SILICON GARDENS

2021
2022

The State of
Adria Tech

FINANCING IN

Slovenia

FINANCING IN

Croatia

FINANCING IN

Serbia

Uncovering the state of Adria tech ecosystem

Internationalization:

3 countries

collaborating

For the first time, Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia are collaborating to showcase their diverse and dynamic tech communities.

Financing:

€3.45B

of capital raised

Which is almost 12 times more than five years ago.

Liquidity:

€1.6B

in exits and secondaries

Exits and secondaries have increased five times over the past five years, with a total combined value of €4.7B up to 2022.

Scalability:

6 unicorns

active in the region

From one to six raised unicorns over the past five years.

12 times more than five years ago

Over the last five years, the funding amount for the tech industry has skyrocketed from €300M in 2016-2017 to an impressive €3.45B in 2021-2022.

The below map displays the total value of investments raised and the number of deals made by tech companies in each country during the period 2021-2022, excluding exits and IPOs.

adria-map

The Adria region's tech ecosystem is experiencing a remarkable transformation and is quickly becoming a global hub for technology and innovation.

The Top
five

Rimac Group

Croatia

€690M

Infobip

Croatia

€545M

Aleph Holding - Httpool

Slovenia

€450M

Celtra

Slovenia

€164M

Quantive

Croatia

€136M

The VALUE of investments

by capital type

The NUMBER of investments

by capital type

Venture capital dominates

VCs have established dominance in both the number of deals made and the total value invested.

Private equity is active for the first time

PE executed only a limited number of deals, but each was substantial in size.

Government's broad activity

The government is taking an active role by executing over 100 deals. While governments typically make smaller investments, their support is vital for the success of each tech ecosystem.

Where are all the angels?

Are they hiding or need extra encouragement to become more active?

A typical distribution of investments across various investment rounds

A breakdown of investments by different investment rounds

Pre-seed (up to €1M)
€42M (1%)
211 investments (66%)
Seed (€1M - €4M)
€103M (3%)
49 investments (15%)
Series A (€4M-€15M)
€212M (6%)
28 investments (9%)
Series B (€15M - €40M)
€264M (8%)
12 investments (4%)
Series C (€40M - €100M)
€728M (21%)
12 investments (4%)
Megaseries (over €100M)
€1.4B (41%)
6 investments (2%)
Secondaries
€673M (20%)
3 investments (1%)

Succeeding on diversity

Regional tech companies that have raised capital operate in record number of industries.

The top five industries collectively raised over 90% of the total investment value.

The extensive use of SaaS as a business model is a strong indicator of regional tech companies' impressive expertise in software development.

The figures display the number of companies categorized by their primary business model (below) and their primary industry of operation (on the right).

The core BUSINESS MODEL

The core INDUSTRY

Most investments come from the USA

Lead investors come from four different regions.

The table presents the % of the invested value and the % of companies receiving investments categorized by the legal seat of the lead investors.

Most investments bypass the Adria region

Adria tech companies locate their legal seats in four different regions.

The table presents the % of tech companies and the % of investment value received categorized by their legal seat.

The Rise of Exits and Secondaries

Total value of exits and secondaries €1.6B in 2021-2022.

Their value has increased five times over the past five years, totaling €4.7B up to 2022.

exit

Cleanshelf

Slovenia

exit

E-hrana

Slovenia

exit

Pipistrel

slovenia

exit

Interblok

Slovenia

secondary

Celtra

Slovenia

secondary

Aleph Holding - Httpool

slovenia

exit

Nicelabel

Slovenia

exit

Nordeus

Serbia

Exit

Five

Croatia

Adria's exits and secondaries showcase its tech strength and global interest, providing liquidity and fueling growth.

Unicorns thriving in Adria region

Unicorn is a tech company that exceeds a valuation of $1B.

Unicorns

Croatia

Unicorns

Croatia

Unicorns

Slovenia

Unicorns

Slovenia

Unicorns

Slovenia

Unicorns

Slovenia

Unicorns are boosting the ecosystem through:

Attracting

Top talent

globally

Driving force behind the continuous progress and growth of the tech ecosystem

Providing

20%

higher salary

Creating high-paying jobs and spurring the development of related industries and technologies.

Generating

25%

annual return

Attracting more investors and encouraging further investment in the tech ecosystem.

organizing

dozens of

traning courses and workshops

Disseminating knowledge, expertise, and best practices with both individuals and institutions.

How we did it?

A sneak peek into our methodology.

Countries involved

The data is provided for investments made in Slovenian, Croatian and Serbian tech companies.

Future plan: To add the data on investments in BiH, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, and Kosovo tech companies.

Company's origin

A company is attributed to a particular country if at least one of its founders holds citizenship in that country. In cases where founders come from multiple countries surveyed, we attribute the company to the country where the core team is based.

Currency

All values are presented in Euros. We used a fixed exchange rate of Euro 1.1 to US Dollar for both observation years to convert currencies.

Observed period

Our dataset showcases the cumulative sum of investments made in tech companies from 2021 to 2022.

Data collection

We gathered the data from various sources, including interviews, crowdsourcing, and publicly available information.

Investment rounds

Pre-seed (up to €1M), Seed (€1M - €4M), Series A (€4M-€15M), Series B (€15M - €40M), Series C (€40M - €100M), Megaseries (over €100M).

Disclaimer: Standardized funding ranges are used to categorize rounds in this report, which may differ from the company's self-reported round type.