The Croatian company Include from Solin has strengthened its exports, entered the Polish and even the Chilean markets, a new investment round is on its way, and of course greater production and employment will naturally follow that.

As we reported recently, during the first quarter of 2019, this remarkable Croatian company from Solin recorded some excellent export performance, and it seems that Include is just going from strength to strength.

As Marta Duic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 7th of April, 2019, the amount of orders placed, when compared to just one year ago during the first quarter of 2018, increased by a massive 109 percent to 2.3 million kuna, while Include's total income increased by an equally impressive 115 percent.

"The first quarter is always frozen in our [type of] business. So far, we haven't achieved significant results during Q1, as plenty of markets are still covered in snow, and the first installations take place during the spring. But the first quarter of this year has been the best quarter ever since we've been doing business,'' stated Include's founder and director, Ivan Mrvoš, before going on to reveal everything Include has been busy doing since the beginning of 2019 alone.

This includes a new two-year distribution agreement with Deutsche Telekom, featuring fifty global markets; the sale of 44 Steora smart benches, a move worth more than 1.1 million kuna, and the opening up of the Polish market.

Our recent article on Include's success reports on the fact that these Croatian smart benches have been delivered to numerous other European countries, such as to Italy, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and to Spain. In February, a new order came from Montenegro, and then new doors outside of the European continent opened up to Include, and a new market was ''cracked'', that of the very distant Chile.

"That's how we managed to arrive to the last possible continent. I'm not counting the Antarctic," smiled Mrvoš. The month was completed with the deliveries of 27 smart benches to Greece, Ireland, Israel, Poland, Italy and Hungary. March resulted in orders for a new product - Monna cyclo benches for Dublin.

Include's entrance onto the Chilean market marks a new achievement for the Croatian company, whose products are gradually finding themselves leaving Europe and spreading further and further across the world.

Make sure to stay up to date with Croatian companies, Croatian products and services, doing buisness in Croatia and much more by following our dedicated Made in Croatia and business pages.

Click here for the original article by Marta Duic for Poslovni Dnevnik

Can one succeed in doing business on Croatian territory? Yes, one certainly can.

Asteria, a Croatian family company started by Dubravka and Veronika Vuković in the village of Banova Jaruga near Sisak in the continental part of the country, marked its first anniversary of being in business at the end of February 2019.

As Marta Duic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 6th of April, 2019, this mother and daughter team successfully run their business which involves producing sleepwear, and the combination of Dubravka's long-standing experience in the textile industry and Veronika's knowledge gained about entrepreneurship at the Faculty of Economics in Osijek proved to be a winning combination.

"The two of us have always managed to create something together, and last year we had the chance to share that with the world. Our desire is to offer women quality sleepwear, ours is a different look than what is currently on our market, and that's why we decided to go with sleepwear. We want women to feel comfortable but at the same time feel elegant and confident in our clothes,'' explained Veronika Vuković.

Some of the Asteria branded underwear products include classic pyjamas, nightgowns, nightgowns, combos, dresses, kimonos and bathrobes, and fashion accessories such as sleeping masks and cosmetics bags.

"After the initial calculations, we started with the creative part and started working on the first models, there were a lot of attempts, a bunch of models from different fabrics, we played around with it all and tried out what would be the best, and we also asked our acquaintances to see what they liked the best, and soon after, we decided to take advantage of the self-employment incentives and open up an obrt (a type of company). At first, we needed some time because we knew only some of the very basics and not much more, and the biggest challenge were the Croatian state institutions and the vague information we received. We now understand the way they work and it's easier for us to talk to them,'' stated Vuković, reminiscing on Asteria's very beginnings.

The fabrics are mostly purchased from Italy and Germany and from some Croatian companies, and they're both [both domestic and foreign companies] responsible for the designs.

''Our products have been on the market for nine months now, and the web shop has been open for seven months. Special attention is paid to the design of the clothes and the selection of the fabric used in production, and each piece is manually sewn. I can say that we're getting better and better at it. When we started, no one knew about us and yet everything went easily.

