Edin is a co-founder of Gideon Brothers, where he currently serves as the Head of Hardware Development. He earned his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees in the field of biologically inspired robotic systems management. His responsibilities at Gideon Brothers include product development from concept to mass production, and he is also actively involved in strategic planning and various business and management activities of the company. Throughout his professional career, he has led multidisciplinary teams and actively participated in the development of many systems in the field of robotics, from the specification phase to commercialization.
Jakob has been active in the startup community since 2015, when he co-founded the startup accelerator ABC, where he was responsible for securing additional funding for the accelerator’s portfolio. In 2018, he took on the role of Executive Director at the Ljubljana University Incubator, where he focuses on creating a new generation of startups emerging from research.
Matija graduated in Computer Science from FER in 2014. He has worked as a software engineer and developer in various companies in Zagreb, London, Singapore, and New York, and has collaborated with his brother Martin on their own startups. In his current startup, Wasp-lang, he holds the position of CEO.
Srđa is a fund manager with many years of experience in VC and PE investment. He is currently part of the team leading the Vesna Deep Tech Venture Fund – the first such fund in the region – and was the co-founder of the first Croatian fund that invests in startups with social impact; Feelsgood. He has previously invested in investment banks in Europe and the Middle East, and he is an economist by profession.
Ivana Radojčić Redovniković is a Full Professor at the Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology at University of Zagreb. For the last few years, her research team in collaboration with several institutions studied some aspects regarding preparation, characterization and implementation of green solvents in food technology, biotechnology and chemical technology. Currently, she is principal researcher of projects concerning natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES), their preparation, characterization and application in extraction of biologically compounds from food industry waste and in biocatalysis with enzymes and microbes. She published more than 20 scientific papers on NADES, whereby five of them are highly cited papers in the top 1% of the academic field.
Marijana Đaković is a full professor and vice dean for science, projects, and cooperation with the economy at the Faculty of Science in Zagreb. She is the president of the European Crystallographic Association (ECA) and the secretary of the Scientific Council for Crystallography of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU). She is also a member of the Commission on Structural Chemistry of the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr). Her areas of scientific interest include crystal flexibility induced by mechanical means, solid-state supramolecular chemistry, crystal engineering, crystallization, and small molecule crystallography. She has published 65 scientific papers in internationally reviewed journals indexed in WoS/Scopus. Her work has been cited over 1200 times, and she has participated in over 100 scientific conference presentations, more than 80 of which were at international conferences.
Nedjeljko Perić is a professor emeritus at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, where he has been a full professor since 1997. He was the head of the Department of Control and Computer Engineering, vice dean, and dean from 2010 to 2014. Nedjeljko Perić is a regular member of the Croatian Academy of Technical Sciences and a recipient of the State Award for Science. He is the founder and the first director of the Innovation Centre Nikola Tesla established at the faculty. His professional field is the automation of plants and processes, and he has published numerous highly cited scientific papers and participated in many national and international scientific conferences.
Nikša Krstulović is a scientific advisor at the Institute of Physics, where he serves as assistant director and leads the Plasma and Laser Applied Research Group within the Center for Advanced Laser Techniques. He is the president of the Croatian Vacuum Society and a member of the Board of Directors of the DONES.HR consortium. His areas of scientific interest include laser, low-pressure, and atmospheric plasmas, their diagnostics using advanced spectroscopic techniques, and applications in the development of new materials and laser synthesis of nanoparticles.
Silvestar Šesnić graduated and earned his Ph.D. at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture in Split. He obtained the title of MPhil at the Wessex Institute of Technology, University of Wales, UK. He is employed as an Associate Professor at the Department of Power Engineering at FESB and currently serves as the Vice Dean for Science at the same faculty. He is the author of over 80 scientific publications in international journals and conferences and has participated in several international and national scientific projects.
Sonja Radas is a Scientific Advisor at the Institute of Economics, Zagreb, and a Research Affiliate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US. She received a PhD in Mathematics and a PhD in Business, both at the University of Florida, Gainesville, US. Previously she was on the faculty of Washington University in St. Louis. She held several visiting positions, most recently a Visiting Researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Business. She has published numerous research articles and consulted for American and Croatian companies. She has also served as an expert for the European Commission. From 2015-2018 she has been a Marie Curie Fellow. Sonja is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Beta Gamma Sigma.
