esi: Who are you, what do you do and what makes you an expert on your start-upcountry?
Ana: My name is Ana Kolarevic, 27, and I am the founder of the informal start-up initiative in Croatia called StartupsCroatia as well as the founder and CEO of SizemApp.com. Entrepreneurial ever since, I am very active in the start-up world and try to revolutionize the lingerie Industry by combining technology with bras. When I started out with my start-up I recognized that I found it hard to get into the start-up community as I didn’t know anyone at first while I was trying to find a team, so I wanted to create a place where that could be changed. Together with a couple of colleagues, we have built up groups where the start-up community in the region of the Balkans can connect, share and announce events.
esi: What is cool about your start-upcountry, what inspires you and keeps you thriving?
Ana: The cool thing in Croatia is the inclusiveness of the community. Since we began with StartupsCroatia we have organized two Startup Mixers, aiming to connect entrepreneurs, makers, freelancers and anyone interested in the local start-up community that wants to join or create a start-up. The event was organized like a speed dating event, mini pitches to break the ice with mingling afterwards. The community is very small, so if you attend two or three start-up events you mostly end up knowing most of the active people in it. There is a high density of quality people in the community creating awesome companies and products.
esi: What makes you shake your head about your start-upcountry, what needs to be improved?
Ana: Definitely bureaucratic hurdles. The laws and the status quo of creating and running a company here are just insane. Funding is another great problem, mostly teams go to Bulgarian accelerators to get some seed money but we do not have any Venture Capitalists and angels rarely invest. The third and last thing I’d say is the general attitude of a more broader sense of entrepreneurship, meaning that the social entrepreneurship is merely a term that is thrown around for publicity, but not acted upon. Also, minority groups in entrepreneurship, such as women and disabled people, are often discriminated against and laughed at for speaking up against this discrimination.
esi: What’s some cool fact we are likely not to know about your start-upcountry?
Ana: The fastest electrical car comes from Croatia. It’s the Rimac Concept 1.
esi: Thanki you for the interview.
About the interviewpartner:
Ana Kolarevic is a web entrepreneur herself, founder of StartupsCroatia and SizemApp.com and has the finger on the pulse of the Croatian start-up scene.