Today, customers are already familiar with us and know where to look for our products, and on our web shop every month we have more orders than we had during the previous month. Customers often come back with some positive feedback, and we're particularly happy when they send us a picture of how they wear their clothes and how the clothes look on them,'' said Veronika Vuković, who prepares and delivers the items within four working days. In addition to Asteria's web shop and social networks, their products can also be viewed and purchased at their workshop in Banova Jaruga. Vuković noted that they aren't planning to open a classical type of store, at least for now.

"The type of clothes we make are made by almost nobody in the whole of Croatia. Although there are several Croatian companies that do sell sleepwear, it isn't similar to ours and is primarily different when it comes to the type of fabric being used.

Although these companies and foreign companies selling sleepwear are our competition, we're constantly working on being different to them and to make ourselves known for the variety and the quality of our products. As our greatest achievement, I would point out that customers have begun to recognise our products and recommend us to their acquaintances,'' said Vuković, noting that their current greatest efforts are investing in their proper positioning on the market as high quality garment manufacturers, as well as the expansion of their assortments and the entering into new markets.

"We're still not going to give too much away, but what I will say is that we're preparing stylish dresses, blouses and skirts in daytime, business and evening combinations, everything that a woman needs, and we want to focus more on sales in the EU and in the rest of the world in the future. They're much larger markets than our Croatian market here, and we believe our products have great potential,'' Vuković concluded.

Make sure to follow our dedicated Made in Croatia and business pages for much more on Croatian businesses, Croatian products and services, and Croatian success stories.

Click here for the original article by Marta Duic for Poslovni Dnevnik

As Mia Biberovic/Netokracija writes on the 5th of April, 2019, Snapchat's camera is set to become even smarter, as was stated yesterday at the Snap Partner Summit. Namely, an expanded reality platform was presented for developers under the name of Scan, and among the first partners is Croatia's very own Photomath, which will now enable Snapchat users to easily solve mathematical tasks.

For a while now it has been able to be seen that Snap has been heading in the direction of expanded reality more strongly. This was yet more visible when the wildly popular app introduced real-world scanning, recognition abilities, and the possibility to purchase through Amazon, directly via the app. In addition, Snapchat's camera enabled song recognition through Shazam, and new, more interesting camera applications were presented yesterday, this means that Giphy will be able to recognise real-world objects and include a convenient GIF to match, and Photomath will recognise maths problems and offer users a solution.

Croatia's Photomath application has already risen to extreme levels of popularity. Back in November, Netokracija exclusively wrote about the Croatian app's impressive 100 million downloads. In addition, founder Damir Sabol then announced that they received a six million dollar investment. This partnership with Snapchat, which, when announced at Snap's event for partners, received a special applause, and will surely help make these already impressive figures even higher.

As Damir Sabol, the founder and CEO of Photomath told Netokracija, this collaboration is well positioned for targeted users because Snapchat and Photomath have very customised user bases and naturally coincide.

Sabol: The basic features of Photomath will be available through Scan.

Among other things, Sabol revealed that only one part of the application's functionality will be integrated into Snapchat's Scan:

Only the basic features will be available on Snapchat - specifically, getting solutions for whatever is being scanned. For all of the other features, and mostly for step-by-step explanation, Photomath is there. Thus, Photomath's founder believes that such a cooperation will open the way for new users because Photomath isn't intended for offering only the ultimate solutions to mathematical tasks, but a higher educational value through the solving process, and this can only be achieved through the Photomath application itself.

When it comes to the number of users, Snapchat is still lagging behind Instagram, but CEO Evan Spiegel revealed, as TechCrunch writes, in the US, Snapchat reaches nearly 75 percent of all people between 13 and 34 years of age.

We reach 90 percent of people between the ages of 13 and 24, in essence, we reach more people of that age than Facebook and Instagram in the United States, the UK, France, Canada and Australia does.