Tihomir Balog graduated and earned his PhD at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry in Zagreb. He is employed as a scientific advisor with a permanent position at the Department of Molecular Medicine at the Ruđer Bošković Institute, in the scientific field of biomedicine and health – the branch of basic medical sciences. He is the head of the Laboratory for Metabolism and Aging at the Ruđer Bošković Institute and teaches at the Faculty of “Biotechnology and Drug Development” at the University of Rijeka. He is the author of several dozen scientific papers.
Vječislav Bohanek graduated and earned his PhD at the Faculty of Mining, Geology, and Petroleum Engineering, University of Zagreb. He is currently an associate professor and vice dean for finance and business at the same faculty. He has led and participated in a dozen international research projects. He is one of the founders and representatives of the EIT RawMaterials Hub – Regional Center Adria, which serves as a unique informational and educational center for the transfer of knowledge about EIT RawMaterials. Bohanek is the author and co-author of scientific and professional papers in the fields of surface exploitation of mineral resources, blasting, and explosives. For his work, he has received awards such as the PROFFORMANCE International Teaching Excellence Award for the ADRIA Internship programme: broadening University-Business Cooperation (2022).
Zoran Mandić is a full professor at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology. He has a background in electrochemistry and electrochemical engineering fields. In the last ten years, his work has focused on the development of advanced electrode materials for energy storage applications, particularly batteries and supercapacitors. The development of electrochemical methods in performance testing and predicting cycle life and SoH is also of increasing interest in his research. He has led several international and national projects, published more than 50 papers in international journals, 3 patents and had many invited lectures at international conferences and events.
Lidija Supek Koršoš is a business consultant and mentor for business development, specializing in the areas of marketing, communications, and brand development. With over 20 years of experience in these fields, she mentors entrepreneurs who aim to build a strong market identity, improve their business strategies, and enhance their market communications.
Ida is a partner at the law firm Stančić-Rokotov and Partners LLC. After completing her law studies at King’s College London and passing the bar exams in both London and Zagreb, Ida further specialized in the jurisdictions of Scotland and Chile. She is a member of the European Lawyers’ Association and advises clients on various commercial law issues.
Martin graduated in Computer Science from FER in 2014 and has been primarily involved in startups with his brother Matija since then. They are currently working on their startup, a programming language for building web applications (Wasp-lang), where Martin serves as the CTO. Martin is a former algorithmic competitor who interned at companies such as Google and Palantir, and he particularly enjoys applying technical knowledge to create products that bring value to others.
Marin is the co-founder and CEO of Ascalia, a company specializing in developing and implementing Industry 4.0 solutions in factories. With a background in automation, he began his startup journey back in 2012 in the USA by founding a startup in underwater robotics. He continued his path as a CTO of a startup in San Francisco, and today he applies the experiences gained there in Ascalia. He has experienced various stages of startup development – from ideation and commercialization of university research to raising seed investment and VC funding on both sides of the Atlantic. Currently, he is focused on the growth of Ascalia and expanding into foreign markets.
Maja is a business development manager at Algebra LAB, the oldest Croatian incubator. She has several years of experience in mentoring startups, networking, financing, and supporting them in market entry. In addition, she works on domestic and international projects with stakeholders from the public and private sectors on the implementation of high-tech solutions in business (especially in the field of data science). She has received several international scientific and research scholarships and awards.
Associate Professor Dr. Dubravko Babić graduated from FER and obtained his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of California, Santa Barbara. During his time in the USA, he founded the startup Alvesta Corporation and worked as an advisor for Clariphy Communications. Later, he provided consultancy services for XLoom Communications in Tel Aviv. He led development for the startup Group4 Labs, where he served as Vice President and co-founder. After Group4 Labs, he participated in founding the startup company Eridan Communications in Santa Clara. He also worked as an expert witness for intellectual property in the USA and Croatia. Since 2005, he has been writing patent applications for various clients, and since 2012, for FER. His research interests include optoelectronic and high-speed electronic components, semiconductor components, and optics. He has published over 140 publications in journals and conferences, has 35 granted patents, and has written one book chapter. According to a study from Stanford University in California, Prof. Babić is in the top 2% of scientists in the world in the field of optoelectronics and photonics.
