November the 24th, 2022 - The remarkable Croatian company Include, at the helm of which is young entrepreneur Ivan Mrvos, is now eyeing the markets of Germany and Italy with its innovative Smart City solutions.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Josipa Ban writes, after three years of development, the Croatian company Include has finally launched brand new smart solutions for cities and municipalities on the market. This is how the installation of the redesigned version of the wildly popular Steora smart bench and two completely new products - Aerys - an air quality monitoring station and Terra - a waste container, began.

"For a long time now, the long-term goal has been to expand our Smart City sales portfolio with solutions that solve some of the key challenges that today's communities face - public property management, micromobility, air quality and waste management," explained Ivan Mrvos, the founder and CEO of the Croatian company Include.

Last year, Include's redesigned smart benches were put on the market, which are now equipped with micromobility features and can recognise and charge all types of e-mobiles and e-bikes.

Aerys, Include's first air quality monitoring station, was installed back in March, and to date more than 20 of them have been installed across Croatia, Montenegro and Italy.

"At the beginning of next year, we expect orders from other markets where we're already present with our Steora benches," said Mrvos.

This month, the first five Terra waste containers with compression systems installed, and which can hold five times more waste than a standard container of the same size, were installed. In addition, operators can remotely monitor its filling levels and plan rubbish collection routes accordingly. As early as next month, as Mrvos announces, an additional four such containers should be installed. In addition, they developed the Solos software solution, an IoT platform that connects and facilitates the management of smart solutions.

As far as expansion is concerned, the market is the whole world, but the primary focus of the Croatian company Include will be right here in Europe, that is, the countries where they generally achieve the best results with their benches - Italy and Germany.

"We're talking about very large markets where existing competitors generate tens of millions of euros in revenue annually. Now we have a big job ahead of us to successfully promote and place our new solutions on different markets,'' stated the director of the company, which has received a massive 3.4 million euros in investments since its foundation back in 2015. The last investment, one from the beginning of this year which amounted to 400 thousand euros, helped expand Include's already enviable portfolio, which was anything but a simple task.

This company, which generates 90 percent of its revenue on foreign markets, explains that the biggest challenge was coronavirus restrictions and the lack of chips on the market.

"The chips with which we initially designed our modules and products became completely unavailable and we had to redesign certain components almost from scratch with other chips that were more available, and even then it was questionable whether these new chips would be available on the market in the long term. All this put an additional financial burden on us because we had to make additional unplanned supplies, and the supply chain itself of almost all the materials needed for work became chaotic and unavailable for work at one point," Mrvos recalled.

Fortunately, that situation is now firmly behind them.

As far as financing is concerned, Mrvos stated that they are actively working on new opportunities and that they will probably have some news on this matter in the next year. In the years to come, their vision, Mrvos pointed out, is to enable the implementation of "smartness" across all small towns and municipalities.

"We saw that smaller cities and municipalities very often don't participate in Smart City projects because integrators often focus on large cities as potentially large clients. In addition, cloud platforms through which such products are controlled are often adapted to larger environments and require smaller ones to have infrastructure in the form of employees or IT equipment with which to manage these products.

The long-term vision we have is that all cities, regardless of their size and infrastructure, can participate as Smart Cities and that through our platform they can control their smart products without significant investment in IT infrastructure or new employment,'' they explained from the Croatian company Include.

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April the 3rd, 2022 - The Solin-based company Include has been making headlines more or less since its very creation, and for all the right reasons. This innovative company, headed by young and ambitious Croatian entrepreneur Ivan Mrvos, has made quite the global name for itself. Mrvos' newest creation has found its home in Slavonia.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Lucija Spiljak writes, the Croatian company Include has officially installed its very first Aerys G air quality monitoring station, and the first location is the Donji Miholjac industrial zone in Slavonia.

To briefly recall, back in late October last year, Include introduced its brand new Aerys stations, the latest product designed under owner Ivan Mrvos to measure air quality in urban areas. They allow for the easy and affordable installation of a large number of units which then provide the most important information on local air quality at any given time, giving cities a proper insight into the source of pollution and their frequency.

