Understanding entrepreneurship can be extremely challenging. It’s a complex reality that reaches its full potential only when a healthy startup ecosystem is in place. With this in mind, we aim to shed light on entrepreneurship in Central and Eastern Europe and suggest practical ways to improve the current situation and leverage existing opportunities.
The main focus of our research, i.e. entrepreneurship in Central and Eastern Europe, is far from being easy to write about: it’s subject to constant change and existing sources of information are not always reliable and often are not free from bias. This is why NOVA (Lisbon) and Bar Ilan University (Tel Aviv) have joined forces to develop a unique methodology of ad hoc questionnaires and surveys aiming to debunk some myths and endorse the facts.
After being exposed to a thorough overview of investment trends, private and public funds, policies and key players in the Slovenian, Czech and Romanian territories, you’ll be taken on a tour deep inside the ecosystems, exploring them through the eyes of the stakeholders. The unique research methodology adopted for this report has brought us face-to-face with the reality entrepreneurs live in and experience when starting and developing their venture, thus allowing us to take a peek into their minds and see their ecosystems from their perspective. It soon became obvious why we also had to map those ecosystems: to draw some conclusions, we needed to see whether perceptions matched reality.
By combining both quantitative and qualitative data, it’s been possible to identify the demands and needs startups have to satisfy to increase their growth potential. Thanks to this approach, not only have we been able to identify what we’ve called the ‘capability gaps’ but have also come up with suggestions as to how connectivity can be increased and opportunities among countries be created.
Hoping to trigger discussions and cooperation at the local, national and international levels, we are certain you’ll see the growth potential and opportunities Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Slovenia hold for you.