This also proves Sabol's assertion that the target group matches them. However, on the sidelines, what Snapchat's greatest asset is the will of the user to explore the world of expanded reality, which is something other social network platforms have not yet achieved. In addition to being an inevitable source of customer entertainment, this is also a great opportunity for partners, and examples of collaboration were presented yesterday, such as those with Netflix, or with the well known GoFundMe platform, to share news of various charity campaigns.

Scan will allow us to scan everything around us in order to interact with objects and living creatures, whether it is banknotes, monuments, or our pets in expanded reality. Otherwise, Scan was created based on the startup of Scan.me.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business and Made in Croatia pages for much more.

Click here for the original article by Mia Biberovic for Netokracija

At the beginning of 2019, the Croatian company Include signed a two-year distribution agreement with one of the largest global providers of telecommunications services - Deutsche Telekom.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 4th of April, 2019, 42 global markets, six continents, 260 cities across the world, more than 1000 smart benches installed, cooperation with major global corporations, the European Parliament, Deloitte, Forbes... all in just four years - this is just part of the successful results the Croatian company Include from Solin has achieved since May 2015, when the first smart bench was introduced, until the beginning of 2019.

In the first quarter, Solin's Include didn't manage to acheive any real or significant results, as most markets were still covered by snow, and the first installations usually only begin in spring, but in 2019, Include achieved significant export performance. The amount of ordered benches, when compared to the first quarter of 2018, just one year ago, increased by an impressive 109 percent to  a staggering 2.3 million kuna, while total revenues increased by 115 percent.

At the beginning of this year, Include signed a two-year distribution agreement with one of the largest global providers of telecommunications services, Deutsche Telekom. The contract was signed for fifty global markets, and Include became one of the few Croatian companies with this type of somewhat prestigious contract.

In January this year, 44 Steora smart benches worth over 1.1 million kuna were sold and a new market opened its doors, Poland. The largest share of the bench sales relate to exports, and the Steora smart bench has found its way across Europe, having been delivered to Italy, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Spain.

In February this year, Include continued its export activities - with new orders from neighbouring Montenegro, a new market opened (Chile, with two Steora Standard benches) and the month ended with deliveries of 27 smart bench to Greece, Ireland, Israel, Poland, Italy, and Hungary.

March 2019, as the ''test polygon'' for spring, resulted in orders of a new product from Include's sales portfolio - the Monna cyclo tables for Dublin. The new product was presented at the Smart City Expo World Congress in mid-November 2018 in Barcelona, Spain. In addition, two new distribution agreements were signed (Slovenia - 50 benches, France - 72 benches), five Steora benches for Chile and Bermuda were ordered, as were 38 benches for other European countries - the United Kingdom, France, and Montenegro.

It's certainly important to highlight the continuation of Include's global digital outdoor advertising project via the Steora Urban+ smart benches. After they started the project with the installation of fifteen Steora Urban+ benches in Bratislava (at the best locations in the city), at the end of 2018, the project increased its pace in March this year with the another fifteen new Steora Urban+ smart benches, this time in Dublin, Ireland.

Currently, two major cities in the European Union are using Include's external digital advertising system through the Steora smart bench, it is an advanced DOOH system developed within the company itself. The system works using Facebook-like technology, enabling you to choose multiple advertising screens at the same time, set marketing campaign goals, and track advertising results in real-time.

Croatia's Include expects significant business results in the upcoming two quarters, and in addition to that, the realisation of a new investment round is being prepared, followed by the expansion of production capacities and the recruitment of new employees.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business and Made in Croatia pages for much more.

As Morski writes on the 3rd of April, 2019, what has been happening with prosciutto for the past three to four years is truly spectacular. Due to its superior properties and specific traditional production technology, Croatian prosciutto producers have stumbled upon some great export potential and even more potential for the product's better placement in Croatian tourism through the country's already rich gastronomic offer.

When compared to five years ago in 2014, exports have increased in quantity by fourteen times, and perhaps most importantly, in value eleven times. Approximately 88 percent of total exports go to the EU market, and just over eleven percent go to CEFTA countries.