"The air quality index in Donji Miholjac shows that the air is of very decent quality in the last few days since the device was installed," claims Ivan Mrvos.

Include also stated that the Aerys G system is a standalone product, the first ever installed in Donji Miholjac, and also the first Include installed product in the last seven years that is not a Steora smart bench.

Aerys is available in three different types - Model P allows for the measurement of the concentration of suspended particles that typically represent the largest source of pollution. Model G measures the concentrations of NO, NO2 and O3 gases, while Aerys X includes measurements of particulate matter, toxic gases and basic atmospheric conditions.

Last October, they announced during a presentation that the first Aerys systems would be delivered to the Italian capital of Rome, which was completing the construction of a smart market at the time.

A new campaign

Since its founding back in 2015, Ivan Mrvos' remarkable company has been building its visibility on its Steora smart benches. Today, their smart city solutions are used in 59 countries around the world. They also stepped into the smart waste management market by introducing Terra bins that reduce waste collection by 80 percent, thus reducing both carbon dioxide emissions and removal costs.

Back in December last year, they launched their third fundraising campaign on the Funderbeam platform. In the pre-series B round of financing, they reached their desired minimum amount of 400,000 euros, and Ivan Mrvos revealed that there were some very well-known names from the Croatian IT and financial scene among those investors.

“More than a hundred investors recognised the value of our goal of making communities around the world a better place to live. Since 2015, we've expanded to 59 markets, with more than 1,700 products installed in more than 500 cities and municipalities. Thanks to this financing, we'll manage to reach even more markets,'' they announced from Include.

The goal was to raise between 400,000 and 1 million euros, as an overture to the second phase by the end of 2022, in which, as previously stated, the plan is to raise 5.5 million euros. The capital will be used to offer smart products to cities with easy installation, ie to scale production processes.

After becoming the first Croatian company at Funderbeam in 2017, in 2019 they started their second campaign and raised 1.5 million euros in record time.

For more, check out Made in Croatia.

December the 4th, 2021 - The Solin company Include, headed by Ivan Mrvos, is turning towards the current global shortage of chips. In pursuing that goal, it has started another Funderbeam campaign.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Ana Blaskovic writes, the Solin company Include, which is very well known for its smart benches, is launching a new Funderbeam campaign. With a more modest amount when compared to some of the previous ones, this time it aims at between 400,000 and 1 million euros of capital, but with a great ambition - to overcome the shortage of chips.

"Over the last two years, we've been working on developing new solutions so that the company can move away from the bench story in the direction of new products for cities to solve specific problems, from waste to air quality measurement," said Include's founder Ivan Mrvos, who at just 26 years of age has done more than most.

''With this round of funding, we aim to overcome the global challenges that everyone has, including that of chips. We'd ensure that we can make whole chip boards within our own production, which would allow us to buy from several sources, which would significantly speed up our production process,'' he said.

The Solin company Include currently has a “full order book until March” that includes more than a hundred products, smart benches and air quality metres. "It's about 300,000 euros worth of sold good, but they've not been delivered yet. Until then, the situation should stabilise so that we can create a stock of products, so that when customers order, we can deliver them in a few days,'' he explains. The latest Funderbeam campaign is their third in a row through that platform, and back in 2017 they became the first Croatian company on that platform.

In the year before the global coronavirus pandemic struck, they set a record for the largest Croatian campaign on that platform to date, with 1.5 million euros raised. The current round, a kind of ''pre-series B round'', is an overture to the large 5.5 million euro campaign planned for the end of 2022, about which they're already in contact with venture capital funds.

The condition for this is to scale production and revenue up to the desired 200,000 euros per month (from the current around 110,000), which opens the door for talks with larger funds, and potentially in the future is a step towards opening the doors of the United States. The Solin company Include entered the entrepreneurial scene with Steora smart benches, and at the end of 2020, it set out in the direction of solving some of the biggest global challenges we currently face.

