Slovenia–Croatia pitching event: Bioeconomy in the spotlight

The event is organised under the BIOEAST Initiative and the BOOST4BIOEAST project, coordinated in Slovenia by Circular Change in cooperation with SI.BIO HUB Slovenia, and will take place in partnership with the 9th International Conference TBMCE 2026.

Co-organised with BIOEAST HUB Croatia, this Slovenia–Croatia pitching event focuses on regional bioeconomy actors and aims to connect them with selected partners for further development and investment.

Useful details

Date: 10 September 2026

Location: Grand Hotel Bernardin, Obala 2, 6320, Portorož, Slovenia

Selected applicants will receive free access to the conference on their pitching day, 10 September 2026. If they would like to attend other conference days, they will need to arrange their own ticket. The pitching program will also include short 1:1 meetings with selected innovation experts.

Deadline for applications: 31.05.2026. Extended to 30.06.2026

Co-located event: The Boost4Bioeast Pitching Event is organised in partnership with the International Conference on Technologies and Business Models for Circular Economy – TBMCE 2026.

Main Stage Programme

The programme will begin at 15:15 with a presentation of SI.BIO HUB Slovenia, followed at 15:30 by the BIOEAST Slovenia–Croatia Pitching Event 2026.

We will welcome selected pitchers from Slovenia and Croatia to the stage to present their innovative bioeconomy solutions to an expert jury and the wider conference audience. The pitching session will be followed by an expert panel discussion, bringing together perspectives from research, entrepreneurship, impact investment, circular economy and the development of bio-based value chains.

Pitching Jury

The participating innovations will be evaluated by the following expert jury:

• Ana Belac, Managing Director, Impact Hub Ljubljana
• Vanja Jurišić, Associate Professor, University of Zagreb Faculty of Agriculture & Co-founder of Fibryion
• Tilen Šarlah, Country Manager Slovenia, Feelsgood Capital Slo-Cro

Following the pitches, the conversation will continue with a Panel Discussion:

• Prof. Dr. Andreja Kutnar, Director, InnoRenew CoE, Slovenia
• Dragica Jerkov, WOOLEE, Croatia
• Miha Škrokov, Circular Economy Expert, Anteja /VCG.AI, Slovenia

Join us on 10 September in Portorož to meet the innovators, hear their solutions and take part in the conversation on how we can strengthen the bioeconomy innovation ecosystem across Slovenia, Croatia and the wider BIOEAST region.

Travel & practical information

Selected applicants will be informed in advance of the event and contacted by the organisers with further information about travel costs.

Travel costs: The organisers will provide partial support for travel costs. Before booking any travel, selected participants will be asked to share an estimate of their travel expenses. The organisers will review and confirm what can be covered. Only agreed travel costs will be reimbursed.

Accommodation: Participants are responsible for organising and covering their own accommodation.

Getting to Portorož: Portorož is well connected within the region. Nearest airports:

• Ljubljana Airport (~1h 30min)
• Trieste Airport (~1h)
• Venice Airport (~2h)

Easily accessible by car from Slovenia, Italy, Croatia, Austria. Distance from larger cities:

• Ljubljana 125 km
• Zagreb 252 km (HR)
• Trst/Triest 33 km (I)
• Benetke/Venice 190 km (I)
• Dunaj/Vienna 490 km (A)
• München/Munich 485 km (D)
• Budimpešta/Budapest 562 km (H)