Public Call
KATAPULT ACCELERATION PROGRAM IS OPEN
A new opportunity for new challenges
In order to strengthen the startup community in Serbia, the Innovation Fund has launched a new acceleration program "Katapult", which will provide mentoring and financial support to companies through intensive training and networking with investors. Katapult wants to help innovative growth-oriented companies position themselves in the global market, as well as to improve their business development capacities by which they will increase the possibility of attracting private investment.
The acceleration program is open to all innovative companies that are in the early stages of product development and market conquest, as well as companies with proven market traction that aim to accelerate their growth and raise additional funding. Applications from companies in all fields of science and technology, as well as the industrial sector, are submitted through the Katapult portal by December 6, 2021 at 3:00 p.m.
In the first phase of acceleration, Katapult offers an intensive three-month mentoring program and provides financial support in the form of grants from 20,000 to 50,000 euros. After the first phase, companies that provide a qualified investment within nine months from the end of the acceleration, have additional financial support through a Co-Investment Grant in the amount of a qualified investment, and a maximum of 300,000 euros per company.
Funds for the implementation of the Katapult program in the total amount of seven million euros by 2024 are provided on the basis of a Loan Agreement between the Republic of Serbia (Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development) and the World Bank through the "Serbia Accelerating Innovation and Growth Entrepreneurship Project" which is dedicated to strengthening innovative entrepreneurship and scientific research in Serbia. Additional technical assistance in the implementation of the program is provided by the World Bank, and is financed by the European Union.