Bjelovar breaks the mold and creates a unique fitness product that has caught the eye of not only the nearby Hungarians, but the world.
Continental Croatia is, aside from its tourism potential, usually in the news for all the wrong reasons. Although it has gradually started to spread, the Croatian demographic crisis has bitten harder in that area of the country than it has elsewhere, and with residents leaving in their droves, it often comes as a pleasant surprise to read about innovatation and opportunities arising from there, despite the fact that there are several.
As Goran Jungvirth/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 21st of February, 2019, the winner in the category of best project idea at the first Bjelovar Startup 2018 competition confirmed to Poslovni Dnevnik that the prototype of their product is ready, and that it has attracted the interest of people from all over the world.
"We've already had over twenty queries, and our partners from Hungary have just visited us. The whole world is interested in our product,'' said Vedran Presečki from Ferrodus d.o.o., the creator of a non-motorised running belt with a ferrofluid brake.
His company has been in existence since back in 2013 and produces fitness equipment which is then exported to many countries across the world, not only to other European countries such as Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy, Hungary, Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, and France, but further afield and across the Atlantic, all the way to the United States.
Otherwise, this Bjelovar-made product is the very first non-motorised running beld with a ferrofluid brake in the entire world. Despite that fact which is already impressive enough, Ferrodus' innovative Vedran Presečki plans to conquer the whole world with this new invention.
"The fitness industry is continuing to grow steadily. Our "Predator Hunt" running belt is the first in the world which uses ferrofluid technology, and it's unique owing to that. Running on it is natural, it's as if you were running on an embankment. Existing running belts (such as common treadmills) don't boast that natural resistance and don't allow for the alteration of running intensity like our belt does,'' stated a rightfully proud Presečki for Poslovni Dnevnik upon describing the uniqueness of this Bjelovar-made product.
After applying this technology to the running belt, Presečki is planning to extend it yet further, to other fitness related products such as bicycles and the like.
To brieflt recall, Presečki won last year's Bjelovar-based competition, which gained him a very welcome 100,000 kuna cash. This year, that same competition will open once again for startups that are working to produce innovations in the area of Bjelovar.
Presečki told Poslovni Dnevnik that his award helped him greatly in terms of product development, especially in speeding up the development of prototypes, which is of crucial importance for the overcoming of potential competitors who came up with the same idea.
"We accelerated and definitely managed to get a one-year head start owing to this award, because we're a small company," he noted.
But Presečki emphasised the fact that his prize meant more than just money because it meant recognition and brought about great enthusiasm for his team.
"That was a great incentive for us," he said.
The Bjelovar company exports 90 percent of its products and currently has just three employees, but it will need a lot more man power when launching its totally unique running belt production.
"We have a recruitment plan for when the product goes to the market. We'll have to substantially reorganise the business,'' Presečki stated, for whom, despite gaining some truly invaluable business experience, the real work is yet to come.
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Click here for the original article by Goran Jungvirth for Poslovni Dnevnik
