September the 14th, 2022 - Croatian entrepreneur Mate Rimac is by far Croatia's most successful entrepreneurial story of the modern day. Referred to as Europe's Elon Musk, Rimac has done what nobody else has - created some of the world's most incredible hypercars in a country that doesn't even have an automotive industry to speak of. His impressive plan, the Rimac Campus, is also progressing very well.

The upcoming Rimac Campus, which will not only shine the spotlight on Croatia even more strongly in regard to entrepreneurship, investment and of course - the automotive industry, will also provide enviable employment opportunities to many who would likely have headed off abroad in search of the jobs they were educated for.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the absolutely stunning Rimac Nevera hypercar, as well as key components for future Rimac and Bugatti models, will be produced at the Rimac Campus in Kerestinac, which is currently under construction. The much anticipated Rumac Campus spans a constructed area of 100,000 square metres, and a total area of 200,000 square metres. It is worth an enormous 200 million euros in total.

Mate Rimac is no stranger to social media and frequently publishes posts, videos and photos about what he is currently working on, engaging well with an always interested audience. He recently took to his personal Facebook profile on which he published an impressive interactive 3D model of the current state of the construction site of the future Rimac Campus, which clearly shows that the works are progressing quite well indeed.

The completion of the first phase of construction of the Rimac Campus is planned for 2023, and in the long term it should become a workplace for around 2,500 employees.

The Livno-born entrepreneur has taken the world of cars by storm from a country that hasn't provided the best footing for going it alone, and his dogged determination is something Nikola Tesla, his fellow countryman, would be very proud of.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated business and Made in Croatia sections.

August the 28th, 2022 - The Croatian startup Make IT easy has succeeded with its investment plans, raising more than 150,000 euros a little more than a month after launching their campaign on Funderbeam.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, MobilityONE, the software made by the Croatian startup Make IT Easy, intended for fleet management and cost control, raised more than 150,000 euros a little more than a month after the launch of its campaign on Funderbeam.

According to Marko Stojakovic, executive director of the Croatian startup Make IT Easy, they collected exactly 157,000 euros from around 100 investors, which was the minimum amount they had set for themselves. The campaign is still set to go on for another fifteen days, but Stojakovic has noted that it will close when they collect 300,000 euros, which is the upper goal they set for themselves.

Stojakovic explained that the average investment in their software stands at around 1,500 euros, and among the more famous investors are Juraj Sebalj, a well-known rally driver and brand ambassador of the platform, who invested 15,000 euros, and Nenad Bakic, known for his role within Varteks. "The majority, or 80 percent of them, of investors are from Croatia, the rest are foreign investors," Stojakovic pointed out.

This Funderbeam campaign for MobilityONE is an introduction to the second round of financing (the first was at the end of last year when they collected 260 thousand euros through Funderbeam), in which they plan to collect 1.5 million euros, followed by the conquest of the European and American markets. The plan is to collect the same in three ways, through the ongoing Funderbeam campaign, then through venture capital funds and European funds. They used the period between the two financial campaigns for software development. At the moment, as Stojakovic revealed, they are about to sign the payment contracts with several respectable Croatian and foreign companies, the names of which cannot reveal the names until they are signed.

As for the investors, that is, the venture capital funds (VC funds), they are in negotiations with five of them, and they have already received a non-binding letter of intent from one of them.

"We're talking with the others and soon, in six months, we should close this investment round with the funds," says Stojakovic. There is obviously no lack of interest, which is not surprising when you take into account the fact that the market for managing mobile assets and fleet resources should grow to 30 billion euros by 2030.

MobilityONE, on the other hand, will become the first Croatian export product in that domain, and, as they claim, it stands out from the competition due to its simplicity in both implementation and use. In addition, the software, which is intended for professional fleet services companies, leasing and rent-a-car companies, car dealers, i.e. anyone with a fleet of vehicles, saves 20 percent of costs, 50 percent of management time and 30 percent of carbon dioxide emissions.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated Made in Croatia section.

