After months of hard work and mentoring, GrowPreneur organized for the second year the “GrowPreneur Demo Day”. In this event 7 startups, previously mentored and prepared by GrowPreneur, presented their ventures to investors from all over the Balkans.

Growpreneur was built in collaboration with Yunus Social Business Balkans and EU for Innovation, as a flexible and personalized program for all startups.

Unlike other entrepreneurial ecosystem events, during the “GrowPreneur Demo Day” the evaluation of finalist startups was different from the traditional way. This time instead of a jury, a group potential investors chose which startup they wanted to invest in.

Part of the event was the Deputy Mayor of Tirana, Mrs. Anuela Ristani, who said that:
“The city is very pleased when the Municipality of Tirana is present at such events and supports startups. I am telling you a very interesting fact. In Albania, 7% of students who have just finished university have the will to start their own business. In Israel this number is 79%, but this 7% of ours is much more enthusiastic and noisy so I hope to continue like this.”

Edona Bilali, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship Protection, was also present at the event and during her speech she returned the attention to the new law on startups.

“Through the Council of Ministers decision, we have passed the new draft law on the law for startups. It is expected to be passed and voted on in parliament in February. It will be a total fund of 2.5 million euros that will go to ecosystem actors, facilitators (accelerators), incubators and co-working spaces. “- said Mrs. Bilali.

Ideas presented during the event:

  1. ArtMade – e-commerce https://artmadeofficial.com/ .
  2. StudentsLife – Platformë për shërbime pa pagesë për studentet https://www.instagram.com/studentslife.al/ .
  3. Potry Venture – Një kompani që synon të ketë partner të përbashkët për të investuar në kriptomonedhë.
  4. Travel Box 365 – Platformë që lidh turistin me kompaninë e udhëtimit dhe përfshin në paketë një kuti me produkte bio shqiptare. https://www.travelalbania365.com/?s=travel+box#
  5. Visit South Albania – Platformë dedikuar turizmit në Jugun e Shqipërisë https://visitsouthalbania.com/
  6. Anarkitekt – Mobilje me punime druri artizanale për shtëpi, hotele etj. https://www.instagram.com/anarkitekt/ .
  7. EasyAlbania – e-commerce https://easyalbania.com/al/ .

During the event, awards were given for the mentor of the year and an honorary award for Mr. Ndoc Mula, a very important mentor and actor of the ecosystem, who unfortunately lost his life on December 30 in a hike.

The “Mentor of the Year” award was given to:
1-Esa Hala
2- Suela Kocibellinj
3- Tomi Kallanxhi

Some awards given by the partners:

  1. ARRA ofroi trajnim për StudentsLife;
  2. Raiffeisen Bank ofroi mentorim për integrimin në e-commerce dhe workshop me burimet njerëzore të Raiffeisen Bank për Easy Albania dhe StudentsLife;
  3. Balkans Capital ofroi konsulencë financiare dhe kontabiliteti për 3 muaj për startup-in ArtMade;
  4. DigitSapiens ofroi ndërtimi i web dhe ambjent pune falas për 3 muaj për StudentsLife;
  5. MaxBrand Albania ofroi ekspertizë marketingu për Travel Box;
  6. Valbona Begolli ofroi plan zhvillimi dhe marketingu për platformën TravelBox 365;
  7. Arlind Haxhiaj ofroi hapësirë co-working për Potry Venture;
  8. Eglent Bici ofroi zhvillim platformash për Visit South Albania dhe TravelBox 365;
  9. Duapune ofroi 300 Euro për StudentsLife;
  10. Duapune ofroi 300 Euro për Anarkitekt;
  11. Duapune ofroi 300 Euro për TravelBox.

ArtMade startup was awarded 2000 Euro – the grand prize given by GrowPreneur.

© DIGITAL TIRANA.