Minister of Innovation, Science and Technological Development, Jelena Begović, announced that Serbia currently has nearly 800 startups and emphasized that her ministry will invest in their growth, aiming to expand not only their number but also their strength and value. After signing a Cooperation Agreement between science and technology parks in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš and Čačak and the Canadian organization VentureLab, Begović stated that startups represent a very specific business model. She acknowledged that many ideas may fail, but the ministry is committed to improving this statistic.
“Startups are a very specific business model—bold, high-risk ideas, and most of them don’t succeed. We want to improve this statistic by enabling more knowledge exchange within our startup community, both with those who have succeeded and those who haven’t,” said the minister.
She emphasized that these valuable experiences and knowledge exchanges would strengthen Serbia’s startup ecosystem. Begović highlighted the importance of connecting Serbia’s and Canada’s ecosystems. “Canada is a good partner, capable of preparing startups for a very competitive global market. The idea is to learn from VentureLab and connect our startups with Canadian startups, potentially bringing some of theirs to Serbia and some of ours to Canada, exchanging experiences and knowledge,” she added.
She also noted that Serbian startups are ambitious and have the goal of expanding their business into the United States, the world’s largest innovation hub. “What’s also interesting to us is that the U.S. is located on the North American continent, and our startups are ambitious, wanting to test their potential there. The U.S. is truly the world’s largest innovation hub,” said Begović.