In addition to the recently introduced Aerys air quality measurement stations, this includes Terra bins that reduce waste collection by 80 percent. Today, Include exports to 59 countries and more than 500 cities around the world.

“Since Funderbeam started, Ivan Mrvos was the first person that Ivana Gazic and I identified as a good young person for Funderbeam. This is our third campaign in just four years, and the company's valuation today stands at 17 million euros,'' said leading investor Ivana Soljan.

"Ivan has exceeded all my expectations these years. I think that Include is one of the future large companies in this area that will become a global company ", she added, and so far she has invested almost 200,000 euros in the company.

For more, check out Made in Croatia.

October the 30th, 2021 - The Croatian company Include based in Solin has made quite the name for itself over recent years and has gained not only local but international recognition as a brand. It has now presented its air quality measuring stations, and the Italian capital of Rome has been the first on their radar.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Lucija Spiljak writes, the Solin-based company Include has introduced yet another brand new product - Aerys Stations - designed to measure air quality in city districts. The first metres will be delivered in November to nearby Rome.

The Croatian company Include claims that their measuring stations will enable the simple and affordable installation of a large number of units, even at the level of city districts, and that such a solution would be ideal for Zagreb, which isn't known for boasting the best air.

They noted from this innovative company that Aerys stations aren't a substitute for professional measuring stations, but that their fair and affordable price allows for the installation of a large number of units that provide relevant information on air quality in a common network in a significantly larger number of locations.

The data collected also provides cities with an insight into pollution sources and their frequency. Aerys will be available in three variants.

Model P allows for the measurement of the concentration of suspended particles that represent the largest source of pollution. Model G measures the concentrations of NO, NO2 and O3 gases, while Aerys X includes the measurement of particulate matter, toxic gases and basic atmospheric conditions.

The first systems made by the Croatian company Include will be delivered to Rome, which is just finishing the construction of a smart square where Steora benches will also be installed. In a market with an annual value exceeding 4.4 billion euros, Include intends to position itself as one of the key manufacturers in the coming years.

The company headed by the young innovator Ivan Mrvos, which has been building its visibility via their Steora smart benches since back in 2015, moved in the direction of producing systems that contribute to solving some of the biggest global challenges of today back at the end of 2020. Today, their smart city solutions are used in 59 countries around the world.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), air pollution poses one of the greatest global health risks, and it is estimated that back in 2016, air pollution caused 4.2 million premature deaths. A truly damning figure.

In addition to wanting Aerys stations to participate in solving the global problem of air pollution, the Croatian company Include also entered the smart waste management market last November when they presented their Terra bins that reduce waste collection by 80 percent, which reduces both carbon dioxide emissions and removal costs. The baskets are emptied via a "cloud" platform, and Mrvos said in November that their tanks hold three times more waste than typical ones, and that smaller cities can save up to two million euros per year thanks to their compression system.

The company is currently working on a third round of recapitalisation with the aim of further expanding its business to new markets and increasing production capacity. In the last round in 2019, they raised 19 million kuna in capital, in which the largest Croatian IT enterprises also participated.

For more, check out Made in Croatia.

April the 8th, 2021 - The Solin company Include, the first domestic manufacturer of smart benches owned by entrepreneur Ivan Mrvos, has increased its production capacity by five times.

As Novac/Bernard Ivezic writes, on Monday, the Solin startup started mass-producing smart benches and smart waste bins. In one shift a year, 1,300 of them will be made. By comparison, since back in 2016, meaning since the establishment of production, until the end of last year, the Solin company Include has made a little less than 1,600 such items.

The Solin company Include's founder and director Ivan Mrvos has stated that they have launched a new production line worth 1.4 million kuna in total, half of which is co-financed by HBOR, in order to meet the expected growth in demand this year and in the years ahead of us.

''We've already filled our production capacities for the next three to four months with orders from Germany, Singapore and Canada, and as vaccination and the opening up of the economies abroad continue to progress, there's a possibility that we'll be able to open a second shift during the summer months,'' noted Mrvos.

