Back Virtual incubator program for SME’s
Identification details
Official title of the project Virtual incubator program for SME’s
Website www.virtualbic.rs /
Region/City Pomoravlje, Sumadija
Sector(s) Employment training , Regional Development, SMEs
Budget / EC contribution 142,045.00 €
Implementation period 01 January 2009 - 01 January 2011
Expected results
  • Developed and functional Virtual Incubator Program; web portal is activated, virtual offices established; best practice from the EU incubator applied;
  • Built capacity of BIC staff to manage and to expand the activities and the reach of the Virtual Incubator Program;
  • Developed and established IT training centre to fulfill the needs of SME’s, potential VIP clients and graduates;
  • Developed, customized and delivered a set of modules on entrepreneurship for students and graduates and;
  • Organized competition for best entrepreneurial student idea
Beneficiary Biznis inovacioni centar d.o.o. Kragujevac
Partners City of Kragujevac,Serbian; Faculty of Economics, Serbian; Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Serbian; General association of entrepreneurs „Sloga“, Serbian; Faculty of Law, Serbian;
Contact details
  • Dragan Rankovic
  • Project Manager
Summary
Summary of the project
(up to 1500 characters) 		There are unfavorable indicators of economic activity of the Sumadija and Pomoravlje region, specifically high unemployment rate, low level of SME development, b high mortality rate of start-up companies as well as insufficient level of cooperation between the industry and the university. The high mortality rate of start-up SME’s in the region is mainly caused by high overhead costs and insufficient funds for the development of products, services and markets. The project will apply a unique approach and create such business support service to the SME sector which will decrease the initial costs of SME’s and minimizing the threat of failure in start-up phase. In general, VIP for SME’s is designed as web based service and resource centre for the support in growth and development of start ups, spin-offs and the existing businesses without geographical constraints. This approach significantly reduces the overhead costs and enables companies to grow and become more competitive.
Main goal of the project
(up to 800 characters) 		Improvement of business related infrastructure in order to support the development of existing and creation of new enterprises and to contribute to reduction of unemployment in the region of Sumadija and Pomoravlje;
Specific objectives
(up to 800 characters)
  • To establish a functional Virtual Incubator Program (VIP) for SMEs and students with a focus on interactive web portal and IT training center;
  • To exchange best practices with the partnering EU incubator through knowledge transfer;
  • To build the capacity of partners to support the improvement of business infrastructure through customized training and networking activities
  • To develop a mechanism for creating startup companies to be founded by graduates from the local university