New technologies, trends discussed at Future 4.0 conference
The conference, hosted by Saša Inkubator, a company offering support and business advice to startups, aims to connect startups from the Balkans with corporations which are looking for innovative solutions.
Mateja Lavrič, the CEO of Kolektor Ventures, a startup platform of the Kolektor group, said Kolektor had started cooperating with startups four years ago.
"We are investing in exponent technologies and startups with know-how in artificial intelligence, simulation models and robotics for industrial use. There are not so many startups as we would have wanted, so we support events such as Future 4.0," she said.
Lavrič explained the group was also cooperating with startups in which it had not invested, especially those offering solutions for smart factories.
Sole trader Seudin Softić from Velenje, a former employee of the household appliance maker Gorenje, started his own business in automation and engineering last year. He has developed a robot for Plastika Skaza, a fast-growing family company specialising in plastic products, which replaced two workers.
He started a company in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, this year, and also plans to open a robotics centre there to connect the engineering faculty with local business. He believes this could prevent young people from leaving the country.
He thinks Slovenia is saturated with automation and robotics, having 162 companies from this field, while Bosnia-Herzegovina only has three.
Softić is also in talks with the Velenje municipality on the setting up of a technological and development part in which foreign investors would also be involved.