Serbia got its first "unicorn" last week. startup which is worth more than a billion dollars. Despite the fact that these are mostly small companies that are sometimes completely dependent on external financing, and need to go through several stages of childhood diseases, that is, the development of the company, they contribute to the GDP of the country in which they are developing with their new approach and technologies, and they also hire local labor.
This is how the only unicorn in Serbia works for now - Ominimo with headquarters in Cyprus, but also branches in Hungary and Serbia. writes the New Economy. In Serbia, the company operates through development centers in Novi Sad and Belgrade, where young, local engineers work.
But their product is sold in other countries, and the company does not generate profit here. Therefore, it does not contribute to the Serbian GDP as much as it could if these services were available in Serbia. The owner of this startup, Dušan Komar, himself said in several interviews that the regulations in Serbia need to be changed in order for such a thing to happen, as well as the establishment of the rule of law, reduction of bureaucracy, tax relief and a more flexible Law on foreign exchange operations. It is therefore clear that Serbia has capable young engineers who are significantly ahead of the outdated state bureaucracy and offer such modern solutions that they are bought in the world, but not in the domestic market.
And what about other countries in the region and do they use the technological progress of these companies to improve their own economies?
Slovenia has four "unicorns"
Slovenia is recognized as a regional leader in the Adria region with a total of four startups that have reached "unicorn" status, i.e. a value exceeding one billion US dollars. These successes are the result of different strategic paths — from self-funding and viral ideas to global mergers and technology acquisitions.
Among the most prominent examples is the company Outfit7, the creator of the game "Talking Tom", which started with modest savings and a 3D model of a cat bought for just $90, only to be sold to Chinese investors in 2017 for a billion dollars. Httpool, on the other hand, has been organically building a digital advertising network for over two decades, becoming part of a billion-dollar system through integration with Aleph Group as a partner to giants like TikTok and Microsoft.
Startups created from engineering talent and student ideas have also been successful. Zemanta developed a platform for automated ad leasing, and they confirmed their unicorn status through the strategic acquisition and IPO of the parent company Outbrain. Klika is an engineering base from Ljubljana that has become a key development center for the global leader in sports data, Sportradar, which today serves the NBA and Google.
Croatia has 2 unicorns
Infobip and Rimac. Croatia built its successes on diametrically opposite models.
For 14 years, Infobip grew exclusively by reinvesting its own income before its first external investment, while the Rimac group, which produces electric super sports cars, from the beginning attracted huge foreign capital and partnerships with auto giants such as Porsche and Hyundai. Today, these two companies make up an impressive 4,1 percent of the total Croatian GDP. Rimac cemented its unicorn status with the takeover of the famous Bugatti brand and an investment round of 500 million euros in 2022.
The key success factors for all these companies were precisely the global focus, which was also the idea of the Serbian unicorn Ominimo, which deals with price optimization in the insurance industry.
The products have been adjusted to world standards from day one, because the domestic market is too small. The practice of employees getting shares in the company has created hundreds of financially empowered professionals who are now launching their own projects. Successful founders directly invest money and knowledge in the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Profit is global.
Startups from Slovenia and Croatia make their profits primarily on the global market, because from the first day they adapted their products to world standards, aware that the markets of Croatia and the Balkans are too small for their growth. They thought in a similar way in Ominim. Although they are deeply rooted in their home countries, their operations are distinctly international.
The impressive share in GDP achieved by Croatian startup companies is of enormous importance for the domestic economy. However, Infobip provides services to global clients such as Uber and Meta, while Rimac cooperates with global auto giants such as Porsche and Hyundai.
Httpool from Slovenia has organically built its network and opened offices in more than 60 countries around the world, acting as an intermediary for global giants like TikTok, Microsoft and Meta in different markets. Outfit7 (Talking Tom) has been a global viral hit since its inception, focusing on mobile apps and franchising the brand around the world.
The technology developed at the Ljubljana agency Klika (now part of Sportradar) is used to process sports statistics used by world bookmakers, as well as media such as Google and the NBA. Zemanta, acquired by American Outbrain, has become part of a system that functions as a global content recommendation platform.
So, while these startups contribute significantly to the economies of Slovenia and Croatia through GDP and the employment of local engineers (e.g. Ljubljana is the main technological development center for Sportradar), their primary markets and sources of income are abroad. For now, the same is true in Serbia for the first unicorn in the startup domain.
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