Balkan Business Brief

Breaking barriers to build dreams: The GapApp success story

Experience in providing legal and compliance consulting services to international clients, while recognizing common workflows in every consulting service, regardless of geography, area of law, and/or compliance, along with the ability to empathize with the pain points directly, motivated Stefan Dejanovic and Srdjan Dejanovic from Serbia to start building GapApp.io .

GapApp is a platform that automates and scales legal and compliance consulting services. Its primary feature is an innovative approach to engage clients with the client's brand and services, all while saving valuable non-billable time. The platform is utilized by law firms, tax advisory companies, and other consultancies in the professional services sector. While their primary focus is on legal and compliance consulting services, they are also actively exploring opportunities in additional verticals within the consulting industry.

When it comes to questions about challenges, Stefan and Srdjan explained that in an early-stage startup with global aspirations, every milestone is a significant challenge, especially when you're starting from a small and undeveloped market. In the first 10 months of their journey, they developed the product, tested it, onboarded market leaders in the SEE region as their first paying customers, secured their first funding, and received recognition from a Tier 1 Accelerator backed by the World Bank and the European Union—Katapult Accelerator. They also onboarded market-leading law firms and companies from across the EMEA region as users. Based on their early success, they moved the company headquarters to London, United Kingdom, where they achieved even more and secured funding from SFC Capital, a Tier 1 UK VC for early-stage startups. Furthermore, they were accepted into the "Law Tech Bridge" Accelerator, an official UK government initiative focused on innovation in the legal sector, backed by the Ministry of Justice UK and managed by LegalGeek and CodeBase. GapApp has been shortlisted by the TLTF Summit Selection Committee as a top legal tech startup globally, which will be showcased at the TLTF Summit 2023 in Miami, Florida. The story doesn't end here. Currently, Srdjan and Stefan are concentrating on the CEE and UK markets, but their ultimate goal is to expand across the entire EMEA region and eventually enter the US market.

With immense success and valuable experience, Stefan has a message for brave entrepreneurs who are just starting their journey or are halfway through it: "The startup journey is far less glamorous than it appears from the outside. Building something from zero that is truly innovative and that can disrupt the industry's status quo feels, most of the time, like fighting gravity. It is probably the single most challenging thing in business, and it affects all aspects of the founder's life, mostly because you often take on this challenge with little or no material resources. However, it is possible and that is enough reason to try and give it your all. At the end of the day, never forget that it has been done so many times before and people who have done it are not smarter than you."

Skopje and Sarajevo are the best cities for digital nomads

Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, there have been significant changes in how people work and travel. Working from home has become commonplace, and the digital nomad lifestyle has gained immense popularity. Recently, Time Out, a renowned British magazine, partnered with travel experts from Norton Finance, a credit company, to evaluate European cities based on the opportunities and advantages they offer to digital nomads. Notably, Skopje, North Macedonia, has claimed the title of the best European city for digital nomads, with Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, securing the second spot, and Chisinau, Moldova, coming in third.

Norton Finance's team of travel experts assessed 184 countries, scrutinizing factors such as average rent, utilities, transportation, food, gym and internet expenses, in addition to the cost of return flights from the UK. According to Time Out magazine, what propelled Skopje to the top spot is its accessibility, its rising status as a tourist destination, the affordability of street food, and the remarkably lower cost of public transportation, which is eight times less expensive compared to similar services in London. The primary reason Sarajevo clinched the second position is the reasonable rental rates for one-bedroom apartments in the city center, averaging around 275 euros per month. Sofia and Bucharest claimed the fourth and fifth spots, with Belgrade following closely in sixth place.

In a single move, the American company enters the markets of 16 European countries

The American company Beam Global, a prominent provider of innovative, sustainable products and technologies for electric vehicle (EV) charging, energy storage, and energy security, has announced its agreement to acquire shares in the company Amiga based in Kraljevo, Serbia. Amiga is a leading manufacturer of specialized infrastructure and equipment for street lighting, communication, and energy systems, and it operates in 16 markets. This transaction, valued at approximately 10 million euros, is expected to conclude at the start of the fourth quarter of 2023, at which point Amiga d.o.o. will be rebranded as Beam Europe. By acquiring this Serbian company, Beam Global has expanded its reach into 16 new markets, creating opportunities for increased revenue growth. Simultaneously, the acquired company will gain the potential to diversify its product offerings and incorporate innovations, including new infrastructure solutions for EV charging powered by renewable energy sources.

Key takeaways on Serbia's startup ecosystem from the Splet Tech conference

The second Splet Tech conference, organized by the "Take the idea" project and "Serbia innovates," was recently held in Belgrade. The event brought together more than 120 local and international speakers who conducted a series of lectures, workshops, and insightful panel discussions. The enthusiastic response from participants exceeded the organizers' expectations, and in collaboration with their speakers and guests, several crucial aspects of Serbia's startup ecosystem were highlighted.

Among the identified pain points for Serbian startups, issues like business development, sales, and soft skills were emphasized, leading to this year's workshops being dedicated to these topics. The speakers commended Serbia's progress in the Global Innovation Index, moving from the 55th to the 53rd position, indicating positive development in the startup ecosystem. The significance of regional collaboration and teamwork was also stressed as essential factors for further progress and joint efforts to attract investments. Additionally, the speakers encouraged entrepreneurs not only to follow new trends but to anticipate and actively leverage them. Beyond these topics, discussions covered startup financing, the role of venture capital funds, their accessibility, and tax policies related to the innovative ecosystem.