The Founder Institute (http://FI.co), the world's largest entrepreneur training and startup launch program, announced today that it is exploring a new semester launch in Belgrade this Winter 2016.
Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 200 cities and 95 countries, the Founder Institute has helped launch over 6,500 companies - including fast-rising startups across 6 continents like Udemy, Realty Mogul, iCarsClub, Itembase, goplaceit, Appota, and many more. The company's mission is to "Globalize Silicon Valley" and create sustainable startup ecosystems that will create one million new jobs worldwide.
If you'd like to help bring a semester to Belgrade, then fill out an Interest Form. If enough people complete this form by the Launch Deadline (Oct 02, 2023), then the Founder Institute will formally launch a Winter 2016 program.
There is an abundance of human talent in the natural sciences, information technology, and engineering industries in Serbia," says Adeo Ressi, Founder & CEO of the Founder Institute. "However, there lacks basic training and education in how to become founder and build successful and lasting companies. With the Founder Institute's training and mentorship, we hope to help push Belgrade towards becoming a leading startup ecosystems in Europe."
The Founder Institute is a part-time, four-month program where promising entrepreneurs can "learn by doing" and launch a company through structured training courses and expert feedback from business mentors. Plus, you are not required to quit your day job to participate, so you can begin building a business around your ideas without putting your livelihood at risk.
In order to test demand for a Winter 2016 program, the Founder Institute will host several free startup events:
Serbia Events:
- Meet and Greet with FI Serbia Directors & Alumni on 6:00pm, Mar 28, 2023 (Europe/Belgrade): https://FI.co/e/318836
Global or Regional Events:
- Founder Institute Online Information Session: https://FI.co/infosession
- 2023 Startup Trends: A Roundtable Discussion with Founders & Investors on 7:00pm, Mar 27, 2023 (Europe/Belgrade): https://FI.co/e/318013
- Ask an Investor Anything: Open Q&A with Investors that Write ‘First Checks’ for Startup on 7:00pm, Mar 29, 2023 (Europe/Belgrade): https://FI.co/e/318127
- The Startup Founder’s Guide to Building an Effective Go-To-Market Strategy on 7:00pm, Apr 03, 2023 (Europe/Belgrade): https://FI.co/e/317562
- Getting Your First 10 Customers as an Entrepreneur (Online Event) on 12:00pm, Apr 05, 2023 (Europe/Belgrade): https://FI.co/e/318207
- Co-Founders Connect: Find a Business Partner Online on 7:00pm, Apr 12, 2023 (Europe/Belgrade): https://FI.co/e/316165
- Hiring Your First Employees as a Startup Founder (Online Event) on 7:00pm, Apr 17, 2023 (Europe/Belgrade): https://FI.co/e/319162
- Product-Led Growth: Learn the Latest Best Practices from Wes Bush on 7:00pm, Apr 19, 2023 (Europe/Belgrade): https://FI.co/e/318603
- Growing a Startup from $0 to $2.5M in Revenue, with Ameet Mehta on 12:00pm, Apr 24, 2023 (Europe/Belgrade): https://FI.co/e/318297
- Startup Idea Pitch Practice: Get Friendly Feedback from Experts (Online) on 7:00pm, Apr 26, 2023 (Europe/Belgrade): https://FI.co/e/317162
- How to Improve Operational Efficiency in Your Startup on 7:00pm, May 03, 2023 (Europe/Belgrade): https://FI.co/e/319500
- Ask an Investor Anything: Q&A Session with Eric Kulberg on 7:00pm, May 08, 2023 (Europe/Belgrade): https://FI.co/e/319584
- How to Write Top-Performing Facebook & LinkedIn Ads on 7:00pm, May 15, 2023 (Europe/Belgrade): https://FI.co/e/318803
- Hiring the First Marketer for Your Startup with Emily Kramer on 7:00pm, May 22, 2023 (Europe/Belgrade): https://FI.co/e/319684
- Why VCs Invest in Immigrant Startup Founders on 7:00pm, May 24, 2023 (Europe/Belgrade): https://FI.co/e/319916
- Co-Founder Networking: Find a Business Partner, Online on 7:00pm, May 31, 2023 (Europe/Belgrade): https://FI.co/e/316853
- Startup Idea Pitch Practice: Get Friendly Feedback from Experts (Online) on 7:00pm, Jun 07, 2023 (Europe/Belgrade): https://FI.co/e/317285
The Founder Institute will help to build a culture and ecosystem that will lead to more entrepreneurship in Serbia, cultivate great and new ideas, and ultimately create jobs and growth across the region" - Daniel Boehi, Co-Director of the Belgrade Founder Institute
Leading the Founder Institute's efforts in Belgrade are Aleksandar Bijelic (Management Consultant, Prova), Daniel Boehi (Founder and Investor, FoodPrint and MAD Capital), Milan Dobrota (Managing Director, LOGIT Solutions), and Tatjana Kalezic (a business consultant and startup coach, and Founder of the Serbia Start Up).
