Regional Bootcamp for the winning ideas from RISE Journey 3

After the completion of the ideation phase and as a sign of the start of the incubation phase, the RISE Bootcamp was held from March 13 to 18 in Tirana, Albania. The 12 winning ideas from the region were gathered in one place and will continue to work on their ideas in the next phase. (Almanart and Melody (Albania), Blatologija and Soko Camp (Serbia), Bus on time and Mingling (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Coffee Mates and Rebel (N. Macedonia), Komunumo and Pilates&Chill (Montenegro), Panacea and Reuse (Kosovo)).

At this Bootcamp, the teams had the opportunity to get to know each other, share experiences, make friends and work on their ideas through the sessions. During the training sessions with the local incubators, the teams had opportunities to receive consultations and guidance on how to improve ideas in the areas of branding and presentation, business modeling, sales and marketing.

“This Bootcamp was quite educational for me. What I liked the most is the commitment of the organizers to pass on their knowledge and help us in the upcoming incubation phase. We had a great time with the teams from the region and exchanged contacts for further cooperation and mutual support in ideas.” – said Elif Kanzoska from the Rebel team.

In the final part of the event, the teams had a pitching session in which they presented their idea in 3 minutes to the audience and the three-member jury composed of Ardita Bonatti – RISE consortium, Maja Kovacevic – RISE Project Coordinator, and Kelly Robin – Deputy Director at SOS Pulse Group. The first place got awarded to the Macedonian team Coffee Mates (N. Macedonia), which also received a symbolic prize of sweet specialties from France, the second place went to the Serbian team Soko Camp (Serbia), and the third to the Montenegrin youth from the Komunumo team (Montenegro). All teams also received symbolic awards from the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO).

“It was my pleasure to participate in the regional Bootcamp in Tirana. Working groups and consulting meetings with local incubators from the countries of the Western Balkans gave us opportunities to discuss the future development of our ideas and slowly but surely work on their improvement. This meeting with the other RISE teams gave us a chance to build new friendships and this will contribute to easier networking and development of our ideas in the region,” said Nikola Vuchkov from the Coffee Mates team.

What follows for the RISE teams is their active work on ideas and mobility that they will have to do in the coming months in one of the countries of the Western Balkans, as well as the forum that will be held in Skopje in October of this year.

The RISE project is led by a consortium made up of the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO), SOS PULSE GROUP, South East European Youth Network (SEEYN), the French Institute, and the Franco-German Youth Office (OFAY), and implemented by six local incubators – ARNO, Balkan Green Foundation, Nesto vise, Smart Kolektiv, IEC Tehnopolis, and Yunus Social Business. The RISE project is co-financed by the French Development Agency (AFD), the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO), and Erasmus+.