A few weeks ago, UNCHAIN’s second Demo Day wrapped. The event brought together some of the brightest minds in fintech from across Central Eastern Europe (CEE), with participants from Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia.
The purpose of each Demo Day is clear: to connect startups with investors, foster innovation, and showcase the incredible talent in the region. Startups pitched their ideas to a panel of seasoned investors, and the agenda was packed into a concise session, including pitching sessions, Q&A roundtables, and fireside chats.
Welcome Address
The second Demo Day kicked off with an enthusiastic welcome from the host and a short presentation of the attendees. The host emphasized the significance of Demo Day as part of the larger Unchained Fintech Festival, highlighting its role in fostering connections and driving innovation in Central Eastern Europe (CEE) fintech ecosystem.
The main purpose of these demo days is to create engagement of the multiple ecosystems among fintech startups and investors from multiple countries.
The host described the event as “basically like a CEE tour” aimed at building networks and fostering business growth before the main festival. Participants were excited about the upcoming pitches and the valuable insights from investors – all happening in a culturally diverse online environment.
It will be very interesting because the cultural differences between the countries are very interesting, and if you can see the insights that those investors have when they invest, especially in startups from different countries.
Startup Pitches
The heart of Demo Day was the startup pitches, where entrepreneurs from Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia showcased their ideas.
From Croatia 🇭🇷, Matija Nakic, the co-founder and CEO of Farseer, kicked off the pitching session with his startup, Farseer. Describing Farseer as “Airtable for finance,” Matija highlighted the platform’s ability to automate processes for finance teams, reducing their reliance on spreadsheets and legacy solutions.
Farseer gives finance teams the building blocks to build and automate all their processes – from invoicing to closing, planning, reporting, and financial consolidation. Think of Farseer as Excel built for the enterprise—a spreadsheet in the front, and a powerful analytical engine in the back.
With 42 customers and an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of 700K, Farseer plans to expand its market reach and continue developing its platform.
Next up was Adrian Stavljenic🇭🇷, the founder of UniNet, who presented a bold vision for a new internet infrastructure. UniNet is a decentralized storage and computing platform designed to improve user experience, privacy, security, and credibility.
UniNet is a concept of a new internet and a new way that we live our lives through the digital era. Our goal is to create a system where we will be able to create fully automated, self-manageable businesses.
Adrian emphasized UniNet’s potential to redefine data transfer and storage, aiming for scalability and security with the ability to handle quadrillions of transactions per second.
From Serbia 🇷🇸, Dusan Bobicic, the founder of Uplati.rs, shared his journey of solving a real-life problem with his digital payment request platform. Inspired by a personal need to transfer money easily, Uplati allows users to create digital payment requests and share them via a link.
Uplati.rs was born from necessity and built for convenience. It’s a free online application that allows you to create digital payment requests and share them with others via a link.
Dusan highlighted the platform’s simplicity and ease of use, drawing comparisons to established solutions like Revolut but tailored for the Serbian market.
The final pitch came from Slovenia’s 🇸🇮 Ales Furlanic, the founder of Insure.Cap. This startup aims to transform risk management through algorithmically driven augmented underwriting, using AI and computer vision to provide comprehensive coverage.
Our solution is very simple: just take a snap, an image, and receive the insurance coverage. AI agentic capability will perform and execute tasks in the backend.
Ales showcased Insure.Cap’s innovative approach to insurance, leveraging AI to streamline the underwriting process and improve risk assessment.
After each pitching session, the startups brought unique and innovative solutions to the table, making the competition fierce and the investors’ decisions difficult.
The Qualities of a Promising Startup: Challenges and Opportunities
The fireside chat during Demo Day 2024 provided a platform for investors to share their perspectives on investing in fintech startups across the CEE region. This discussion offered valuable insights into the cultural and regulatory challenges that startups face and highlighted the strategies investors use to navigate these complexities.
One of the key themes discussed was the impact of cultural differences on investment decisions and startup operations. The CEE region encompasses a diverse range of cultures, each with its own business practices and market behaviors. Mili Ibrulj from Fil Rouge Capital 🇭🇷 mentioned:
We are an extremely small market from a global standpoint. For the investors, especially if they are regionally oriented, it makes no sense to divide countries in such a way because then you would lose a pool of potential startups to invest in.
Peter Merc from Suricate Ventures 🇸🇮 added:
I don’t see cultural fit as an obstacle. Where I see a challenge is in regulated businesses, like fintech or insurtech, where different countries have different regulatory frameworks.
Regulatory environments vary widely across the CEE region, posing challenges for fintech startups looking to expand their operations. Peter Merc added that regulatory frameworks can pose serious obstacles, especially for startups from countries outside the EU regulatory framework.
The problem is if you have a country or a startup from, let’s say, Serbia, which is outside of the monetary union and the EU regulatory framework, there I see obstacles.
Bojan Jovic from TS Ventures 🇷🇸 pointed out that regulatory differences can be mitigated by setting up operations in more favorable jurisdictions.
Many startups set up their companies in different areas and states like Ireland or Dubai to avoid regulatory traps.
But despite these challenges, investors emphasized the importance of the founder’s ambition and vision alongside the innovation of the product itself. Tina Kastrevc from South Central Ventures 🇸🇮 highlighted the importance of early-stage support.
The relationship starts before we wire the money. For us, it’s connecting them with what we think might be a potential good ICP [Ideal Customer Profile] and then going from there.
Mili Ibrulj highlighted that while technical strength and market fit are crucial, the determination and boldness of the founders are what truly make a startup stand out.
The most important thing is the founders themselves and their ambitions. For us, it’s crucial to understand how different the startups are compared to tons of similar platforms out there currently.
This sentiment was echoed throughout the event, with investors looking for founders who not only have a great idea but also the drive to see it through and scale it effectively.
Bojan Jovic emphasized that while there is substantial innovation, there is also a need for further development and adoption of fintech solutions.
It’s really about the maturity of the market. We’re still a young market, trying to adopt new options that we see abroad.
Investors noted that startups need to be flexible and creative in their approach to overcome regulatory and market challenges. Despite them, the CEE region has a strong talent pool and a culture of innovation.
The startups showcased at Demo Day demonstrated creative solutions to pressing financial issues, reflecting the region’s potential. That being said, the future of fintech in the CEE region looks promising.
There is huge potential for greater collaboration between countries in the region. By sharing resources, knowledge, and networks, fintech startups can overcome market limitations and drive regional growth.
As the CEE fintech landscape continues to evolve, events like Demo Day and UNCHAIN Fintech Festival will play a vital role in connecting startups with investors and facilitating the exchange of ideas. With continued support and collaboration, the CEE region can become a powerhouse in the global fintech arena.