Gorjan is a digital technology expert with over 20 years of experience in developing digital products, customer engagement, data analysis, and insurtech. He is one of the founders of Amoda, a successful insurtech company where he worked as CPO for 7 years. Currently, he manages business development for MarinaCloud, a company specializing in telematics applications for boats and support for new insurance products based on new data sources. Additionally, he advises the Blue World Institute on the digitization of their research work.
Mateja has been involved in communication consultancy and public relations for over a decade. Throughout her career, she has advised various organizations and companies, specializing in the development of communication strategies, creative concepts, and risk management. She has taught at the Business Skills Academy and mentored in the field of PR and communications at the Social Entrepreneurship Accelerator.
Ivan is the editor and founder of Netokracija, the leading media outlet dedicated to the technology industry in Croatia and the region, which he founded at the age of 22. He helps leading brands such as Mastercard, Microsoft, A1, and Raiffeisen Bank in developing digital content and employer branding. He has also lectured and moderated panels on topics related to the digital economy at major international conferences such as the Weekend Media Festival, How to Web, Shift, and Webcamp Zagreb.
Marko is a lawyer with over 12 years of experience advising domestic and foreign clients on all matters of commercial law and corporate law related to the establishment or continuation of business in Croatia. He completed postgraduate studies abroad, earning the title of LLM. He regularly lectures at domestic and international conferences and writes articles for Croatian legal journals.
Vedran is an Investment Manager at South Central Ventures, a regional VC fund. He has worked as a management consultant at Big 4 firms, and currently at SCV, he focuses on finding new investment opportunities and advising portfolio companies.
Boris is a digital product designer with several years of experience in turning chaos into a little less chaos. He is currently freelancing with interesting AI/ML, Big Data, Blockchain, Fintech, and EduTech startups.
Matija has been involved in web development since 2005 and mobile development since 2013. He graduated from FER in 2015, and since 2016 has been working as a software development consultant at his own company, ITalk d.o.o. He has launched several startup projects, some of which are still active and currently under development. Over his 14 years in development, he has worked on over 200 different projects, always striving to learn a new technology with each new project.
Mihovil graduated from the Study of Design at the Faculty of Architecture in Zagreb. He is a professional digital product designer. He has worked as a UX designer at digital product development agencies and has been part of product teams in SaaS companies and startups. Currently, he works as a permanent UX consultant for a European company and participates in projects across various domains through his office, Baselinebasic.
Tomislav is a consultant for digital communications and branding who has worked with the largest clients in the region and has extensive teaching experience. He writes for multiple portals and runs his own YouTube channel and blog. After holding various positions in marketing agencies and corporations, he became independent and has been running his own communications consulting business for the past four years.
Gordan is the CEO of Visage Technologies, a company that develops computer vision algorithms for applications in the automotive industry (driver assistance and autonomous driving) and facial analysis. He graduated and earned his PhD in Computer Science from FER. Throughout his professional career, he has worked as a product manager, data scientist, team and department leader, and company director. Gordan’s work and academic experience bridge scientific research, engineering, and management. He is the author or co-author of over 25 scientific papers and serves as an adjunct professor at the Academy of Music, University of Zagreb.
Stevica is a seasoned startup entrepreneur. He has founded several companies, the latest of which, Locodels, was acquired by Croatian Post. Since 2018, he has been part of Fil Rouge Capital, a VC fund with €46 million that invests in Croatian companies in their early and growth stages. To date, he has mentored over 500 startups and listened to more than 4,500 pitches.
Luka Abrus is a partner at the agency Five, which focuses on building digital strategies and products through offices in New York and Croatia. Five currently employs 300 experts and is fully focused on the U.S. market. In March 2021, Five was acquired by the London-based company Endava (NYSE: “DAVA”), thus joining an industry leader with over 10,000 employees in 20 countries. Over the years, several startups (Shoutem, 57hours, Dorado) have emerged from Five and are now operating successfully. Before his entrepreneurial career, Luka worked at Microsoft in various technical and sales positions as well as in several smaller startups. He helped establish the Croatian association of software exporters CISEX and is the author of three IT books.