August the 27th, 2022 - The much loved Croatian chocolate brand, Kras, and Studio Sonda have won a prestigious award for their redesign of the Dorina chocolate packaging.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Josipa Ban writes, product packaging, or the packaging that represents it, is an important and powerful tool of communication with customers. In the proverbial sea of ​​products we're constantly swimming in, you need to stand out and attract attention. It isn't easy for new products that are just entering the market, and nor is it "old", well established brands that still have to follow market trends so as to not drown.

Kras has succeeded in one of its most famous brands, the famous Dorina chocolates. A powerful confirmation that the redesign, which was presented at the beginning of this year, came in the form of winning the Red Dot award, one of the most influential awards in the world of design.

A great help to Kras in the success of the new design was Studio Sonda from Vizinada in Istria, for which this is already the 17th Red Dot award. To speak more specifically, Kras and Studio Sonda won the main prize in the Brands&Communications Design and Packaging Design categories. The goal of this award is to evaluate the most ingenious design works, and their originality and creativity, design quality, innovation, and understanding and emotional reach to the audience were evaluated by 24 experts from all over the world.

"With this award, in addition to the positive reactions of our consumers, the profession also recognised the excellence of the new design. We're grateful to Studio Sonda for being able to turn our vision into a real product. This reward has put a spring in our step and provided us with the motivation to think about future novelties in Kras with even more attention and enthusiasm," said Marina Knezevic, the marketing director of Kras.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated Made in Croatia section.

August the 4th, 2022 - Zagreb's well-known Garden Brewery has expanded its horizons, settling not just on the production of beer, but also on burgers.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, the opening of a new larger brewery and catering facility at the Zitnjak location and the return of festival events in Tisno will mark the business of Zagreb's Garden Brewery for the year 2022, which continues to grow in all business segments, and the biggest growth of all is still being recorded by their burger sales.

During the first half of the year, the Garden Brewery generated total consolidated business revenues of 57.3 million kuna with EBITDA of 6.5 million kuna.

The second quarter marked the start of the brewery working at a new location with significantly expanded production capacities. As is well known, the group consists of The Bird (the brewery), Yellow Submarine (their burgers) and Lula (the festival business).

According to the semi-annual group report, the Garden Brewery's business results from the second quarter, and the particularly strong realisation of retail locations for the brewery, have secured the growth of operational business revenues.

In the segment of sales, craft beer sales grew by 7 percent, to 11.7 million kuna, while the yellow submarine segment with a revenue of almost 43 million kuna experienced growth of 41 percent.

“Yellow Submarine continued to implement all strategic plans during the second quarter, primarily in terms of preparing and opening new business locations. A new location in Split has been opened and new locations are being prepared for opening in Zagreb, and we'll continue with that pace over the second part of the year,'' they revealed in their report.

With the opening of the new outlet, the only decline was experienced by the Garden Brewery's online business, which is a logical outcome. During the first half of this year, they earned 20.7 million kuna through the online segment of their overall business, which is a mere 36 percent of the sales revenue generated back during the first half of the 2021.

The group emphasised the challenges of strong inflationary pressures and the growth of production inputs in all segments of the group's business, beer production, original craft burgers and the production of music festivals.

For more, make sure to check out Made in Croatia.

August the 4th, 2022 - The Zagreb startup Brombul is expanding the services offered by its Zuluhood application (app), which has been hailed as the ''Uber of home security''.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, smart homes make it possible to protect the house or apartment itself, the things in it, as well as household members from unwanted accidents or burglaries, so people are busy investing more and more in them.

Research says that at the end of 2020, there were 51.4 million "smart" homes across Europe, and it is predicted that there will be more than 100 million by the end of 2024. On that note, the Croatian "Uber for home security" was born, as was the Zuluhood app, which was developed back in 2019 by the Zagreb startup Brombul.

Now their protection has been strengthened through cooperation with the company AKD Zastita (Protection), which provides its users with physical security guards as and when they're needed. As was explained by this company, headed by the founder and executive director Maja Krejci, it is a platform that is constantly upgraded and provides users with the services they need at that moment in time.

Additional protection

"Zuluhood - the first Croatian mobile platform for home security - now offers the services of the security company AKD Zastita on request. In other words, the principle is similar to that of Uber: through the free application you can order one of Zuluhood's services exactly when you need it," Krejci explained.

