On February 17th, at the ‘Tonin Harapi’ Concert Hall in Tirana, 10 student start-up teams which have been part of the first Tirana Inc. pilot programme, got to pitch their business ideas in the final Demo Day. Their audience were EU and Member States Ambassadors, Minister of State for the Protection of Entrepreneurship, the Mayor of Tirana, university and private sector representatives, innovation ecosystem actors, friends and family.
European Union in Albania Ambassador, Luigi Soreca, congratulated the teams and stated: “Tirana Inc. is a project which couldn’t be more in the interest of the up-and-coming Albanian youth, also grasping the fabulous opportunity given Tirana European Youth Capital 2022.”
Speaking as one of the members of Team Europe, German Ambassador, Peter Zingraf affirmed that Tirana Inc. is a shining example of the major progress that has been achieved in the innovation and start-up ecosystem since 2018, and with the support of the capacity development provided by GIZ Albania as implementers of the EU for Innovation project.
From the 10-presenting student startups, the experts jury awarded the top-three start-ups: Rent Now, Bite in Bytes, Click Home, with money prizes of respectively 2500 Euros, sponsored by ALBtelecom Albania, 1500 Euros, provided by Credins Bank and 1000 Euros including a workspace, given by Tirana Business Park.
Other prizes providing mentoring and consultancy, workspace, tickets to international conferences and technical tools, were handed to the start-ups by partners of Tirana Inc. and ecosystem actors such as Business Mag Albania, innospace TIRANA, Innovation Investment Fund, Cloud68, Coolab, PwC Albania and Kosovo etc.
The Demo Day was the successful grand finale of the Tirana Inc. pilot programme, a 12-week marathon in entrepreneurship, powered by EU for Innovation and implemented by GIZ with the support of Preneurz. Amsterdam. The 1st multi-university incubator in Albania, strives to continue its support for ambitious student teams with great business ideas in the years to come and become the number one destination for young entrepreneurs aiming to kick-start their own companies.
If you missed yesterday’s event, watch it here: https://fb.watch/bfjScQX68a/