Filip graduated in psychology from the Croatian Studies at the University of Zagreb. He worked for three and a half years at Hendal – an independent market research agency based in Zagreb – as a researcher and project manager. He gained knowledge in conducting ad-hoc qualitative and quantitative research; defining methodology, defining end users, setting up market research projects, data collection, data quality control, data analysis, data visualization, and presenting data to clients. After Hendal, he moved to Infobip where he is currently involved in market research. In addition to traditional quantitative research, he now also analyzes macroeconomic trends in markets and monitors competitors.
Ante has been working in the digital and creative industry since 1996. He is one of the founders of several successful and well-known entrepreneurial projects in the Croatian market (klik.hr, iskon.hr, tportal.hr, max adsl, max tv, net.hr, HUB385, etc.). With rich and extensive experience in creating corporate strategies and managing them from top positions, he has always sought new ways to push the boundaries of the market and the business world itself. His main areas of expertise and interest are brand strategy and communication, business design, product design, idea formation, and rapid business growth.
Although he graduated in telecommunications from FER in 1997, Božidar found himself in banking, where he spent about twenty years in leadership positions (COO, CTO, CEO). When he grew tired of this, he became active in developing the local startup ecosystem through various forms of collaboration, networking, investing, consulting, mentoring, and educating. He often moderates and gives lectures at international conferences and writes articles for various electronic media.
Filip graduated from FER and his first love was developing iOS applications. He spent the first seven years of his career developing mobile applications and leading teams that create digital products in the fields of AR, e-commerce, enterprise tools, and lifestyle applications. After that, he joined Photomath, where he led a full-stack team developing systems and services that provide solutions to math problems in the Photomath app. Following Google’s acquisition of Photomath, he now works at Google as an Engineering Manager on education-related projects.
After working at Netokracija and ZIP in Zagreb, launching his own startup TimePrep, completing studies at FER and EFZG, and working at Techstars with 6 programs and around 80 startups, Marko is currently the COO of Memgraph.
Ana Barjašić is a member of the board of the European Innovation Council (EIC), the largest European deep tech fund with €10 billion. Within the EIC, she chairs the working group for countries in expansion. She is also the first Croatian representative in the Obama Leader program and a member of the executive board of the Global Entrepreneurship Network Europe. In addition to entrepreneurship and investments, she is involved in social sciences and has been educated at the University of Zagreb, the University of Vienna, and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her research interests are connected to psychology and behavioral science, with a focus on decision-making and stereotypes, particularly gender bias in entrepreneurship and investing.
Matija graduated from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing among the top 5% of his class. In his final year of studies, he started the startup Noomly, which he led for three years. With the startup, he participated in various competitions and won numerous awards, including reaching the finals of Microsoft’s Imagine Cup in Seattle and receiving financial support from HAMAG BICRO through the PoC7 program.
Fran is a lawyer and partner at the law firm Vukina & Partneri d.o.o. For many years, he has been advising clients in the fields of financial, corporate, and commercial law. He advises investors and startups, among other things, during capital raising. He graduated from the Faculty of Law in Zagreb and completed an LL.M. in financial law at the Institute for Law and Finance at Goethe University in Frankfurt. In addition to being a lawyer, Fran is also a court interpreter for English and German.
Mislav specializes in legal areas related to intellectual property law, digital law, data protection law, competition law, and related commercial contracts. He is a member of the AIPPI (the oldest International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property, established in 1897) committee for the digital economy and the committee for information technology and the internet. Additionally, Mislav has advised and assisted clients in legal matters concerning digital platforms, online advertising, the pharmaceutical industry, and the information technology industry.
Luka’s startup career began in Orqa, where he led one of the company’s business segments for more than two years. After that, he devoted himself to freelance work with startups in the field of hardware, which enabled him to further expand his knowledge and skills. During the last two years, he has been working at the intersection of the corporate and startup worlds as an investment and M&A consultant in the German-speaking world. Luka’s expertise includes hardware, sales, business development, business model and strategy development, and technology commercialization.
Igor S. Pandžić is a professor at FER’s Department of Telecommunications. He graduated from FER and received his doctorate in 1998 from the University of Geneva. He was a visiting scientist at AT&T Labs, Linköping University, and Kyoto University. In Linköping, in 2002, he founded the software company Visage Technologies AB with two partners, investing intellectual property and about €500 in capital. Through the organic growth of the company, he met most of the roles that appear in the development of a small and medium-sized company. He is now a member of the company’s supervisory board.