''The latest 2018 statistics show an increase in exports of shank and aitchbone products by nearly sixty percent, but unfortunately, we still don't even cover a third of imports. We need new investments and we need to invest in new prosciutto production capacities to double our production, and 700,000 pieces annually to at least meet the needs of the domestic market,'' said Dragan Kovačević, vice president of the Croatian Chamber of Economy for Agriculture and Tourism, at a press conference announcing the event Days of Croatian Prosciutto.

Ante Madir, Executive Director of the "Hrvatsko pršuta" (Croatian prosciutto) cluster, which brings together producers responsible for 95 percent of the total prosciutto production in the Republic of Croatia, explained more precisely what awaits Croatia on the fifth Days of Croatian prosciutto, which is being held from the 26th to the 27th of April at the Zagreb International Hotel this year.

''On the first day, we'll have a manifestation with round tables and workshops, the expert part of the gathering, and the second day at Ban Jelačić Square, there'll be a show-selling part where people can taste our prosciutto,'' Madir said, adding that they decided on Zagreb because quite a large market and a high demand for the product can be found in the Croatian capital.

"What's been happening with prosciutto over the past three to four years is truly spectacular. The signs of protection (special labels) are our tickets to the wider European Union market, that's very important for being able to [have our products] arrive to shop shelves. In Croatia, we still need to work on presenting [our products] to consumers to have them pay more money for something which is domestic and specific,'' said Igor Miljak, chairman of the PPK Karlovac meat industry, stressing that Croatia still doesn't have key gastro brands that are recognised on the European or global market, but it definitely does have the quality to be able to cope well with the competition.

Ana Babić from Voštane pršut, a representative of the Association of Dalmatian Prosciutto, explained the difference between Dalmatian and Istrian, or more specifically Krk prosciutto.

''Dalmatian prosciutto is smoked, while Istrian and Krk prosciutto isn't. There are no additives or preservatives in its production, and the process itself lasts for at least a year,'' Babić explained, adding that the tradition of Dalmatian prosciutto production draws its roots from as far back as ancient Roman times.

Drago Pletikosa of Belcrotrade and the president of the Association of Drniš pršut stressed that Drniš prosciutto is a little and is therefore certified, although there is no difference between Drniš and Dalmatian prosciutto when it comes to the production process itself.

''Last year, we imported 3,848 tons of products worth more than 21.5 million euros and exported 1.113 tons (6.5 million euros). Compared to 2014, exports have increased in quantity fourteen times, and by value eleven times. Approximately 88 percent of our total exports go to the EU market, and just over eleven percent go to CEFTA countries. We export the most to Slovenia (35.5 percent of total exports) and to Italy (28.1 percent),'' stated Pletikosa.

''This event brings together and promotes prosciutto producers from all over the country, whose products are protected by a stamp of designation of origin, and labels of geographical origin (Krk, Dalmatian and Drniš prosciutto) at the EU level,'' stated the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK).

Quality labels for consumers guarantee the purchase of authentic and properly controlled products, with recognised quality and a local origin. Protecting products without educating consumers and business partners about its proper valuation has no great benefit. Therefore, this event contributes to the strengthening of the recognisability of these Croatian meat products with higher added value and a better market positioning, all with the aim of developing the wider Croatian economy.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business and Made in Croatia pages for much more.

AMPnet is the best Croatian startup, and it's going to the big final in Krakow, Poland.

As VLM/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 1st of April, 2019, AMPnet's platform focuses on energy cooperatives, an alternative model of sales for electrical energy and the financing of renewable energy sources. Mislav Javor from AMPnet pointed out that the product is now finished, and how their very first clients are knocking at their door.

With the winning project, AMPnet IO d.o.o. was proclaimed as the best Croatian startup this year between nine finalists at the national final of the PowerUp! competition held within the framework of the LEAP Summit, and organised by Invento Capital Partners in Zagreb.

The winning Croatian team will be presented at the Grand Final in Krakow, Poland on May the 21st, where they will compete for large cash prizes of 50,000, 10,000 and 5,000 euros, while the best project will be offered an additional investment of 150,000 euros as well as participation in the prestigious accelerator EIT InnoEnergy Highway, which helps in the transformation of startups, from their early stages of development right up to becoming a successful business venture.

