender) or an investment preparation programme (for the SK200 tender). At the demo days, the entrepreneurs will once again present themselves in front of the committee and personal investors, this time better and more elaborate.
The companies chosen to receive an investment will join intense educational programmes of both accelerators – Start:up GeekHouse within the SGH accelerator and Go:Global for Growth within the GG accelerator. For both of them, the initiative collaborated with partners such as Hekovnik, Silicon Gardens, CEED, DsgnFwd, 30Lean and others to ensure the latest knowledge and excellent start-up mentors, such as Miha Mikek, Andraž Tori, Davorin Gabrovec, Aleš Špetič, Gregor Rebolj, Jugoslav Petkovič, Jaka Levsek, Andraž Logar and others.
 

Timeline for the SK50 tender and SGH accelerator:

• Introductory workshops (all-Slovenian “roadshow”): September 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th 2014
• Submitting an application for the pre-selection process: September 15^th 2014
• Short personal presentations of entrepreneurs: September 22^nd 2014
• Working weekend (workshops and preparing the presentation for the demo day): September 26^th to 28^th 2014
• Demo day (presentation in front of the pre-selection committee and investors): September 30^th 2014
• Submitting a formal application and documentation: October 10^th 2014

Timeline for the SK200 tender and GG accelerator:

• Introductory workshops (all-Slovenian “roadshow”): September 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th 2014
• Submitting an application for the pre-selection procedure: September 15^th 2014
• Short personal presentations of entrepreneurs: September 22^nd 2014
• Investment preparation programme for companies: October 1^st to 3^rd 2014
• Demo day (presentation in front of the pre-selection committee and investors): October 8^th 2014
• Submitting a formal application and documentation: October 17^th 2014

 
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