The Founder Institute will bring to Belgrade precious experience and worldwide best practices to provide startups, founders and entrepreneurs, with know-how indispensable in creating competitive advantages for their business" - Milan Dobrota, Co-Director of the Belgrade Founder Institute
Other successful entrepreneurs who have pledged their support to mentor founders in a Belgrade Founder Institute program include:
- Adeo Ressi: Founder/CEO, Founder Institute
- Aleksandar Celeski: Executive Director, DUEL Consulting
- Aleksandar Bakoč: CEO & Founder, Algotech doo
- Aleksandar Bijelić: President of the Board, Serbian Venture Network
- Aleksandar Marić: Head Of Finance, Alt Labs
- Aleksandar Hangimana: Advisor & Investor, Noordenster B.V.
- Aleksandar Momiroski: COO & Co-founder, Comeunity Business Incubator
- Aleksandar Matanović: CEO & Founder, ECD
- Aleksandra Lazovic - Lønningen: CEO/CVO, co-founder, co-director, Eat Me App DOO
- Aleksandra Vuković: Founder and Director | Nura digital & Singular Advantage, Nura Digital | Singular Advantage
- Aleš Pustovrh: Partner, Fil Rouge Capital
- Alex Migitko, UNIQUE.VC
- Alexander Naydenov: Head of Sales, GraphCMS
- Alexander Sumin: co-founder, Chief Marketing Officer, ClaimCompass
- Alexander Martynov: Head of Bio-IT, Biovision Ventures
- Almir Zejneli: CEO and Co Owner, ADRIA EXCLUSIVE LTD
- Andrija Bednarik: Entrepreneur serving Humanity, Co-Founder and CEO at 9m Inc., 9m Inc
- Anja Stanisic, Foundation Novak Djokovic - Original platform
- Ari Veltman: Business Strategy Advisor | Board Director | CBDO@, Sparko.TV
- Athanasios Ladopoulos: CEO | Founder, MOOCTORS
- Ben Stacey: Regional Manager, Founder Institute
- Benoit Doumas: Managing Director, BlackRock
- Berg Moe: Owner, Berg Moe Media
- Bilyana Dimitrova: Managing Partner, Dimitrova and Staykova Law office
- Blanka Supe: Founder, Haos Community Space
- Boris Kolev: Founder and Managing Partner, DigiMark Ventures
- Boris Hristov: Founder and CEO, 356labs
- Borut Čeh: Co-owner and CEO, Labena ltd
- Boštjan Čeh: Head of Business Development, Labena
- Brian M Pasalich: Chief Executive Officer | Co-Founder, Syntoniq
- Chintan Oza: Founder, Anantam Ecosystems
- Christophe Nègre: General Partner, Western Balkans Private Equity Fund
- Clarisse Dr. Behar Molad: Board Advisor, ApplyWave
- Dajana Džindo: Executive Director, F787
- Daniel Lorer: Advisory Board Member, Quadrodynamics
- Daniel Michael Böhi: Founder & Partner, Alphorn Venture Partners | TheForge | Swiss FoodTech Scaleup Factory
- Danijela Matovic: CEO & Founder, Parlok Consulting
- Darko Ivanović: CEO & Cofounder, Digital Den
- Darko Vidakovic: Darko Vidakovic, EASME
- Darko Burčul: Chief Marketing and PR, Infostud
- Davor Sakač: Director, TS Ventures Fund
- Dejan Dramićanin: CEO, Bitgear
- Dejan Tonić: EBRD Associate, Regional Coordinator of Star Venture Programme for Western Balkans, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
- Dilyan Dimitrov: Partner, Eleven Ventures
- Dóra Marosvölgyi: Director, EIT Cross-KIC Strategic Regional Innovations, EIT Health
- Đorđe Ćelić: CEO, Poslovni inkubator Novi Sad - Business incubator Novi Sad doo
- Florin Grosu: Co -founder, Traderion
- Frank Mertens: Founder & CEO, FM Consulting GmbH
- Frank Petry: CEO, EuroTechInnovation
- Gaia Montelatici: Founder, STUDIO X Ventures
- Gajo Vanka: COO, Aim Cube Limited | UK
- George Sidjimkov: General Partner , Sofia Angels Ventures
- Georgi Malchev: Managing Partner, XploraBG
- Georgi Kadrev: Co-Founder & CEO, Imagga
- Glen Hellman: Glen Hellman - CRO & Business Development, CXO Elevate and University of Maryland
- Gogo Rafajlovski: COO, SEEUTechPark
- Goran Mladenović: CEO, Nis Cluster of Advanced Technologies (NI CAT)
- Goran Ćulibrk: Community Lead, Serbian Entrepreneurs
- Gregor Rebolj: Managing Partner, Silicon Gardens Fund
- Hristo Hristov: CEO, Darik
- Ingeborg Gasser Kriss: Board Member, Advisor , Founder Institute
- Ivan Minić: Co-Founder, Pojačalo
- Ivan Nonković: Partner, Karanovic & Partners Law Firm
- Ivana Pesic Forbes: VP of design, Interactio
- Ivaylo Ivanov: Director, Founder Institute Eastern Europe
- Ivo Vasilev: Founder and CEO, Reloyalty
- Jan Kobler: Managing Partner, South Central Ventures
- Janet Todorova: Head of Expansion, Founder Institute
- Janet Todorova: Head of Expansion, Founder Institute
- Jasmina Knežević: Founder and Supervisory Board Member, Acibadem Bel Medic
- Jasna Pejović: CEO , Flourish
- Jelena Plavanski, Business angels association of Serbia
- Jia Hong Shaw: Founder, Turn Off Turn On Ventures
- Jivko Ivanov: Managing Partner, Simbula Ltd.
- Johannes Benkhoff: Founder, innocellerate
- Jovan Tišma: Co-founder, ALL-ART
- Kamen Bankovski: Partner, Vitosha Venture Partners
- Karina Sotnik: Founder/CEO, WorldUpstart
- Lazar Lekić: Supercluster Manager, Serbia Innovates
- Luka Prišunjak: Ecosystem Facilitator, Swisscontact
- Luka Pejović: Director, BDO Ventures (Ventu.rs)
- Maja Križan: Investment Manager, Business Angels of Slovenia
- Marita Price: Founder & Director, Hello
- Mark Rogers: CEO, Futurist Labs
- Marko Vučetić: PR manager, HelloWorld.rs
- Marko Džombić: CEO, Net Zero Prototcol
- Matej Rus: Head & Co-founder, PODIM
- Max Gurvits: Managing Partner, Vitosha Venture Partners
- Maya Zlatanova: Co-Founder & CEO, FindMeCure
- Michael Kosic: Founding Partner, Loyal VC
- Mike Lingle: Entrepreneur / Mentor, Rocket Pro Forma
- Mila Milenkovic: Director of Sector for Strategy, Telekom Srbija
- Milan Ranđelović: Managing Director, Science and Technology Park Nis
- Milan Dobrota: CEO, Agremo
- Milen Ivanov: Managing Partner, Sofia Angels Ventures, Co-Founder, CEO Angels Club
- Milena Micanović: Director for Communications and Public affairs, OTP banka Srbija
- Mili Ibrulj: Principal , Fil Rouge Capital
- Miloš Milovanović: Co-founder & COO, Blinking
- Miloš Lazović: Ecosystem Facilitator, Swiss EP - Swisscontact
- Miloš Došen: CEO, Accounting and Tax Advisory Agency ‘Došen’
- Miodrag Nenadović: Co-Founder, Brush Galaxy
- Mirjana Perkovic: Founder & CEO, LookStyler
- Miron Lukač: Co-founder, Portal World
- Natali Delić: Director of the Directorate for Strategy and Digital, Telekom Serbia
- Nataša Rađenović Živanović: Chief Innovation Officer, OTP banka Srbija
- Nataša Filipović: Managing Director, OvationBBDO
- Nebojša Đurđević: Partner, Vega IT
- Neda Trifunović: Manager for Startup ecosystem, Digital Serbia Initiative
- Nedeljko Milosavljević: Co-Director, Founder Institute Serbia
- Nedžad Lomigora: Managing Partner, Falcon Venture Partners LLC
- Nemanja Stefanović: CEO & Co-founder, HireApp