Energy in a new way!

''We're very pleased with this competition organised by Innoenergy together with Invento Capital Partners. We believe that all of the teams have very high quality products, but we're happy that even with such a strong competition, the jury decided on us. We have been developing this product for two years and this victory is one of the moments that confirms that we're on the right track,'' said Javor.

''The PowerUp! competition by Innoenergy's winner, AMPnet, is a team that has a scalable product. Until now, they've shown that they have certain shifts in the market, they have contacts with potential buyers and have managed to attract investors. So, they only need an additional boost to reach the stage from which they can expand across Europe, and hopefully ultimately to the United States,'' said jury member Stevica Kuharski (Fil Rouge Capital).

''I'm truly delighted with the number of quality projects. This was one of the competitions where members of the jury had a difficult job choosing a project that would represent Croatia at the Grand Final in Krakow. What we can do, as a local partner of Innoenergy in Croatia, is to insist that many more of these projects are funded by Innoenergy, regardless of them having not been chosen today. The AMPnet project itself, and the team behind the project, demonstrated the highest degree of readiness, project development and market entrance possibilities,'' said Dalibor Marijanović, founder and partner of Invento Capital Partners, the local HUB in charge of supporting the aforementioned competition in Croatia.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business and Made in Croatia pages for much more.

Click here for the original article by VLM for Poslovni Dnevnik

One successful Zagreb company has been exploring outside of the Croatian market and has found a plethora of opportunities and interest on foreign markets.

As Lucija Spiljak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 14th of March, 2019, thanks to its long tradition, identity, high quality, attractive design and practical accessories, the Zagreb-based company Mediaform has been positioning in Croatia for over twenty whole years as a market leader in the field of the production of top of the range diaries made from some of the highest quality materials.

The company was founded back in 1997 by Nedeljko Šukurma, who is currently working with numerous other companies and designers. They have been selling their company's products for years through retail stores such as Narodne novine, Školske knjige (School books), and others. However, Šukurma didn't want to just stop and stay on the Croatian market alone, but he, with a dose of success and an excellent idea, decided to dip his toes into foreign markets.

"Over the past few years, we've been trying to break into the European market in the segment of office and school materials with notebooks called Keyboard in two groups. The first group are premium notebooks - such as Moleskine, Lanybook and the like, while the other group are school notebooks. The Keyboard notebooks were successfully sold in the bookstores of the former Algoritam company, but even after its closure, customers were still asking after Mediaform's notebooks,'' explained Šukurma.

This was just another incentive for Šukurma and his Zagreb company to try out their products overseas where his company came across very positive reactions and a lot of praise.

"To be able to position yourself successfully on the global market in a segment that has long been covered by world-renowned brands, you need to do something innovative, something interesting and specific. With our new collection of Keyboard notebooks, we have been able to attract a great level of interest from foreign distributors and bookstores. On the front page, the notebooks are simple and minimalistic, but the design is impressive. The letters on the embossed, styled keyboard on the notebook's covers form an inspirational message - Handwriting beats a keyboard, which promotes handwriting as one of the timeless ways through which people can express their personalities,'' stated the founder of this successful Zagreb-based company which is clearly going from strength to strength.

Therefore, in addition to the business side of things, this Zagreb company's notebooks also feature an aesthetic function that will attract anyone who is used to using laptops and the like. For two consecutive years, Zagreb's Mediaform has been expanding its product group at the world-renowned and specialised Paperworld fair in Frankfurt, Germany. At the end of last year, they first exhibited their products at the Insights-X fair in Nuremberg for the German market and at the Big Buyer fair in Bologna for the Italian market.

"At the last Paperworld fair in Frankfurt, the organisers officially drew attention to our Keyboard notebooks. At this fair, there's also a separate space that acts as an exhibition gallery called Trends. When it comes to [exhibiting there] the fair organiser selects the most innovative and creative articles that should have particular emphasis drawn to them, with the focus being placed on excellence. Our Keyboard notebook found itself among this group of the world's top manufacturers,'' said Mediaform's owner.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business and Made in Croatia pages for more on Croatian products, services and inventions. If it's just Zagreb you're interested in, give Total Zagreb a follow.

