Promising Women Startups in the Western Balkans
Women startups seem to be blooming in the Western Balkans lately. This is a positive sign considering that women represent half of the region's human capital.
However, the region has a huge gender gap in economic participation. According to some sources, it is the second largest worldwide and showing slow progress so far.
Why women startups matter?
Data shows that:
- only one in four of business owners in the Western Balkans are women,
- 38% of young women are unemployed,
- one in two women in Western Balkans is out of the labour market,
- just one in nine top managers of companies are women.
The gender employment gap as the difference between the employment rates of men and women aged 20-64 in the region is 12.9 to 28.7 percent lower than that of men.
Women-led startups from the Western Balkans
Success stories of women startups from the Western Balkans cover various fields from education to green solutions. Four women startups from the region we present here incorporate fresh ideas into their businesses.
On the path of democratising taste
Rubi is a women run cake industry business based in Tirana, Albania. This women startup is transforming the food industry in Albania by creating a brand that appeals not only to people’s appetite but also to their cultural appetite.
Rubi is challenging the old established industry mainly concerned with lowering prices and replacing natural flavors with artificial ingredients.
Ingrid Xhaja is the Rubi's founder and owner. This inspirational woman decided to turn her career on its head after 14 years in marketing and focus on her passion: food.
Food Sparking Connections
Rubi’s mission “Together we can democratise taste” has sparked interest for the company. It intrigued the public to look into how the food sparks connections, engages conversations, and creates ideas that address bigger issues.
Ingrid has interesting take on this:
When the Internet came along, food became a movement fueled by free conversation, where taste shifted from being the property of the few to the province of the many.
The story goes beyond cakes with raising awareness about high quality food ingredients, and making a cultural appreciation of food worldwide.
Women startup studio Galora Media
Galora Media is a graphic design startup studio based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The studio is applying behavioral science to customer experience offering wide range of software design and development services.
Yahoo Finance has listed Galora Media as one of the 4 Digital Marketing Trends to Watch in 2022!
Kanita Polimac is the owner of the company, a young woman engaged in versatile fields from arts to sports. She is one of those talented people who built a business despite unfavourable business circumstances.
Through her NGO activism, she educated young people in the field of human rights, freedom of speech in the media, and protection against hate speech and discrimination on the Internet. After working for many companies, she started Galora Media d.o.o.
The company's focus is on IT and photo/video production of materials intended for the domestic and international market.
Galora Media is currently on its way to becoming globally accessible by following new trends.
Edtech startup focusing on children
An innovative approach to education has been adopted and further developed by a Kosovo* edtech startup Labbox.
This women startup produces electronic devices for children aged 8 to 15 to learn programming, math, engineering, electronics and mechanics at home through a monthly subscription.
Each set is created based on a STEM program certified by Cognia, one of the most important accreditation institutions for educational programs worldwide.
The founder of Labbox, Arta Zaimi claims that the idea about the company originated while she was searching for a solution that would solve both the difficulty of teaching and understanding the complex scientific fields.
Labbox manufactures electronic blocks that allow children to learn STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) intuitively. Children can learn at home based on a monthly subscription.
The startup advocates education in STEM from an early age since children’s mathematical thinking is developing strongly starting at the age of 8.
Smart nano garden
UrbiGo is a Serbian intelligent nano garden situated in the beautiful Science Technology Park Belgrade. The idea of connecting experience in software and hardware engineering, landscape architecture/biology and marketing resulted in UrbiGo idea.
The urban way of life in the cities made it impossible for the inhabitants to grow their own fruits and vegetables in their homes. UrbiGo enables urban dwellers to do just that with technology that makes indoor gardening easy.
At the helm of this innovative green women startup is Anja Varničić, an environmental scientist, the founder and CEO. The company’s vision reflects an idea to create a world where the latest technology and irreplaceable nature stand side by side creating both, a smart and a green device for home users.
UrbiGo smart nano garden uses 4 recyclable plant capsules to grow plants in their own home. Each capsule has all the needed nutrients for plants to grow in just a few days.
All capsules are synchronized with the UrbiGo app in real-time. This offers users a step-by-step guidance about the plants' growth cycle.
Through the UrbiGo app, the users can control the water, temperature and light in their garden. Finally, they can also share experiences with others.
offering a variety of starter packages with seeds.