Security guards are available 24 hours a day, so their presence can be requested at any time of the day or night through the Zagreb startup Brombil's Zuluhood mobile app. A home inspection means a regular visit to the home and to household members by professional security guards who will inform their clients about the conditions they found there.

In addition to receiving information about whether or not everything is in order at home, the physical presence of a security guard also serves as additional protection because it sends a clear message that the home is properly guarded. For the first time, the alarm forwarding service for smart home systems, such as D-Link or Arlo camera and Google Home and Amazon Alexa, has also been fully enabled.

The service has also now been made available on request and for shorter periods, such as during weekend trips or holidays. The user doesn't have to be physically available - all alarms are automatically forwarded to the monitoring centre, which then dispatches security guards if necessary.

As they pointed out from the Zagreb startup Brombul, cooperation with AKD enables users, regardless of whether they need this service for just a few hours or a few days, to easily order home security services through the application. Ultimately, the Safe socialising service means that when organizing a larger gathering, celebration or wedding, users can simply reach out to a security guard who will make sure that everything goes smoothly.

"The aforementioned services are currently provided by AKD Zastita, but soon users will be able to choose between several security companies. On top of that, new services are being prepared, such as care for the elderly," stated Krejci. The Zagreb startup Brombil's Zuluhood app, he added, enables everyone to distinguish between what is urgent and not. Users can rely on the quick response of a security company available at any time of the day or night, but also on the help of friends or neighbours who will also be notified through Zuluhood in emergency situations.

"Our goal is to enable users to connect various smart home systems to the Zuluhood app. The reactions we've had have all been very positive so far, it's great to hear when they tell us 'I needed something just like that' or when they compare us to the likes of Uber for home security.

For more, make sure to check out Made in Croatia.

July the 17th, 2022 - Belje has won two gold medals for its much loved Slavonian delicacies, shining a well-earned and very much deserved spotlight on the products from the often wrongly overlooked Eastern Croatia.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, at the Faculty of Agrobiotechnical Sciences in the City of Osijek, the very first kulen quality assessment was held in the organisation of this scientific institution, which is a long-term partner of both small family farms (OPGs) and large producers in the standardisation and improvement of kulen production. Kulen is just one of the many Slavonian delicacies which has been winning over hearts for decades.

Belje sent its premium kulen from the Crna Slavonska (Black Slavonian) and Baranjski kulen (Baranja kulen) lines with a designation of geographical origin for evaluation. Both of these products absolutely delighted the jury, which awarded them gold medals for their high quality.

"Each piece of kulen that comes from our production is dealt with by hand, as is the case with all of the family farms. We make our Baranjski kulen according to strictly defined protection specifications, and as such, we proudly highlight our European blue ZOZP stamp on every single piece of it. It's a production that lasts about four months in total and during which we carefully monitor all stages, from start to finish. We also produce kulen from Black Slavonian pigs, which we raise on our pastures in the Kopacki Rit Nature Park," said Ljiljana Vajda-Mlinacek, Belje's head of corporate communications.

Goran Kusec, a professor at FAZOS (the aforementioned scientific institution in Osijek) and one of the best connoisseurs of kulen in all of the Republic of Croatia, commented on the evaluation and the quality of the samples sent for evaluation.

"For many years now, together with my colleagues from the Faculty of Food Technology, I've been evaluating kulen throughout the Eastern Croatian regions of Slavonia and Baranja. This year, we decided that the time had come to organise a proper evaluation within a large scientific institution, such as our faculty, in order to further emphasise the importance of kulen and its production for the entire region. 33 kulen samples from all five Slavonian counties took part in the evaluation and all of them were excellent. We evaluated the cut, taste and smell of kulen according to international standards and norms,'' concluded Kusec when discussing these Slavonian delicacies which more than deserve the limelight.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated Made in Croatia section.