Mario graduated in mechanical engineering at FSB and then went to London for a doctorate in materials science. After that, he spent 5 years as a consultant at the TWI Institute Ltd. in Cambridge, participating in the preparation of several hundred R&D projects funded through the Horizon 2020 program and the British program InnovateUK. Upon his return to Croatia, he worked as an EU consultant for several successful Croatian startups and provided them with multimillion-dollar funding for their R&D projects. In 2022, he founded the consulting company Kostan Consultancy & Innovation d.o.o. (KCI) with the aim of contributing to the development of the Croatian startup ecosystem using EU funds and focusing on digitization and advanced technologies of Industry 4.0.
Slaven Steković is a serial entrepreneur in the fields of life science, automation, and AI with business exit experience. He is a molecular biologist and expert in longevity and age-related diseases, while working with multimodal datasets and new technologies. Slaven is also a bestselling author as well as a partner in Sevedge Ventures, a London-based VC investing in the life science and medtech fields.
Emil graduated from the Faculty of Graphics in Zagreb, and after a short period of work as an independent interactive designer, in 2003 he joined Hrvatski Telekom in the then newly established digital product development sector, where he participated in leading many projects for business and residential users. One of the projects was MAXtv, which after 5 years was used in over 400,000 households in Croatia and was the first commercial project of interactive television within the Deutsche Telekom Group on a global level. After seven years at Hrvatski Telekom, he leaves the company as the director for the development of applications and business solutions. Since 2008, he has been working as an independent interactive designer, where he has realized a number of projects in Croatia and abroad. In 2015, he joined the Faculty of Design in Zagreb as an external expert and is the instructor of the Basics of Interactive Media course at the undergraduate level and Interactive Media at the graduate level.
Luka graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Zagreb in 2015, after which he received his doctorate in theoretical biology from the Max Planck Institute and the University of Kiel on the topic “Computational modeling of cancer evolution”. After postdoctoral training at the Cleveland Clinic, he joined the Norwegian company Bulbitech, where, as CDO, he leads the development of diagnostic algorithms based on machine learning.
Hrvoje graduated from the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb. He currently works at Dell Technologies in Boston, where he is responsible for the profitability of storage and cloud business, as well as for investments in AI/cloud startups. In 2020, he co-founded the startup Yotta Leads, which was acquired at the end of 2021. He mentors startups participating in MassChallenge and the MIT Enterprise Forum. He actively invests in stocks and publishes the FintechWave financial newsletter.
Željko Švedić started two software companies: GemBox Software and TestDome. Both companies are B2B, sell their own products on the international market, and use SEO (Search Engine Optimization) as the main sales channel. In addition, he is a co-founder of Lean Startup Croatia, often teaches within the iPosao iPivo group, and writes his own blog.
Belma Gutlić is a graduate program engineer from FER with a passion for new technologies. Even during her college days, she was involved in the creation of several startups. She gained experience with fullstack development, and after graduating in 2017, she decided to start her journey by building her own company, NodeFactory, for the development of decentralized applications on the blockchain. A year ago, Belma made her first exit with the acquisition by the Canadian company ChainSafe. Now she works as the head of the research and development team. She is the co-founder of the Alice in Blockchains association and a member of the board of directors of UBIK.
Mislav is the CEO of the companies AMPnet and Dev3, author of the textbook “Developers Guide to Ethereum”, organizer of the first Zagreb meetup for Blockchain developers, and Solidity developers. Before, he developed web and iOS applications and is the author of iOS tutorials on his personal blog.
Marin is the co-founder and CEO of Omnisearch, a startup developing a new generation of search technology with a special focus on non-textual data types such as audio and video. Omnisearch was officially launched in April last year and has so far raised $450,000 USD in pre-seed investment from VC fund GoAhead Ventures. Before starting his own startup, he got his master’s degree at FER and then spent four years at MemSQL, a Silicon Valley startup, and later at Amazon, where he worked on Amazon Web Services and Alexa.
Ante Medić, co-founder and director of Pulsar Labs, a company for the development and design of products for industry and consumer goods.
