We are proud to announce the list of teams that have made it to the third, final stage of this year's Nuqleus Startup Builder program! This phase is reserved for the most ready and committed teams who have shown enviable progress, innovation and strong dedication to the development of their projects over the past three months.
Liftoff, held on 2 and 3 July at SEECEL, also featured the Nuqleus Demo Day – the culmination of the second phase of education and idea validation. Nine startup teams had the opportunity to present their solutions in front of an expert jury, mentors and key stakeholders of the innovation ecosystem on the European and Croatian level: Odonata Technologies, P3 Therapeutics, FiberFusion, MicroCell, Luxyon, DELTAsort, CyberIX, eDNAture i Noe.
Over the course of three months, startup teams participated in thematic lectures and workshops where they acquired the knowledge and skills necessary for the successful development of their startups. Topics that the teams went through include:
- Business Modeling Tools – Gorjan Agačević
- From Scientist to Entrepreneur – Juraj Peršić
- How to (Really) Be a CEO & Lead (a Team) – Gordan Kreković, Dragan Knežević
- Business Models – Snježana Miliša
- Feedback on Business Models – Snježana Miliša, Matija Renić, Josipa Majić Predin, Ante Magzan
- Legal Contracts (For Academic Spinouts) – Fran Vukina, Mislav Vukina
- Opening a Company – Marko Mećar
- Software Prototyping & Product Development – Marko Linke
- Hardware Prototyping & Product Development – Matija Renić
- Startup Finance 101 – Vedran Brozović
- Fundraising 101 – Jakob Gajšek
- Equity and Captable Management – Peđa Predin
- Inside a VC – Vedran Blagus
- Fundraising from Founder’s Perspective – Matija Šošić
The teams also went through several test presentations in front of members of the investment committee (Luka Abrus, Izabel Jelenić, Ana Barjašić, Joško Bobanović, Alan Sumina and Damir Sabol) and the Nuqleus team. The feedback received was crucial for improving projects and guiding development.
Nuqleus Demo Day Winner
At Demo Day, startups presented solutions covering the areas of biotechnology, artificial intelligence, robotics, energy, environmental protection and others. Their presentations were watched by representatives of domestic, regional and global investment funds. Seven representatives of European and global VC funds made up the judging panel, which evaluated the clarity and structure of the pitch, the quality of the answers to questions and the investment potential. An additional evaluation was given by the Nuqleus organizational team based on the criteria of the startup’s previous work and development through the program, as well as the readiness of the team for the third phase.
The Demo Day winner award went to Luxyon, a startup developing lightweight and flexible solar cells that overcome the limitations of today’s rigid and heavy solar technology, in an environmentally friendly manner. The Demo Day winner award went to Luxyon, a startup developing lightweight and flexible solar cells that overcome the limitations of today’s rigid and heavy solar technology, in an environmentally friendly manner. Luxyon founders Stjepan Dolić and Jakov Kukin won a direct entry into the third phase of Nuqleus’ Startup Builder program, writing a project application for a selected EU call from Koštan Consultancy & Innovation, and Infobip loans worth 5,000.00 euros.
Who are the finalists of Nuqleus Startup Builder program?
Based on the overall work in the program, progress and readiness for commercialization, four teams enter the third phase. They are:
- Luxyon – Solar energy available everywhere,
- P3 Therapeutics – Small chemical molecules for the treatment of chronic inflammation in spondyloarthritis (SpA) and other immune-mediated diseases,
- FiberFusion – Refining the future of plastics,
- eDNAture – Monitoring of biological threats, pollution and pathogens in the environment.
The third phase of the Startup Builder program brings intensive individual work with Nuqleus’ mentors and experts, focused on further product and business model development, fundraising and market entry. This fall, the finalists will have the opportunity to make key steps toward market success.
Congratulations to all the teams and we look forward to being a part of their next steps!