His plan, as he explained, is to increase the Solin company Include's sales to 2.5 million euros during 2021. He expects that within that amount of 2.5 million euros, the new series of Steora smart benches alone will manage to bring in around one million euros, and growth should be generated by their Terra smart waste bins. The company had revenue of about 900,000 euros last year, despite the pandemic. That result, according to Mrvos, is proof that even in dire times, there remains a demand for their smart benches.

''Now we're going one step further and offering smart bins to cities. We have competition, but our bins are 45 percent cheaper than other, similar products and instead of seven to eight years, the cities can return their investment on them in half the time,'' said Mrvos.

He added that they have made more progress with the new generation of smart benches. In addition to the new design, new technology has also been developed, and the new Croatian smart benches can now compete with ordinary, classic benches in terms of price. In the last year and a half alone, Include has invested three million kuna in the development of the new Steora series. A team of 22 experts worked on it, including a doctor of science.

''We can offer more affordable products also because we now have our own serial production. We have machines, a paint shop and other things, and we're employing ten people on the new line,'' concluded entrepreneur Ivan Mrvos.

For more on Croatian-made products and domestic companies, visit Made in Croatia.

December the 1st, 2020 - The ongoing coronavirus pandemic might have thrown a proverbial spanner or two in the works for many a Croatian company, with some having to shelve their plans or cancel them entirely as the economic woes as a result of the pandemic took hold, but for entrepreneur Ivan Mrvos, the owner and founder of the incredible Croatian company Include, not everything has been quite so bleak.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Include, which is owned by Ivan Mrvos and is a leading manufacturer of smart solutions for cities, has introduced a new generation of innovative Steora smart benches, accompanied by a brand new line of Terra waste bins to mark Include's previously announced entry into the smart waste management market.

Ivan Mrvos' company's new products were presented during a special live stream event at the company's headquarters in Solin, and the executive director, Ivan Mrvos, said that the main goal of his company now was to create an advanced smart bench that can compete very well with ordinary benches which still very much take precedent.

The talented entrepreneur Ivan Mrvos also introduced the previously mentioned Terra waste bins, an innovative solution from this Croatian company which, as he explained during the live stream, can hold up to three times more waste than conventional bins can, and that smaller cities can save up to two million euros a year thanks to a compression system which has been entirely developed by his talented and forward-thinking team at Include.

As they point out from Include, all elements of these new products are the result of the company's own research and development, and the end result is, much like with each of their products so far, one of a lot of care, knowledge and time.

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October 13, 2020 - Ivan Mrvos has big plans for the future, which will be revealed next month when new products are announced. 

Lider.com reports that although the year is coming to an end, there are still a few significant events ahead for Ivan Mrvos and Include. Fans of the Croatian entrepreneur must eagerly await the news on November 23 when a new product presentation will occur.

"We have completely stopped producing existing products, so it will be exciting to see the reaction of the market when we present some new solutions at the end of the year. Also, we plan to expand our offices to other continents, and all this should be accompanied by a new investment round in which we are working intensively," reveals Mrvos, one of the most famous young entrepreneurs in Croatia under 30.

While everyone has heard of his smart benches, many may not know how the whole story began.

"It all started in 2014, back in high school, when I was not even 19 years old. The first projects were related to the web, and then at the end of that year, I made the first real product in the form of a light chair for catering. The idea did not go over too well and, within a few months, evolved in the direction of a solar park bench, with the main function being to charge mobile devices. The initial motive for entering the world of entrepreneurship was quite basic - creating additional monthly income. Still, over time it grew into a desire to build a global business and create products that will benefit people around the world," says the 25-year-old director of Include, which today employs 60 people, has offices in six states, and products in 55 markets. More than 260 cities have recognized it as a partner for Smart City solutions.

Include, according to the young innovator from Solin, is currently in the process of redesigning existing products and is preparing to present new solutions in the last quarter of this year.

