Entrepreneurs for Global Change

BOLD Fellowship SerbiaThe BOLD Fellowship for Entrepreneurship is an intensive incubator program that provides aspiring entrepreneurs from Serbia with the necessary entrepreneurial know-how and leadership training to launch their ventures. The program, aimed at 18 to 25 year-olds residing in BiH with an early stage startup idea, provides its participants with practical skills based on lean startup methodology, in order to better refine their business ideas and develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Through a combination of virtual preparatory sessions, and in-person bootcamp in New York State, future founders develop a comparative understanding of entrepreneurial systems in the U.S. and in Serbia, and become exposed to a wide network of founders, diaspora members, and experts in the field of entrepreneurship, finance and business. With 25 fellows and two cohorts that completed the fellowship, the in-country scale and growth is fell underway for many of our alumni. Three MVPs have already been launched and are undergoing testing with 200+ subscribed users ( Eva Well-being, Nutsss, LunchPass). Three business ideas ( in the field of HealthTech ( LunchPass) , ClimateTech ( Solarise) , IoT (Canary) ) have raised funds in the amount of over $30 000 each. Additionally, the fellows continue to collaborate with each other and launch new projects, including Bold Girls, a peer-to-peer mentorship platform for aspiring entrepreneurs, Idea Nights, an idea generation workshop hosted by Student Ventures, and an untitled project that aims to combine entrepreneurship with diplomacy.BOLD Fellowship Bosnia and HerzegovinaThe BOLD Fellowship for Entrepreneurship is an intensive incubator program that provides aspiring entrepreneurs from Bosnia and Herzegovina with the necessary entrepreneurial know-how and leadership training to launch their ventures. The program, aimed at 18- to 25-year-olds residing in BiH with an early stage startup idea, provides its participants with practical skills based on lean startup methodology, in order to better refine their business ideas and develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Through a combination of virtual preparatory sessions, and in-person bootcamp in New York State, future founders develop a comparative understanding of entrepreneurial systems in the U.S. and in Serbia, and become exposed to a wide network of founders, diaspora members, and experts in the field of entrepreneurship, finance and business. Currently, the BiH alumni network comprises of 61 fellows. Across the 3 years, 15 MVPs have been launched ( some of the products include WheelFit, Explore Visoko, Ormaric). In 2023, three of BiH Fellows have been recipients of BOLD Small Grants ( with $15 000 being awarded per project), with ideas that further enhance SkiTech, and Security Tech. Over five additional projects have been launched through the collaboration of BOLD Fellows, including a crowd-funding platform for early stage startups, cleaning services platform, fruit delivery platform, and two separate teams are currently supporting the application development of each others ideas.BOLD Regional WorkshopThe BOLD Regional Workshops have gathered 52 participants across North Macedonia, Kosovo, and Serbia this year. The BOLD Workshop includes a combination of group-work sessions, collaborative workshops , lectures, and pitching events, with the aim of inspiring and empowering participants with a passion for entrepreneurship. BOLD Participants are 18 to 28 years old from across North Macedonia, Kosovo, and Serbia, with an interest for entrepreneurship, with ideal participants having a background in STEAM fields, business, finance, or entrepreneurship.Upon the completion of the BOLD Regional Workshops, one of the participants from Serbia ( Stevan Vrbaski) has recently been awarded 1st place at Startup Shower , with his Vinaver Medical startup. Additionally, many felt inspired to continue putting their entrepreneurial know-how to practice, with high school students from Kosovo ( Stina Pruthi, Onida Morina, Sara Shabani) opening their first entrepreneurial club at their local highschool, and one of the participants from North Macedonia ( Arrita Vrenezi) organising ad-hoc entrepreneurial meetups in Skopje.BOLD SummitThe first regional BOLD Summit gathered over 100 participants across BiH, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo and North Macedonia in Sjenica, Serbia. All participants have completed one of the BOLD Entrepreneurship or Civic Engagement Programs. The BOLD Summit was a transformative conference poised to inspire and showcase the work of BOLD program participants while fostering regional engagement and collaboration. Across four days, the participants had the opportunity to engage in over 12 sessions, interactive panel discussions, and informal gatherings. During the BOLD Summit, we had welcomed regional as well as international speakers and experts in the field of entrepreneurship, business, environmentalism, women empowerment, civic engagement, and activism. Some of the keynote speakers included Vladimir Vulic ( CEO of Digitalizuj.me, an international event speaker), Luka Babic ( CEO of Orgnostic) , and Elizabeth Allen ( Under-Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs).