(Editor’s note: This post on promising Croatian startups is part of Dispatches’ Tech Tuesday series. We cover technology because so many of our highly skilled internationals work in startups and scale-ups.)
I posted previously about some of the successful companies from Croatia, and the big name is of course Mate Rimac and Rimac Automobili. If you’re a close follower, you’ll probably also be familiar with Damir Sabol and Photomath, and maybe Albert Gajšak and CircuitMess.
While the aforementioned companies are deserving of every bit of the spotlight they get, there are others popping up and doing very well indeed. Many were founded in one of the toughest times for business in recent memory – the coronavirus pandemic.
Here are five pandemic startups from Croatia which are setting the standard.
Gepek
In Croatian, “gepek” means boot (or trunk, if you’re American). This quirky name gives away what this startup is engaged in. Founded during the height of the pandemic in Europe (2021), this startup deals in package delivery services and uses a carpool-based model.
Carpooling for packages, as Gepek’s website states, implies using the empty space in vehicles already travelling in a certain direction to transport packages. This startup is all about sustainability, and by placing packages in the vehicles of those already commuting in a certain direction, it reduces the number of exclusively package delivering vehicles on the road and brings down harmful emissions – thus doing its bit to help the planet.
An additional plus for Gepek, and one which saw it rise in terms of popularity quickly during the pandemic, is the fact that anyone can make some extra cash doing this. You simply need to download the app, register on the Gepek platform and publish your driving route. Those wishing to send packages in the direction you’re heading in will ping you, you can choose to accept, drop off their package and make some passive income on your way to wherever you’re going.
Revuto
Another Croatian startup founded in 2021, Revuto has been featured in Forbes, Business Insider, Yahoo! Finance and more. It’s safe to say that it has made a name for itself – and with good reason. During the pandemic when we were all festering in front of Netflix, subscribing to more on-screen entertainment than we’d ever imagined we’d have time for became the new normal. It became easy to forget how many subscriptions we’d got, losing money along the way.
According to Revuto, you can bid a final farewell to unwanted subscription charges thanks to their app. This Croatian startup allows you to block, snooze or approve subscription payments in one place. You can even snooze or block a particular payment to a subscription for a couple of days, even if you don’t want to unsubscribe from it.
It’s also crypto friendly, as users can control their recurring payments with not only debit and credit cards, but with DeFi or crypto services. The startup also offers REVU tokens, which you earn from cashback after paying with your debit or credit card, or with cryptocurrency.
PitchSee
This Zagreb-based startup was founded in 2021 and refers to itself as a global showcase of pitches and a game-changing platform which allows the faster realisation of projects and the removal of barriers.
Coming across funding when you have a winning idea can be a challenge, and the less middle men involved, the better. The same can be said for potential investors seeking opportunities. This startup provides a marketplace for would-be investors and hopeful startups alike, without the hassle.
All kinds of investment opportunities are made available on PitchSee, and investors don’t need to waste their time because quick videos explaining precisely what the projects seeking funding are, are available to watch.
For startups, there are no fees and setting up a profile is simple. Direct communication with interested investors is then facilitated by the PitchSee platform. For investors, PitchSee states that it isn’t crowdfunding or a VC, that it has shortened months-long processes down to a mere 120 seconds, and that the projects you’re shown will fit your interests to save you even more time.
Insidico
You’ve probably never heard of Osijek, but it won’t be too long before this Eastern Croatian city is the name on everyone’s lips. Provided you can pronounce it, of course. That J is pronounced as a Y, just so you know.
Language lessons aside, this city has had quite the tech boom in recent years, and Insidico is one of a number of startups founded during the pandemic that draw their roots from this overlooked city near the Drava River.
Founded in 2022, the Insidico app digitizes construction company operations and provides a detailed real-time insight into each segment of the business. Owing to that insight, communication between everyone involved is facilitated, resources being used are easily tracked, and the management of mundane tasks is made more straightforward.
The data this app collects allows for rational decision making and correct organisation. On top of that, losses and profits can be monitored on a resource by resource basis, allowing the powers that be to financially plan in a clearer way.
Magic Forest
Founded in 2021, this Croatian startup isn’t from Zagreb, but from Grubišno Polje in Bjelovar-Bilogora County. If you’ve ever been to this Croatian county, you’ll notice that there are a lot of trees. It’s no surprise then that this startup deals in sustainability, biotechnology research and GreenTech.
Magic Forest cares about the impact of our carbon footprint on our already concerningly damaged planet and allowing for private investors to come and pour their money into forests in order to offset that footprint is their primary aim. This Croatian biotech company wants to make the forestry sector much more democratic by enabling public investment going forward, providing an online trading platform in order for interested parties to do precisely that.
Lauren Simmonds
Lauren Simmonds is the editor of Total Croatia News, the largest English language portal in Croatia. She lives in Zagreb, Croatia, and is a translator, content writer, interpreter and the co-author of "Croatia - A Survival Kit for Foreigners," which was published in 2022.