July the 15th, 2022 - Postira olive oil made from totally wild olives is earning recognition and winning gold medals. Teo Santic from Postira on the Central Dalmatian island of Brac is one person who has got stuck into this way of doing things.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the story of wild olives was practically forgotten in Croatia, but scientists, experts and other enthusiastic olive growers are bringing it back to the present day and saving it from being totally lost to the often cruel hands of time, reports HRT.

"A wild olive is any olive produced from a seed, i.e. by generative propagation. Within the entire population of wild olives, we distinguish two subgroups, one is the original true wild olive, which are very difficult to find, because they're a far cry from the cultivated ones. Another variant is the so-called ''seed type'', these are olives that also came from seeds, but are the typically the product of a cross between cultivated olives and wild ones,'' explained Dr. Tatjana Klepo.

Teo Santic produces Postira olive oil, he's very much an innovator at heart and he wanted to create something a little bit different, so he decided to restore the process of using wild olives, and now he has about seventy of them.

"I've been making olive oil for ten years now and every year it's been getting better and better, and last year and the year before last, when I had the best possible option for that oil, I won a gold medal," said Teo Santic, the creator of Postira olive oil which stands out from the rest.

Wild olives can be distinguished by their leaves, which are small, thin and prickly branches, and by the fruit, which is small and has very little pulp from which the oil is squeezed.

"That's why they're not cultivated, because they don't have a large amount of oil in the olives, somewhere between five and seven percent can be obtained on average," added Santic.

Wild olive oil is something completely new and different, and it has been very much forgotten about in Croatia, despite its long tradition of making olive oil all along the coast and on the islands. It's tasty, a little tart, but extremely high quality. Despite the fact that these wild olives were forgotten on neglected areas and that they were included in the proper programme only ten years ago, they definitely have their importance.

"They are like a reservoir of genes for resistance; drought resistance, genetic resistance to diseases, both against those diseases which are already present and those that are yet to come, resistance to a whole hosts of parasites and pests, to a whole series of factors that can or have already affected olive growers in the production process,'' said Klepo when explaining how important it is that people like Teo Santic and his Postira olive oil are bringing the use of wild olives back from the brink.

For more, check out Made in Croatia.

July the 14th, 2022 - The strange, moonlike island of Pag is famous for its salt production, not to mention its cheese, and after the island's salt museum opened its doors to visitors from at home and abroad, the Pag salt flats themselves are set to be made open to the public who are curious to see part of the production process.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, a morning spent on the Pag salt flats as part of the famous Pag Saltworks is a totally new and authentic experience for visitors to this rather bizarre looking island, reports HRT.

"We've finally seen the day we have been waiting for for decades now. Thirteen years ago, we opened the Salt Museum, and the Pag salt flats have always been closed off to the public," said Mate Donadic, a tour guide who is in charge of professional guidance and the story of the so-called ''white gold'' produced on the island.

"Pag's salt is collected the old-fashioned way. We have a small grate and with that the flower of the salt is collected. It must be calm weather in order to do this properly, there must not be a storm going on, there must not be rain, there must be absolutely ideal conditions,'' said Antonijo Bakac, an employee of Solana Pag (Pag Saltworks).

However, it is easier for tourists to take the salt from the carriage like this - they can take much as they want, and they can also see part of the production. The Pag salt flats were also visited by entrepreneurs and companies from the island of Pag who cultivate autochthonous wine varieties across the road from the saltworks.

"Pag Saltworks has been measuring the meteorological conditions for a hundred years now. This year, there was de facto no rain since March, meaning there was no significant amount of rain. Last year we produced 18,300 tonnes of fine salt, so this year we will hopefully have some opportunities for record production,'' said Josip Cepin, another employee of the Pag Saltworks.

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

July the 11th, 2022 - The Croatian companies Infobip, Koncar and Tehnix received special recognition at the recently held 17th edition of the Croatian exporters' convention.

As Mladen Miletic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes, at the recently held 17th convention of Croatian exporters, in addition to awards in 19 different categories, awards were also given for achievements and contributions in the digital transformation and green transition of Croatian companies. This special award was given on the occasion of the fifteenth anniversary of the "Golden Key/Zlatni kljuc" award, and it was won by three companies: INFOBIP d.o.o., KONCAR - Elektricna vozila d.d. and TEHNIX d.o.o.