- Nemanja Petrović: Co-Founder, Traken
- Nemanja Živković: CEO, Funky Marketing
- Nenad Paunović: Co-founder, Serbian Venture Network
- Nenad Novović: CEO and Founder, Amplitudo
- Nina Dremelj: President, Business Angels of Slovenia
- Olga Mirković Maksimović: COO, Videobolt
- Oskar Marko: Co-founder, Cropt
- Pavel Cholakov, Chief Ventures
- Peđa Predin: Head of Apparel, Europe, Gelato
- Petar Savić: Partner, Supreme Factory
- Predrag Krupez: CEO, Blue Coast Brewing Company
- Raanan Shenhav: Founder, RS-CPD
- Rade Rakočević: CEO & Founder, Senzal capital doo
- Radoslav Stankov: Head of engineering, Product Hunt
- Rok Zorko: Co-Founder, Outfit7
- Salim Virani: Founder, Source Institute
- Saša Popović: Co-Founder and CEO, Vega IT
- Stavros Pavlidis: Chief Revenue Officer & CFO, Halo Investing Europe
- Stefan Vladimirov: Creative Director, monolig.
- Tamara Čolić Milosavljević: Co-Director, Founder Institute Serbia
- Tatyana Mitkova: Co-Founder and CEO, ClaimCompass
- Teodor Panayotov: CEO, CourseDot
- Thibaut Taittinger: Founder & CEO, Puzl CowOrKing
- Tilen Šarlah: Managing Partner, Feelsgood Capital
- Vassil Popovski: CEO & Co-founder, Connecto.ai (Acquired by Leanplum)
- Victor Schiller: President, R Cubed Group
- Viktorija Petrov: PhD, Faculty of Economics, University of Novi Sad
- Vladan Todorović: CEO & Founder, Advanced Security Technologies ltd
- Vladimir Nedović: Owner, Synemedia
- Vladimir Pavlović: General Partner, Omorika Ventures
- Vojin Šenk: Professor, University of Novi Sad
- Volen Vulkov: Co-Founder, Enhancv
- Voon Yee Ho: CEO, Techbridge Ventures Pte Ltd
- Vuk Lau: Principal, Silicon Gardens Fund
- Željko Ilić: Co-founder & General manager, InCentar
- Zoja Kukic Dordevic: VP Digital Transformation, Signet World
- Zoran Vasiljev: CEO, Centili
- And many more to be announced.
Founder Institute`s unique training and startup launching program will greatly improve Serbia`s startup scene through its emphasis on a structured process, and strong collaboration" - Tatjana Kalezic, Co-Director of the Belgrade Founder Institute
Help bring the Founder Institute to Belgrade and fill out an Interest Form today.
About The Founder Institute
The Founder Institute (www.FI.co) is the world's largest entrepreneur training and startup launch program, helping aspiring founders across the globe build enduring technology companies. In the Founder Institute's four-month, part-time program, promising startup entrepreneurs "learn by doing" and launch a company through structured training courses, practical business-building assignments, and expert feedback from a large network of business mentors. Plus, aspiring founders are not required to quit their day job to participate, so they can begin building a business around their ideas without putting their livelihood at risk.
Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 200 cities and 95 countries, the Founder Institute has helped launch over 6,500 companies, which have created over 30,000 new jobs. The company's mission is to "Globalize Silicon Valley" and create sustainable startup ecosystems that will create one million new jobs worldwide.
The Founder Institute was founded in 2009 by serial entrepreneur Adeo Ressi.
(Panorama of Belgrade with river sava on a sunny day image by Shutterstock)
