ABCD Project: University-Business Cooperation in Support of Deep Tech Start-ups

From 1-5 July 2024, Prof. Dusica Stevcevska Srbinoska attended the closing conference of the EIT HEI ABCD project organized in Budapest and Esztergom, Hungary. This event marked the successful completion of Phases I and II of the ABCD project.

The conference focused on the development of entrepreneurial mindsets and ecosystem connections, with a particular emphasis on driving innovation in deep technologies. Prof Srbinoska moderated the workshop focused on entrepreneurial finance whereby multiple country-specific, regional, and EU start-up funding opportunities were elaborated. The five-day event culminated in an exciting finale in which three start-ups presented their finalist pitches following the 9-week, 9-module ABCD mentorship program – Merakzy (North Macedonia), Flourish (Montenegro), and CAPTEC Medical (Hungary).

The ABCD (Alliance for Boundary Crossing in Deeptech) initiative aimed to strengthen participants’ entrepreneurial skills necessary for the revolutionary development of technologies. During the past year, 12 dedicated partners worked intensively on the five work packages of the project. This consortium of experts striving for innovation was extremely inspiring and resulted in the strengthening of the capacity of 12 start-ups from the Western Balkan region in the second phase of the project, 3 of which were from North Macedonia, whilst 7 were owned or co-founded by women.