The Association of Croatian Exporters awarded awards to Croatian companies for their advanced and innovative new investments and technologies that contribute to higher production efficiency, lower electricity consumption, all of which should result in a reduction of CO2 emissions in the future.

It was pointed out from various associations in this field that they wanted to further affirm and improve production that reduces the CO2 footprint. Tehnix was founded back in 1992 as a small family business with only a few employees. During its 30 years of existence, it has become the leading eco industry in Europe and the world. Tehnix has representative offices throughout Europe, and in addition to the parent company in Donji Kraljevac, Tehnix has a factory in neighbouring Serbia.

The company is organised, equipped and applies ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 business systems, and more than 500 full-time employees work there with their subcontractors, they have an impressive 60 of their own patents and innovations, and more than 350 of their own products have been placed on the Croatian and global markets. All of the above rightly places Tehnix among the most successful Croatian companies.

"Since its foundation in the early 1990s, Tehnix has grown from a small family business into a leading eco industry on the world map. The business goal of Tehnix is ​​to develop and produce the best technologies that achieve sustainable development and a circular economy. We've developed and manufacture more than 300 machines and equipment for the environment, owing to which we've received a hundred international recognitions and awards. We've also developed the best MO-BO-TO technology for waste recycling, and by applying our technology, municipal waste becomes an economic and energy resource.

With the proper industrial recycling of mixed municipal waste, we obtain 8 new types of raw materials, we also produce eco compost and RDF fuel. MO-BO-TO is the technology of the future that achieves a circular economy and continues sustainable development. We've developed and manufacture special plants for the ecological purification of sanitary municipal water," stated the company's president, Djuro Horvat.

When it comes to the other winning Croatian companies, the main activity of the company Koncar – Elektricna vozila d.d. is the development, production, modernisation and maintenance of rail vehicles and equipment for rail vehicles.

"The key strength of Koncar lies in the fact that our products are the result of many years of continuous development within the companies of the wider Koncar Group's umbrella, which gives us flexibility in adapting to specific customer requirements. Our products comply with the requirements of applicable standards in the field of rail vehicles and their equipment. The lines of our DMV and EMV trains are also certified according to TSI standards, which enables their formal application in different EU member states.

The continuous development of new solutions and products is what we're primarily determined to focus on, and through the application of our own research and development potential, as well as partnership and synergy, we successfully come up with new products and services based on our knowledge. We offer our customers a complete product according to their specific requirements and needs. Following the guidelines on green and digital mass passenger transport, we're now working on the development and application of new solutions for rail vehicles with the use of standby energy that will replace vehicles powered by diesel fuel in the future,'' they stated from Koncar.

The remarkable Vodnjan-based company Infobip, as a global IT and telecommunications company that provides mobile communication services in the cloud for business users, is one of the two Croatian unicorns representing the concept of most absolute success in the demanding business world.

Their ever-increasing list of clients includes social media platforms, internet companies, mobile messaging applications (apps), banks, marketing agencies, corporations, and the list just goes on and on.

Infobip's campus

In addition to its huge contribution and success in implementing the digital transformation, Infobip proved itself once again this year by opening its new campus and the largest innovation centre in the world, Alpha Centauri, which spans a huge area of ​​20,000 square metres here in Zagreb.

"The campus follows global trends, meaning that great emphasis has been placed on green details and sustainability. The campus building itself has an A+ energy class, and the surrounding underground water is used for cooling and heating the working rooms, which results in lower electricity consumption,'' they stated from Infobip.

For more on Croatian companies, make sure to check out Made in Croatia.

July the 11th, 2022 - The famous Zagreb attraction which draws crowds from all over each and every year, the Museum of Illusions, is set to move its headquarters across the pond to the USA.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Ana Blaskovic writes, the City of Zagreb's much loved Museum of Illusions, a Croatian creation that received an additional spring in its step in terms of global expansion with the entry of the venture capital fund Invera Equity Partners, is moving its headquarters across the Atlantic Ocean to the USA.

Although in the business of selling (optical) illusions according to a successful museum-style formula, according to which their network today consists of 37 museums across the world in 21 countries, business logic demands its own set of rules. They want to be perceived as a company and not merely a museum, which is why they're opening an office in Atlanta in order to achieve better valuations once the time comes for the exit of the aforementioned capital fund and the eventual payment of returns to its investors.

"We belong to the entertainment industry, the ''mid-way'' segment of the market that refers to attractions lasting up to two hours for which visitors are willing to pay between 20 and 70 US dollars, it's a concept quite similar to that of Madame Tussauds,'' illustrated Invera partner Slaven Kordic. Invera Equity Partners is otherwise currently the only venture capital fund present here on the Croatian market that sought its lucrative investment in the entertainment industry segment.

"Croatia could have many more such investments, there are homegrown ideas with similar potential when it comes to spreading to Western Europe and all the way over to the USA. We have five more target companies with whom we're talking about potential investment," Kordic revealed. How much they've actually invested in Metamorfosis, the company behind the project of the Museum of Illusions, since July 2021 - he didn't discuss.

It was the completion of that particular investment, which saw the capital fund acquire a majority share of 65 percent, that the venture capital fund industry recognised as the best private equity investment of the past year. It's worth mentioning that the competition was quite fierce because Provectus' investments in Keindl Sport, Adria Dental Group and the Aiva polyclinic, Prosperus' acquisition of Neos and Rohatyn's sale of Pet Network International, which includes Pet Centre, all competed for the title.

Despite the move of the Museum of Illusions' headquarters across the pond to Atlanta, the service centre, i.e. the "brain" of the operation, will remain at home in Croatia.

"Zagreb will be a global hub where people from all over the world will work with the ''know how'' of running a museum, creating exhibits and marketing, while the management functions will be moved to the USA," said Kordic. The head of the company since October has been American Jonathan Benjamin, a renowned manager from the USA who honed his experience in the development of the business of Altitude Trampoline Parks and Briggo Coffee, who, alongside the team in Atlanta, is focused on making strong step forward for the Museum of Illusions on the American market.

Unlike, for example, entrepreneur Mate Rimac, who fiercely branded all segments of his business (despite all expectations and bets) here at home in Croatia, where he was supported by strategic investors, Kordic says that the circumstances of venture capital funds are somewhat different, as there is a huge emphasis on ensuring eventual financial returns for investors.

"It's less important where they're from and who runs the business, the key is that the majority of employees will remain here in Croatia. We want to achieve a situation in which the company is perceived as American in order to achieve better returns one day when it comes to those payouts,'' explained Kordic. The perception of an "American" company in practice is very specific, the return could reach 15x EBITDA, while a Croatian company would have to count on far less than that.

The investment time horizon of Invera EP is five years or less, and this is the period in which the fund wants to transform the business by taking it to a higher and more secure level. Their ambitions are great, but so is the potential, according to investors, so the initial projections for the eventual investor exit have been corrected to a massive "200 million euros plus".

"We've already received two offers for sale from Europe, but we rejected them because we believe that there's a lot of great potential with investments and development,'' said Kordic, adding that they want to achieve this with strong names in management, among which are Teo Sirola at the head and Ivan Stipancic in charge of finances. Co-founder Roko Zivkovic, without whom the idea of ​​the Museum of Illusions and all of its accompanying optical illusions and puzzles around the world wouldn't even exist, is still within the company as an advisor to the Management Board.

Croatian wisdom

The largest investors in the fund are the European Investment Fund with 30 million euros, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development with 10 million euros, and three domestic pension funds, Raiffeisen, Erste and PBZ CO, cumulatively supporting it with 14.5 million euros. Among the investors is also the Krsko Nuclear Power Plant Decommissioning Fund with 4.5 million euros, while partners Slaven Kordic and Kemal Sikiric and their employees invested another 1.5 million euros.

Receiving the award for the best private investment of the year, Roko Zivkovic said on Wednesday in Zagreb that when they started the Museum of Illusions project, they never dreamed that such an expansion of a project made entirely in Croatia could happen, pointing out that in addition to the 37 current locations of the museum around the world, another 12 locations are currently under construction.

For more, check out Made in Croatia.