Click here for the original article by Lucija Spiljak for Poslovni Dnevnik

In the group of three are the partners of the popular Croatian gaming series - Intel, AMD, Razer, Corsair and Steel Series, as was stated by Igor Gajić.

As Darko Bicak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 24th of February, 2019, Starpoint Gemini, one of the most successful Croatian gaming series with more than 600,000 titles sold to date, has begun to sell its third installment at the world's largest online gaming store Steam.

In their home studio, LGM Games stated that they had received an enviable pre-registration number for the new game within just the first twelve hours of its release.

Igor Gajić from LGM Games said that Starpoint Gemini 3 is their most ambitious project so far.

"With the new title we want to move the boundaries, both in quality and market success, and our expectations are great," said Gajić. He added that the RPG space game, which allowed the player to enjoy the world of Captain Jonathan Bold, worked with a team of fifteen experts, and was additionally assisted by a further five external experts.

Although the title states the number three, this is actually the fourth game in this series. Gajić stated that after Starpoint Gemini 1, which he admitted had a "shaky start", Starpoint Gemini 2 was released five years ago. It is the best-selling title in the series so far. Gajić confirmed to Poslovni Dnevnik that he has sold more than 400,000 copies. Two years ago, the Croatian studio LGM Games, which once featured its full name, Little Green Men Games, issued a spin-off franchise called Starpoint Gemini Warlords. This title was also very well sold, impressively selling more than 200,000 copies.

"The Dvojka and Warlords hits are among the genre fans, so, upon these successes we have created a very stable base from which we can build a solid foundation for a new game," said Gajić.

The previous title in the series, Warlords, had an excellent rating on Metacritica, of 73 percent, and just two years ago when it was released on Steam, it won the gold medal as Early Access Grads Best of 2017.

According to Business Croatia, Intercorona, through which LGM Games operates, grew from four to eighteen employees from 2013 to 2017, with revenues rising from 840,500 to 4.86 million kuna.

Make sure to follow our dedicated Made in Croatia and business pages for more info on this Croatian gaming series and much, much more.

Click here for the original article by Darko Bicak for Poslovni Dnevnik

Excellent news for one Zagreb company as its success leads to the opening up of yet another office abroad, this time across the Atlantic in no less than the Big Apple - New York, USA.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 21st of February, 2019, the key person and the manager of the Zagreb company's brand new American office is Mick de Meijer, a former executive director of several marketing agencies and a person with very strong experience in two key areas - project management and business development.

Zagreb's Q IT software company, which is one of the fastest growing IT companies in Europe according to Deloitte, has been operating at a new location since the beginning of this year. Their sixth global office was opened in New York, the digital hub of the eastern coast of the United States. The office is located in the very centre of New York, more precisely in Manhattan, and in addition to this location, this Croatian company still continues to operate from Zurich, Oslo, Belfast, Los Angeles, and of course from Zagreb, where the company's headquarters are located.

In his twelve years of hard work in the field, Mick de Meijer has successfully consulted more than 100 companies and worked directly with a variety of enormous and highly respected brands such as Victoria's Secret, Trojan, and Heinz.

So far, this Zagreb company has successfully helped a number of American companies with their technology development, of which, companies such as the United States Postal Services, Facebook, Walmart and Coca-Cola should definitely be mentioned. They have worked in different manners for these gigantic American companies, ranging from genialising their employment process to dealing with the system that employees use in their daily work.

Make sure to stay up to date with our dedicated business and Made in Croatia pages for much more on Croatian companies, products and services, as well as information on doing business and the overall investment climate in Croatia. If it's just the capital you're interested in, give Total Zagreb a follow.

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.

Make sure to stay up to date with Croatian companies, products and services, doing business in Croatia and much more by following our dedicated Made in Croatia and business pages.

Click here for the original article by Goran Jungvirth for Poslovni Dnevnik