May the 18th, 2023 - Croatian entrepreneurs Mate Rimac and Sandro Mur have decided to invest in the already fairly well known Croatian Juicefast food tech startup, founded at the start of 2020.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Juicefast food tech startup has found a way to provide a complete nutritional solution with its cold-pressed juices and nutritionally balanced meals. It was founded at the beginning of 2020 by two brothers David and Marko Dravinec. Since then, it has been successfully growing here on the domestic market and winning over more and more fans of leading a healthy life and ensuring proper nutrition.

All of the products produced by the Juicefast food tech startup are 100% natural, without any additives and preservatives, which ensures top quality and taste, and product safety is achieved using the most modern high-pressure processing technology. With the new energy and capital that Rimac and Mur will bring to Juicefast, the innovative brothers behind it plan to do even more.

With the investments from Mate Rimac and Sandro Mur, already known for their innovative business ideas and wildly successful investments, Juicefast ended up with a dream duo backing their startup. This investment is just another example of two world-class entrepreneurs investing in young companies and encouraging the growth of the startup ecosystem across the Republic of Croatia.

"Over the last few years, I've supported and invested in several domestic business ventures in their early stages, all with the aim of strengthening the Croatian start-up ecosystem. When considering who to support, the most important thing for me is the team behind the project, scalability beyond Croatian borders and the potential to influence the growth of the Croatian economy and create more jobs. The story of my entry into Juicefast is quite unusual, though.

David sent me a short email in which he introduced himself and the brand. Although I receive a large number of similar emails, I wanted to learn more about Juicefast because you can immediately see when someone knows what they're doing and has a professional approach to things. When we met, I recognised the potential of the project and David's passion combined with the persistence needed to create a company. David and the team have a clear vision for their further development, and I believe that the market in which they're located will be increasingly important and larger in the future. After the first meeting, we quickly agreed on an investment." Rimac stated.

The founder of Bellabeat and well-known investor Sandro Mur, who, with his business instincts and passion for technology has become one of the most successful Croatian entrepreneurs of all, also wants to help young domestic startups realise their dreams.

"The Juicefast food tech startup is a brand whose products I first of all used privately, and then over time I realised how much potential there is in the whole story. We're used to the tech sector being the area where the biggest breakthroughs in the startup industry take place, but I'm sure that healthy lifestyle habits and everything that Juicefast represents are the future. They have a vision and they're passionate, and now, with our support and resources, they'll get the opportunity to expand and grow. This is just another step towards the creation of successful Croatian brands that will go on to conquer the world,'' said Mur.

"We have more than 50,000 clients and more than 500 monthly subscribers here on the Croatian market. We recently opened up on the neighbouring Slovenian market, where we also expect excellent business results. The company currently has 20 employees, but we're also planning new hires. So far, we've already sold over 3,000,000 bottles of juice, which is excellent,'' said Juicefast founder David Dravinec.

"We're currently focusing on the B2C segment, primarily through webshop sales, while in the future we will pay more attention to the corporate sector and other B2B channels. I've always believed in the vision of the Juicefast food tech startup, but actually having the support of two ''magicians'' in this game, such as Sandro and Mate, gives me even more hope that we'll manage to achieve everything we've got planned. I'm extremely grateful and happy," concluded David.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated business section.

September the 9th, 2022 - One Croatian-Slovenian foodtech startup has attracted an impressive investment and is likely to have its image boosted beyond what the creators ever though possible.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Ana Blaskovic writes, a winning combination of incredible youthful energy, a tried-and-tested product that quickly conquers the health food market with "know-how" and a financial injection from a venture capital fund - that's the story of Juicefast, a new investment of the Feelsgood fund worth half a million euros.

The Juicefast brand, which will be launched at the beginning of October, is a newly founded Croatian-Slovenian foodtech startup that will unite the current Detox.hr brand and the Healthy Meals pilot project of young entrepreneurs David and Marko Dravinec.

This Croatian-Slovenian foodtech startup and its accompanying entrepreneurial story started back in 2018 from the confines of the small neighbourhood fruit shop Mali vrt (Little garden) where the idea of ​​freshly squeezed 100 percent natural apple juice for detoxification and fasting was first born, 22-year-old David explained.

On the wings of conquering the lucrative (and very rapidly growing) healthy food market, which was also affected by the coronavirus pandemic, given that the spread of the virus emphasised the importance of a good diet and general healthcare, their income growth was rapid: in 2020 it amounted to 1.5 million kuna, then it grew to 2.8 million kuna, and the last figure they reported reached a massive 6.5 million kuna. Juicefast is a neat play on words which alludes to the speed and simplicity of the process.

"We were amazed at how much people liked simple juice. Now we understand that there's a reason in this simplicity. Each of our juices is made with 1.5 kilograms of fresh fruit and vegetables. We all know we should eat it, we know it's good for us, we know we'll feel better, but...sometimes we just don't feel like it," he says with a giggle.

"And then, if you can be bothered, you've got to prepare your juices.... Buy the groceries, prepare them, then you've got to clean the juicer after using it, all of which takes time. It's easier to jump down to the bakery and buy it all already done for you. The hectic pace of modern life imposes some other priorities on us, and we often put our health on the back burner. These are problems that we've manage to solve, and we've provided both simplicity and practicality,'' he added.

The range of detox juices offered by this Croatian-Slovenian foodtech startup is made exclusively from fruits and vegetables from domestic family farms, except for exotic species for which Croatia is simply not a natural climate.

The juicing is carried out in a 500-square-metre hall in Laduc using slow-juicing devices that retain nutritional the fruit's values, especially vitamins. Detoxification has become extremely popular in the last few years with a combination of intermittent fasting that gives the body a "break" from constant food intake. The entrepreneurial duo has as such successfully found their niche with a range of juices that are not pasteurised, have no preservatives or additives, but are processed with high hydrostatic pressure.

Feelsgood, the only Croatian venture capital fund that requires a positive social impact from its investments in both Croatia and Slovenia, has invested 500,000 euros in the project, recognising the synergistic effect of the production of juices and healthy meals, sustainable agriculture and cooperation with local producers.

The investment injection, on top of the 250,000 euros from other investors, will be used for the growth and development of the company here in Croatia, as well as to provide the spring in the startup's step for their move to the markets of Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Italy and Hungary. The glittering USA is also on their radar.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated business section.