Ljubljana, 3 December 2025 – Forum 100 % Start:up 2025 highlighted opportunities for Slovenian startups in 2026

Over 180 entrepreneurs, investors, mentors, and ecosystem representatives gathered at LjubljanaTech for the annual central meeting of the Slovenian startup community. The event confirmed that 2026 will bring new funding instruments, strengthened support for global ambitions, and programs to help startups thrive in the age of AI.

 

Vision of the state: “The startup ecosystem must become a driver of global growth”

Matevž Frangež from the Ministry of Economy, Tourism and Sport opened the forum, highlighting Slovenia’s bottom-up startup strategy with five strategic initiatives. His message was clear: the goal is to position Slovenia among Europe’s leading startup ecosystems, with well-defined actions for achieving it. He also reviewed progress so far, current challenges, and upcoming programs and incentives that will support startups in 2026.

 

Full house at LjubljanaTech

Fresh capital and new programs in 2026

Key programs for entrepreneurs were presented:

 

Slovene Enterprise Fund (Slovenski podjetniški sklad) – Manfred Lepej and Ana Vele:

• P2 2026 – €72,000 in grants for early-stage startups, expected February

• Accelerator programs and mentoring under Razvojni Plus

• Vouchers for various support services and additional funding for mature startups

• Info: podjetniskisklad.si and razvojniplus.podjetniskisklad.si 

Ana Vele, Slovene Enterprise Fund

Slovenian Intellectual Property Office – Barbara Režun:

• IP Management Clinic, a comprehensive program to protect and manage intellectual property, open until January 2026

• WIPO IP diagnostic tool and startup IP guide

• Info: gov.si.

SPIRIT Slovenia – Vladimir Milovanović:

• International delegations for startups to events like Startup Grind (San Francisco), ViennaUP, How to Web, and Slush

• Support for domestic startup events and the Slovenian startup database

• Info: spiritslovenia.si.  

 

Additional €10 million for top team

Slovenian Technology fund (Slovenski tehnološki sklad) has directed an extra €10 million to Silicon Gardens Fund and Tivoli Partners, enabling investments in high-growth Slovenian tech startups. The additional capital is fully managed by these funds, allowing entrepreneurs to approach them directly. According to Krešo Gotovac from Silicon Gardens, the new funds will support even more investments, with criteria unchanged: they seek ambitious teams developing solutions for the global market with clear differentiation and significant market potential. Taja Benčina from the startup Realtracing, which received both a P2 grant from SPS and an equity investment from Silicon Gardens, emphasized the importance of having multiple funding sources in the early stages. She explained that the combination of the P2 grant and Silicon Gardens investment allowed her team to accelerate development and validate their product in the market much faster, giving them a clear daily advantage.

 

Taja Benčina, Nina Urbanič and Krešo Gotovac

AI as a driver of competitiveness: from hype to tangible results

The second part of the program focused on artificial intelligence, a topic set to strongly influence startup competitiveness in 2026. Three AI innovators shared how they developed their products and built competitive advantages using AI. Jure Sotošek created the ClozerAI platform based on his experience with ParakeetAI. Andrej P. Škraba, originally a mathematics teacher on YouTube, developed one of Europe’s fastest-growing AI tutoring platforms, using AI to improve learning quality and personalization. Dragoslav Radin presented the global perspective of DevRev, where AI is not a supplementary tool but the foundation for connecting product, development, and support teams. Speakers highlighted real opportunities for AI in startups, as well as limitations such as hallucinations, pedagogical accuracy, and other technological constraints.

 

They concluded that a product alone is never enough for market success; effective distribution and user acquisition are equally critical. Jure developed a highly efficient marketing system based on short video content, while Astra AI leveraged Andrej’s existing YouTube audience as an initial user base.

 

Intellectual property in the AI era: new rules of the game

The next panel addressed ownership of AI-generated results and legal risks for startups. Mojca Pečar from the Slovenian Intellectual Property Office explained the legislative framework, describing when AI-generated content can be considered copyrightable and how human creative contribution is determined. Teja Pirnat from Iperia discussed how these rules translate into contracts and highlighted obligations introduced by the AI Act, including traceability and data source requirements. The panel also explored protection of models, code, and datasets, differences between patents, copyrights, and trade secrets, and common mistakes startups make. GDPR compliance was discussed, emphasizing the risks of processing personal data and the importance of a ‘privacy by design’ approach.

 

The key takeaway was that companies should engage legal counsel early in development to avoid many pitfalls associated with AI technologies.
 

Forum 100 % Start:up 2025 confirmed its role as the ecosystem hub

The event closed with active networking, discussions with investors, mentors, and accelerators, and the first connections for teams seeking funding, partnerships, and global growth in 2026. Many participants left with new contacts, practical advice, and concrete information to advance their startup ideas.

 

Organizers

The forum was organized by Tovarna podjemov (Start:up Slovenia) in cooperation with Slovene Enterprise Fund and the Ministry of Economy, Tourism and Sport.

 

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The program is co-financed by the Republic of Slovenia and the European Union, specifically from the European Regional Development Fund. It is implemented based on the program ‘Substantive support for faster global and sustainable growth of innovative SMEs (DevelopmentPlus Program)’ within the framework of the Slovenia’s EU Cohesion Policy Programme 2021-2027.