Vedran graduated from the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb (English program) and is the winner of two rector’s and two dean’s awards. After gaining business experience in Croatia (IKEA, EY), his career path took him abroad. As a senior financial analyst and business intelligence engineer at Amazon, he first worked in the EU headquarters in Luxembourg, after which he moved to the United States, where he currently works from Seattle. He is currently working on internal products for the automation and standardization of financial planning and analytics.
Joško Bobanović is a partner in the oldest European venture capital fund, Sofinnova Partners, where he is responsible for investments in renewable features in the fields of agriculture, food, chemical products, and materials.
Ana is a BizDev consultant and strategist with 15+ years of work experience in marketing, from advertising to market positioning. In recent years, she has been working as the head of an accelerator for impact-focused entrepreneurs.
Dragan Jović is a telecommunications engineer with 19 years of experience in the field of ICT and a regulatory consultant with 7 years of experience in the field of regulation for the development and production of medical devices. He has extensive experience in the development and implementation of various regulatory strategies in the field of design and production of medical devices within the European Union and the USA. His work is particularly prominent in projects that use telemedicine, software as a medical device, and artificial intelligence to improve health care and protection.
Ema has extensive experience in the fields of creating customer strategy, service design, user research, and brand strategy. She works with companies to help them simplify and humanize complex business systems, turning them into new business opportunities. In short, Ema can answer all questions related to the creation of an interesting product or service on behalf of the user and thus create a profit. For the last eight years, she worked on projects for Fortune 500 companies such as HP, Corona, Boehringer Ingelheim, The Times, and many others in London and Croatia.
Jovan has extensive experience in providing legal and technological assistance to digital companies in solving the challenges of compliance with GDPR and other regulations. He has more than a decade of experience in the healthcare IT industry. He received his PhD from the University of Trento, Italy, in 2014, and his research included technologies and protocols that enable the sharing of health data in a legally compliant and secure manner. He is currently helping companies in the EU and the US to innovate in digital health.
Juraj develops innovative and scalable AI solutions. He is currently in the position of head of the engineering team, in which he develops projects in the fields of education, finance, and healthcare. In addition to software development, Juraj has many years of experience in organizing and coordinating teams in solving real problems. As a mentor, he helps younger members of his team develop their engineering careers.
Zoran has more than two decades of experience in marketing, sales, and working with multi-functional teams. He worked in managerial positions at Procter & Gamble in the markets of Croatia and Central Europe and is one of the global pioneers of Shopper Marketing. For 10 years, he held the position of Marketing Director of Red Bull Croatia, working and mentoring teams around the world (Japan, France, Latin America). He initiated the Wings for Life World Run race in Croatia and led the Red Bull Air Race project in Rovinj.
A FER alumni himself, Izabel is the co-founder and CTO of the Vodnjan-based technology giant Infobip – the first, but by no means the last, Croatian technological unicorn. Izabel started his career as a developer, but soon after that, together with Silvio Kutić, he started Infobip, which today is one of the world’s leading communication platforms with clients such as Bolt, Uber, Meta, Unilever, and many others. Infobip has over 70 offices all over the world, and Izabel is responsible for ensuring that the product and technology meet high quality standards. He considers participation in Nuqleus, in the role of a member of the investment committee, an excellent opportunity to help create cutting-edge technologies, successful companies, and revolutionary solutions. As an alumni, he is glad that such a thing can be realized through FER and other related institutions.
Alan Sumina is the founder and director of Nanobit, one of the fastest-growing technology companies in Central Europe. He started the company at the age of 20, while still a student at FER, together with his partner Zoran Vučinić. The company currently has 150 employees, and all of its income since its establishment comes from exports. In 2020, Nanobit was bought by the Swedish Stillfront for 148 million US dollars, which is one of the largest technological exits in Croatia to date. Today, Alan deals with investments through the purchase of shares of companies on the stock exchange, then through private equity funds, and at the same time directly invests in startups of various niches. He believes that with his practical experience of building a technology company (hiring experts, finding staff, creating a company structure, and selling the company), he can contribute to Nuqleus and give his perspective on the challenges that every startup founder faces sooner or later.
