More than 1,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and tech leaders from over 30 countries gathered in Skopje, Macedonia for the inaugural Startup AI Revolution Summit, a four-day event that organizers and attendees hailed as a turning point for the Balkan startup ecosystem.
Organized by Startup Club Skopje under the leadership of Sasho Jovanovski, the summit featured more than 80 speakers and showcased over 200 startups. Participants described the event as “world-class” and a clear signal that the region is ready to compete on a global stage.
Startup Club Skopje, the country’s central entrepreneurship hub, supports innovative projects throughout their lifecycle and serves as a mentoring platform for the next generation of founders.
Panels highlighted regional success stories, including Skopje-based HeyReach.io, founded by Nick Velkovski. The SaaS company has gained international traction by solving real-world problems with disciplined execution — proof, attendees said, that globally competitive products can emerge from the Balkans without founders relocating abroad.
Other notable speakers included Ilija Ivanovski, Gorjan Jovanovski, Svetlana Kordumova, Dimitar Chukovski, Katerina Mingovska, Emil Tabakov, Bojan Matovski, Peter Bruner, Romana Jocic, Stjepan Zelić, Ralitsa Ivanova, Nikola Sokolov, Marko Scepanovic, Jerry Naumoff, Kevin Chavanne, and Chrysovalantis (Val) D. Koutsoumpos, among dozens of others.
Igor Madjov, a longtime regional connector, facilitated investor-founder conversations and delivered actionable feedback. Zaid Nabulsi of Google brought structured insights on scaling, while Francesca Hodgson, MBA, added depth on international best practices.
On the 3d day of the event, a dedicated panel examined capital flow and the growing role of women investors in Europe’s startup scene. Moderated by Sanja Mitrovska (founder of The Founder Games), the session featured, Milena Milić, community builder at Garaža, Liora Bet-halachmi, international expert in women’s economic leadership, Serena Leka, EIT Ambassador and innovation consultant, Elena Hadzi Pecova, manager at CEED Business Club Macedonia.
Attendees and organizers paid tribute to behind-the-scenes contributors who consistently support the ecosystem, including Vasko Karangeleski, Eli Zhabevska, Gogo Rafajlovski, Belizar Marinov, Vladimir Trajkovik, Milena Milić, Günce Önür, Riste Mise, and many others.
Participants left the summit with a shared conviction: events that bring together founders from North Macedonia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Albania, Croatia, and beyond — not as separate nationalities but as Balkan innovators — are essential for regional growth.
“If this was the first edition,” one attendee remarked, “the bar has already been set extraordinarily high for everything that follows.”
The Startup AI Revolution Summit concluded with widespread calls for more cross-border collaboration and a stronger, unified Balkan voice in global technology and entrepreneurship.
For more similar news and reports go to the home page of The Gignomist