"In November, we will be coming out as a completely different company, Include 2.0, with new solutions, new services, and price lists. To be able to place it, this year we are raising another two million euro, for which I give ten percent of the company," said Mrvos in an interview with Lider, who, with his team of fifty employees last year earned one million and fifty thousand euro.

Although these are excellent business results, the modest Mrvos names his greatest personal achievement.

"My greatest personal achievement is that we are still alive today, after six years of hard work, and I hope it will stay that way. We all know that 90 percent of startup companies fail within the first year, so I am happy that we are still here. We are approaching our seventh birthday," concludes one of the best representatives of the new generation of Croatian business leaders.

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One of Europe's most highly-regarded tech entrepreneurs opens UK office on Brexit Day aiming to reinvigorate high streets with smart street furniture. Include opens office in London.

• ● Croatian tech prodigy Ivan Mrvos, CEO of Include, created revolutionary smart street benches while at high school and has now sold more than 1,300 units worldwide
• ● Include opens its first UK office with a plan to become the largest provider of wi-fi enabled smart benches in the UK in five years
• ● Mrvos – ranked in Forbes’ top 30 talents under 30-years of age – believes Include’s smart city solutions can help to revitalise towns, cities and high-streets where 1 in 12 shops have closed in the past five years

Solin, 31.01.2020.

In 1998 former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was awarded one of Croatia’s highest honours for her "exceptional contributions to the independence and integrity of the Republic of Croatia".

Now, young Croatian tech prodigy Ivan Mrvos believes it is time for his country to show its belief in Britain.

While millions of people worry about what will happen to Britain after Brexit Day, one of Europe’s most highly-regarded tech entrepreneurs has opened its first UK office as a show of support and demonstration of confidence in Britain.

Ivan Mrvos believes his company is part of the solution to some of Britain’s most pressing local economic and community challenges.

The number of shoppers heading to British high streets, retail parks and shopping centres has declined by 10% in the past seven years.

With 1 in 12 shops having closed in the past five years, local authorities, property owners and developers are looking to re-model Britain’s high streets away from retail and into residential, experiential and community spaces.

Enter the arrival of smart street furniture.

Young Croatian tech prodigy Ivan Mrvos created his first ever smart bench in 2014 while still a teenager at high school.

Now 24, Ivan has sold more than 1,300 items of smart street furniture around the world – but only three so far in the UK, in Wales.

Opening the London office is part of a plan to become the largest provider of smart benches in Britain over the next five years and a partner for local authorities looking to develop smart city solutions.

Smart, wi-fi enabled street furniture is expected to be a huge global growth market over the new decade as towns and cities upgrade their high streets and parks to make them more attractive, increase dwell time and move to creating more connected, better informed smart cities.

Include’s range of minimalist, iPhone-inspired benches are among the most highly regarded in the world.

Solar-powered, energy-efficient, vandal proof and protected by CCTV, Include smart benches allow members of the public to access wi-fi and charge their smartphones while on the go or relaxing and chatting to friends on the street. 

Include believes the UK has the potential to be one of the world’s largest markets for smart benches as the UK is one of the world’s fastest adopters of digital and smart technology.

Smartphone use on the move is very popular in the UK with more than half (53%) of 16-75-year-olds using their smartphones while walking. For younger consumers aged 16-24, the proportion rises to 74%. 

Like much of Europe the UK is upgrading infrastructure to 5G and has now rolled out the technology to 70 towns and cities.

Ivan believes the smart benches are a highly-visible, comfortable and cost-effective way for businesses to improve internet connectivity in towns, cities, universities, science parks, business parks and communities.

Ivan took the symbolic decision to open Include’s first office in the UK on Brexit day.

Britain and Croatia have deep diplomatic ties. In March 2007, both countries signed the UK-Croatia Strategic Partnership, through which the United Kingdom fully supported Croatia's European Union and NATO entry bids. 

