Serbian Startups Showcase Excellent Ideas and Solutions to the World

Startup companies from Serbia that participated in the world’s largest event dedicated to startups and investors, Expand North Star, in Dubai, presented outstanding ideas and solutions across various sectors, attracting the attention of major global players in the digital industry, establishing contacts with prominent investors, and securing new business deals.

During the three-day conference, startups held over 800 meetings and discussions with potential partners, including Hazleen Ahmad, a global investor and leader in building inclusive ecosystems, as well as the UK-based BGV (Bethnal Green Ventures). Agreements were also signed with companies from India and South Korea.

Expand North Star is organized as part of the world’s largest technology fair, Gitex Global, and over 20 Serbian startups presented a wide range of innovative products from October 12 to 15 in fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), fintech, healthtech, edtech, cybersecurity, mobile apps, e-commerce, climate tech, agritech, gaming, blockchain, and Web3.

“Our startup Reputeo won an award in the field of cybersecurity, Baby FM was among the top 100, and reached the semifinals of the Supernova Challenge with its real-time temperature measurement solution. Everyone who participated in North Star came with fantastic ideas and solutions, successfully presented themselves, and attracted significant attention,” said Nebojša Bjelotomić, Advisor to the President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce for Innovations and IT.

“Here in Dubai, there are companies, businessmen, and investors from Asia, Africa, Latin America, and other parts of the world. This is a great opportunity for our IT sector to enter new markets, establish business contacts, find local representatives, present to investors, or even reach end users,” added Bjelotomić.

Representatives of startup companies were also pleased with the promotion, contacts made, and results achieved.

Prof. Dr. Miloš Stanković from EWD Technology recalled that 12 years ago, they had the idea to develop a device that, using specific frequencies and electricity—without chemicals—destroys weeds at the root so that they no longer grow.

“Our main focus was ambrosia, although we tested over 200 types of weeds with the Swedish University of Agriculture as well as with local institutions. We wanted to solve a major social problem: ambrosia pollen, as more than two million people in our country suffer from it,” he said.

He emphasized that there was significant interest at North Star in Dubai for their invention, especially from Asian countries such as China and India, for introducing the product to their agricultural markets.

This was their first time at the Gitex fair in Dubai, and they have already signed several agreements with partners from India and South Korea for potential product distribution.

Neda Trifunović from the startup Reputeo explained that their platform is a type of search engine, like Google or GPT, focused on collecting data from open sources in the Web2 space.

“We gather news and information from social networks, media, forums, and portals, and apply AI sentiment analysis to this data. The idea is to provide real-time insights and inform users whether the data is positive, negative, or neutral, and how it might affect their business or products. How did we come up with the idea? Essentially, through direct conversations with users in the market and validating initial pilot products,” she said.

AISA AI, the world’s first AI SOC analyst, was developed by Reputeo and was recognized as one of the winners of the prestigious CyberE71 Challenge.

Expand North Star is an event that brings together the most advanced tech startups, leading global VC funds, investors, accelerators, and representatives of major technology companies.

This year’s edition concluded on October 15, gathering over 2,000 startups from around the world, representing more than 100 countries, nearly 1,000 investors, numerous exhibitors, and speakers from all over the world.

Serbian startups showcased at this year’s event included: NJUPPA, LenaAI, Baby FM, NegotiateWind, MyFlow, TRAKEN, Codekido, PuRe AI, Kampster AI, Reputeo, Sferikon, Smartsy, Ysource Solution, SEE UP, Athena AI Search, Silver Bell Group, CarSync, SpiceAds, EWD Technology, OROOK, and AgrO3.