Damir Sabol is the co-founder and CEO of Photomath, one of the most popular educational apps in the world with more than 320 million downloads. Damir is also the co-founder of Microblink, a high-tech company that creates products based on computer vision and artificial intelligence. Before that, he was the founder and CEO of Iskon, the first private internet service provider and one of the first companies in Croatia to receive an investment from a venture capital (VC) fund. Damir also occasionally invests as an angel investor in the early stages of technology-based startup companies. The activities of Nuqleus are aligned with areas in which Damir has considerable experience—developing digital products based on the results of research into advanced technologies—and he believes that in this process he can contribute to and facilitate the development of the involved projects towards successful startup companies.
Prof. Ph.D. Ivan Petrović is a full-time professor at FER, where he teaches several courses in robotics and management. He is the head of the Laboratory for Autonomous Systems and Mobile Robotics (LAMOR) and co-head of the Center of Excellence for Data Science and Cooperative Systems. In the last twenty years, his research focus has been on advanced control and estimation techniques with applications in the control and navigation of autonomous mobile robots and vehicles. He is the author or co-author of more than 80 papers in scientific journals and more than 220 papers in the proceedings of international conferences. He is a member of the Croatian Academy of Technical Sciences (HATZ), chairman of the technical committee for robotics of the International Federation for Automatic Control (IFAC), permanent member of the governing body of the European Conference of Mobile Robots, co-founder of the international association The iSpace Laboratory Network, and member of the board of directors of the Croatian Society for Communications, Computing, Electronics, Measurements, and Automation (KoREMA). He received several awards for his work, including the State Science Award of the Republic of Croatia, the Josip Lončar Golden Plaque, the Fran Bošnjaković Award of the University of Zagreb, and the City of Zagreb Award.
Prof. Ph.D. Mislav Grgić is a university professor, scientist, and former dean of FER (2014-2018). He is the author of more than 200 scientific and professional papers, which have over 5300 citations according to the Google Scholar database. His scientific research activities are related to multimedia systems, the development of video signal compression and coding procedures, image quality assessment, and face recognition systems, as well as the analysis of mammographic images and the development of systems for computer-aided detection and diagnosis of breast cancer. He is a regular member of the European Academy (Academia Europaea) based in London and a regular member of the Croatian Academy of Technical Sciences (HATZ). In the Croatian Academic Association (HAZ), he holds the office of president of the Academic Council. For his work, he received a large number of awards and recognitions, among which are the “Fran Bošnjaković” Award of the University of Zagreb, as well as the state decoration of the Croatian Order of Danica with the figure of Ruđer Bošković for his special merits for scientific work, popularization of science, and establishment of international projects.
Sanja Bencetić graduated in industrial design in 1994 at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Zagreb. After graduating, she worked as an independent designer, and since 2000 she has been teaching at the Design Department as an associate art professor on the courses Industrial Design, Design Methodology, and Ergonomics and Inclusive Design. She also teaches the course Industrial Design at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Shipbuilding, University of Zagreb. She obtained her Master of Science degree in 2008 at the Faculty of Forestry, University of Zagreb. Her main area of interest is inclusive design, i.e., the applicability of inclusiveness methodology in a wide variety of projects, from inclusive products through inclusive design workshops and social entrepreneurship to sustainable public spaces.
Maroje Sorić graduated and earned his PhD from the School of Medicine in Zagreb. He is the head of the Laboratory for Physical Activity Measurement and Monitoring at KIFZG and is also employed as a research associate at the University of Ljubljana, where he is part of the SLOfit research group, contributing to the monitoring of school children’s fitness. He has published more than 70 scientific papers in international journals, including the world’s most prestigious journals, Nature and The Lancet. According to the Stanford-Elsevier list, he is ranked among the top 2% of the most influential scientists worldwide for 2021 and 2022. He has participated in numerous international scientific projects related to physical activity and health, including three projects funded under the Horizon program.
Akademik prof.dr.sc. Sven Lončarić magistrirao je 1989. godine u polju elektrotehnike na FER-u. Kao dobitnik Fulbright stipendije doktorirao je u polju elektrotehnike na Sveučilištu u Cincinnatiju, SAD, 1994. godine. Od 2001. do 2003. bio je Assistant Professor na Sveučilištu New Jersey Institute of Technology, SAD. Redoviti je profesor u trajnom zvanju u polju elektrotehnike i polju računarstva na FER-u od 2011. godine. Voditelj je Istraživačkog laboratorija za obradu slike na FER-u i osnivač je i voditelj Centra izvrsnosti za računalni vid na Sveučilištu u Zagrebu. Suvoditelj je nacionalnog Znanstvenog centra izvrsnosti za znanost o podatcima i kooperativne sustave i voditelj Centra za umjetnu inteligenciju FER-a. Sa svojim je studentima i suradnicima publicirao više od 250 znanstvenih i stručnih radova. Redoviti je član Hrvatske akademije znanosti i umjetnosti i Akademije tehničkih znanosti Hrvatske. Prema studiji Sveučilišta Stanford rangiran je u 2% najutjecajnijih svjetskih znanstvenika u kategoriji umjetna inteligencija i obrada slike. Za svoj znanstveni i stručni rad dobio je više nagrada uključujući Nagradu za znanost FER-a, Nagradu Fran Bošnjaković Sveučilišta u Zagrebu i Državnu nagradu za znanost Hrvatskog sabora.
Prof. dr. sc. Mario Kovač redoviti je profesor na FER-u. Doktorirao je 1995. godine na FER-u. Dobitnik je Fulbright scholar nagrade tijekom koje je radio na istraživanjima u području VLSI dizajna i arhitektura procesora na University of South Florida, USA. Autor je nekoliko USA i domaćih patenata. Bio je predstojnik Zavoda za automatiku i računalno inženjerstvo FER-a, prodekan za poslovanje FER-a, tajnik odjela za informacijske sustave na Akademiji tehničkih znanosti Hrvatske, ekspertni član programskih odbora EU FP7, H2020 i HE Leadership in Enabling & Industrial Technologies ICT, potpredsjednik nadzornog odbora BICRO-a, predsjednik upravnog vijeća CARNet-a, potpredsjednik nadzornog odbora Hrvatskog instituta za tehnologiju, član tehnološkog vijeća Ministarstva znanosti, obrazovanja i sporta, član upravnog vijeća Hrvatskog zavoda za telemedicinu, ekspertni član upravljačkog odbora EuroHPC Joint Undertaking. Trenutno je član upravljačkog odbora EU Key Digital Technologies Joint Undertaking kao i član upravljačkih tijela nekoliko strateških EU projekata European Processor Initiative, EUPILOT i EUPEX i Direktor Istraživačkog centra za arhitekture i aplikacije računala visokih performansi FER-a. Autor je nekoliko stotina znanstvenih i stručnih radova. Godine 2008. predsjednik Republike Hrvatske odlikovao ga je Redom Danice hrvatske s likom Ruđera Boškovića za osobite zasluge u znanosti.
Mate Rimac je osnivač i CEO Rimac Grupe koju čine sestrinske tvrtke Bugatti Rimac i Rimac Technology, izrasle iz nekadašnjih skromnih početaka Rimac Automobila 2011. godine, kada je Concept_One postao prvi istinski električni superauto na svijetu, razvijen i proizveden u potpunosti u Hrvatskoj. Fokus na inovacije, okupljanje vrhunskih inženjerskih timova, upornost i ustrajnost rezultirali su ostvarenjem jedne od najvećih investicija u hrvatsku tvrtku i potom, preuzimanjem Bugattija, Bugatti Rimac postaje vodeći proizvođač luksuznih hiper vozila, a Rimac Technology tvrtka koja razvija visokotehnološka rješenja za auto industriju – od baterijskih paketa za električna vozila, pogonskih sustava do softverskih i digitalnih proizvoda i usluga. Rimac Grupa trenutno broji preko 2000 zaposlenih čineći tako jednog od najvećih igrača u području istraživanja i razvoja te proizvodnje u Europi i izvan svog primarnog sektora autoindustrije. Kao osnivač tehnoloških startupa, inovator, vizionar, investitor i poduzetnik, Mate rado dijeli naučene lekcije s drugima koji se odlučuju krenuti sličnim smjerom u ostvarivanju inovativnih ideja i vizija, te vjeruje da sudjelovanjem kroz Nuqleusov investicijski odbor može pomoći u stvaranju novih tehnologija i pokretača razvoja.
Mentors are available to the teams and, if necessary, arrange meetings when it best suits them and the teams. Workshops on topics relevant to the early stage of startup development are arranged with a certain number of mentors.
If you want to support, direct, and advise our teams with your knowledge and skills, apply for mentoring of future startup founders.