Margaret Thatcher was awarded the Grand Order of King Dmitar Zvonimir in 1998 in recognition of being one of the world’s leading voices calling to recognise the independence of Croatia from Yugoslavia.

Ivan Mrvos, CEO of Include, said: “High streets across Britain and the rest of the world are changing as more and more people choose to shop online rather than in physical stores.

“At the same time towns and cities across the world need to become better places for people to live, work and travel across.

“We know as with many countries there are issues with connectivity and infrastructure in Britain.

“Include’s smart street benches help to solve all of these problems by increasing dwell time in towns and cities, and creating better, more connected places and communities.

“Britain has been one of the world’s strongest supporters of Croatia over the past 30 years. We want to repay the faith that Britain had in my country by showing our faith and belief in Britain.

“While we know Brexit brings worries for some we don't see any potential problem for us with Brexit, mainly because we strongly believe that the British market is strong and very developed.

“Britain is one of the leading adopters of new technology, not just in Europe, but across the world.

“Like many people in Britain, Include is committed to making towns and cities better connected, so although Britain is leaving the European Union we are positive we will find many friends and allies here.

“We also know that the British public sector is focused on smart city projects and for this market we believe Include is their natural partner.”

While Britain’s leading Smart Cities -London, Bristol, Manchester, Cambridge, Birmingham and Leeds -have the potential to be significant markets, Ivan also believe there is a real need to improve internet connectivity in Britain’s lesser known towns and cities. 

As part of the UK’s move towards developing smart cities Include’s smart benches can provide in-depth analytics offering insight on: number of users, public dwell time, differing usage depending on time of day and seasonality, amount of data downloaded, etc.

From its new office in Finsbury Circus, Include will introduce two main product lines of smart benches Steora and Monna.

Equipped with CCTV for security and built-in LCD displays for advertising, Steora is believed to be the world’s most advanced smart bench.

While Monna, which also includes bike racks for cyclists, is believed to be the best equipped multifunctional street bench for both urban and rural areas.

Include's selected products for the UK market are:

- Steora CCTV smart bench model which is developed to improve the safety of public spaces

- Steora Urban the first street bench ever with a built-in LCD

- Monna models - Monna Street, Monna CITY and Monna COUNTRY, each equipped with the options of charging smart devices, Wi-Fi, street light, digital advertising, sensors, data collecting – and a unique solar-powered cycling point that comes with bike racks, repairing tools, and electrical sockets for charging electric bicycles.Include’s UK office is based at 25 Finsbury Circus, London, EC2M 7E.

About Include Ltd.

Include is a leading European hardware technology company in the development and manufacturing of smart city equipment. Based, in a high-tech production facility in Solin, Crotia, Include has more than 50 highly educated employees, and is recognized as a serious development IoT technology company. Include is growing rapidly in terms of company size, sales volume and global reach. With a global footprint of more than 1,300 benches on 51 markets around the world, Include is involved in major ‘Smart city’ projects and have made its presence known in 260 cities and municipalities across 6 continents.

Please find more information on company web site - www.include.eu .

As Marta Duic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 12th of December, 2019, the talented and innovative Croatian entrepreneur Ivan Mrvoš, the founder and CEO of the remarkable company Include, one of the leading Croatian manufacturers of smart solutions, has won a prestigious award for his impressive efforts.

On Wednesday at the Croatian Music Institute, the Croatian entrepreneur attended the awards ceremony and took home an award. This award ceremony in the one in which National Geographic Croatia presented its awards to individuals, teams, companies and institutions that contribute the most to sustainability in the Republic of Croatia.

To be more specific, National Geographic Croatia presented a long-term project called "Žuti okvir" back at the beginning of this year, with the motto "We inspire people to care for their planet" attached to it. The United Nations (UN) has identified as many as seventeen sustainable development goals that will ensure the survival of both planet Earth and human civilisation, and if you operate within those seventeen categories, you could win an award.

Croatian entrepreneur Ivan Mrvoš therefore received an award in the category of ''affordable and clean energy", and his tireless determination to keep pushing his company, Include, further and further are likely to see many more awards from where that one came from.

