PowerUP – Program for Innovative Small and Medium Enterprises and Startups from Western Balkans

Are you an innovative company in search of new ways to attract buyers and clients and improve your business model by making it more attractive to investors? Do you want to make visible results in a short amount of time, build resilience and continue your operations successfully even after the Covid-19 pandemic?

The PowerUP program will help you do so, while at the same time providing you with an opportunity to network with other companies, investors, successful entrepreneurs and representatives of corporations.

The World Bank, under its PowerUP: Capacity Building for Early Stage Firms in the Western Balkans program, is launching a dedicated program for more than 200 companies funded by the European Union under the Western Balkans Enterprise Development & Innovation Facility (WB EDIF) and implemented with the support of the eminent consulting firm Deloitte.

PowerUP is a free of charge program designed for SMEs and start-ups who are looking for new ways to attract customers, adapt their business models, and who are potentially interested in the outside investment. All selected participating companies will receive capacity building support and training package aimed at increasing their investment readiness and supporting their growth prospects and resilience to COVID-19 and similar external shocks. The capacity building program would provide valuable know-how and focus on the topics of customers and market, financial and internal performance, branding and pitching.

The Program is aimed to last from October 2020 until February 2021.

Around 100 best performing companies from the Program will be invited to compete in the “PowerUP Finals” in an attractive location in the Western Balkans in the month of March 2021 and showcase their business on stage to an exclusively invited group of angel investors, venture capitalists, experienced entrepreneurs, corporate and media representatives. All companies participating in the finals would receive significant exposure and recognition, as they would be promoted in the local and regional media.

Three best pitches will win the Western Balkan Entrepreneurial Excellence Award for different categories as well as exclusive, tailor-made business advisory support by local and regional experts from the world's largest consulting firm Deloitte.

The criteria for taking part in the program are:

– Firms should be legally incorporated and registered in one of the countries of Western Balkans (Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Montenegro);

– Firms should be operating for at least 1 year;

– Firms should have between 3-100 employees;

– Firms should be innovative and have a product/service that is generating revenue in at least one market and for which the firm is looking to boost sales;

– Firms may not engage in the production of alcohol, tobacco or arms (weapons), or related industries.

Interested SMEs and startups may apply at this link: www.deloitte.com/rs/powerup. For all additional questions, applicants may contact the organizers at [email protected].

Application deadline is September 30, 2020.

Deloitte Advisory d.o.o. Beograd

Svetska Banka-WB Beograd

Deloitte

World Bank

PowerUP

Western Balkan Entrepreneurial Excellence Award

Capacity Building for Early Stage Firms in the Western Balkans