Startups in Zagabria: ecosystem, companies and strengths
The small Adriatic hub with a big unicorn: Infobip put Zagreb on the global cloud communication map, and Rimac reinvented the electric supercar.
Why Zagabria matters in the European startup ecosystem
Zagreb is Croatia's main startup hub, a small country (4M people) that has produced remarkable results: Infobip became a unicorn worth over 1 billion dollars in B2B cloud communication, while Rimac Automobili — founded by a young engineer passionate about electric cars — first developed powertrains for Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin, then merged with Bugatti to create Bugatti Rimac. The Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (FER) is the reference technical university and produces European-level talent.
Why it works
- A few winners created a lot of credibility
- Competitive build cost
- Founders very oriented towards internationalisation
Historical growth
Zagreb built its brand around a few major Croatian champions, especially in communications and mobility. The ecosystem is small but relatively influential relative to the country's scale.
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Verne
Space tech company building satellite-based broadband infrastructure for global internet connectivity
Strengths of Zagabria
- Out-of-scale role models for the country
- Competitive talent cost
- Good international reputation of Croatian tech
- Seed has improved but remains limited in absolute terms. Scale rounds almost always require foreign or regional capital.
- Domestic demand is modest, so many startups are built for foreign markets. The local advantage is mainly team efficiency.
Weaknesses and limitations
- Small local market
- Limited local capital
- Strong dependence on a few large players
Key startups in Zagabria
Unicorns
Notable scaleups
Infobip
Croatian communication platform providing SMS, voice, email and messaging solutions for enterprises needing reliable customer engagement.
Microblink
Microblink, founded in 2013 in Zagreb, creates OCR and document recognition solutions. Its technologies (BlinkID, PhotoMath) are used by global apps for document scanning and solving math problems. It has raised about $6.5M in funding.
OptimoRoute
OptimoRoute, founded in 2015, provides SaaS software to optimize delivery routes and services across multiple vehicles. The solution reduces costs and delivery times for logistics and transportation companies.
Orqa
Orqa, founded in 2016 in Zagreb, develops high-quality FPV goggles for drone flying. Its products (goggles and transmission systems) are valued by the FPV community for their technological innovation.
Photomath
Photomath, founded in Zagreb in 2014, is a smartphone app that solves math problems by recognizing the equation with the camera. It has over 100 million users worldwide and is based on technology developed by Microblink.
Rimac Automobili
Rimac, founded in 2009 in Sveta Nedelja (Croatia), builds electric hypercars such as the Nevera and supplies advanced EV components. It partners with global brands (Porsche, Hyundai). In 2021 it went public as Rimac Group with a valuation exceeding €9 billion.
Rimac Group
Rimac Group is a unicorn-scale company with an indicative valuation of $2B. It operates in electric vehicles by building electric hypercar and EV technology group.
Supersport
SuperSport, founded in Zagreb (founding year unknown), is Croatia's largest sports betting and gaming group. It offers sports betting, casino and online gaming. In 2022 it was acquired by Entain (via EMMA Capital) for about €920 million.
Verne
Space tech company building satellite-based broadband infrastructure for global internet connectivity.
VCs, accelerators and key players
Accelerators
Hubs & campuses
Key universities
Key sectors in Zagabria
What we can learn
- Even small ecosystems can create global champions
- Role models matter even more in peripheral markets