"Four years ago, when we started our smart bench project and the company, we didn't expect that more than two million people would be using our products annually across 51 markets worldwide.

More than 1,300 of our products have produced over 40,000 kWh of energy from renewable sources so far, reducing CO2 production. This may not be a big figure today, but I believe that over the years, more and more of our products, which will also be based on renewable energy sources, will contribute to reducing CO2 globally and thus provide a better future for generations to come,'' Mrvoš said.

Make sure to follow our dedicated Made in Croatia and business pages for much more information on Croatian entrepreneurs, Croatian companies, products and services.

As Bernard Ivezic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 21st of November, 2019, Ivan Mrvoš, the owner of Include and one of the most famous startup entrepreneurs in Croatia has a brand new product, the X24 Power Pack battery, which he presented at the Smart City Fair in Barcelona. The product excelled his already wildly successful business even more and opened up more opportunities for development, and this has been fully recognised by major global players and powerful names.

The Croatian startup Include has now created its biggest innovation to date since launching the amazing smart bench. As stated, Include's brand new new product is codenamed X24 Power Pack.

The X24 Power Pack could be described with many diminutives. For example, Ivan Mrvoš, who introduced this new product at the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, ​​states that it is a standard battery within the capacities of what his company creates.

However, in spite of what this obviously still humble entrepreneur claims, very little is standard about this battery. In fact, Monna Country is the most advanced version of Include's range of smart benches yet, which generate electricity themselves, store it and then charge e-bikes, mobile phones, support a range of sensors and are connected to the cloud via a 4G/LTE network.

Include's Monna Country smart benches are completely independent of the power grid, thanks to the quality of their built-in battery packs, which are now being packaged as an entirely separate product. The X24 Power Pack, moreover, could also be described as the kind of product that the incredible Tesla, the startup belonging to genius Elon Musk, began developing back in 2012 and finally launched in 2015. In actuality, that comparison wouldn't be right either, because four years ago both technology and the market were far too immature for such an offer.

Tesla has therefore focused on industrial applications by developing its Powerpack business, installing 100 kWh and 200 kWh storage batteries for communities and organisations that rely on renewable energy.

On the other hand, the version of household batteries, Powerwall, are finding it much harder to penetrate the market. The first version had a capacity of 6.5 kWh and needed to be stronger. Meanwhile, Tesla has introduced a new generation, the 13.5 kWh Powerwall 2 battery, which meets the energy backup needs of households.

The problem primarily lies in being able to meet demand, beginning in California where power outages and reductions have become commonplace, etc. 2020 is fast approaching, and the start of the massive sale of Powerwall in Japan is widely expected. Tesla boasts that it has delivered Powerwalls to 50,000 locations in seven countries so far, but Japan will actually be the start of mass commercialisation of this type of technology.

Bringing our attention back to Croatia's Include, we could also describe the X24 Power Pack as a product with at least a dozen competitors in the world. Another massive name that would boost Include to unforeseen heights is Mercedes. The German auto giant is already offering its home and battery in the market.

Mercedes is not alone in that, either. Both BMW and Nissan have also entered this business, as has Panasonic, as well as a number of other companies, some better known and some less well known, who are looking for their space on the smart grid infrastructure market. This is a new market that will fundamentally transform companies like HEP in Croatia, because the liberalisation of the sale of electricity seen in Croatia is only a lukewarm guide to the changes that follow this industry closely.

On this particular new market, where there is currently a growing demand for industrial and home batteries, Ivan Mrvoš has initially left plenty of room for proper positioning. In Barcelona, ​​Include introduced the 1.5 kWh X24 Power Pack model, which comes with the IP67 standard, which means it can last half an hour underwater. This could potentially be used for vessels.

For the first time, Include has an extremely scalable product whose use is wide and the demand for which is only going to grow. Given the fact that this more than promising Croatian startup raised the capital to expand its offer, the first fruits of this endeavour seem very promising indeed.

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