Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia, is located between Ukraine, Hungary, Czech Republic and Austria. It gets quite a little attention due to its primarily known location. However, it is indeed Central Europe’s heart. Bratislava is a booming tourist destination with ski slopes that are affordable, natural peaks together with the most castles and chalets worldwide. It, however, has some technological challenges. Bratislava is at its starting stages of becoming a technical base, which will be appealing and affordable. 57% of Slovakia’s economic output came as a result of the medium and small-sized companies. This is according to Inc Magazine’s findings last year. It featured the fastest developing industries and companies in Europe in the Inc 500 Europe list. Another 107 homegrown companies were also featured.
It is quite encouraging because if compared to a city like London that has a population that is 16 times that of Bratislava, only 177 companies are listed. Bratislava has a population of about 500,000 individuals who are working together with service providers to build their economy. Slovakia gained independence in 1993 from the Soviet Union. Technological advancements have been gradually improving for the last 25 years due to its locality and talents in technology. It is situated next to some central European nations together with Ukraine. The countries include the Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary. Homegrown talent has also given a boost in the industry. The Slovak University of Technology and the Technical School of Kosice have a student population of over 15,000 and 147,000 graduates since its establishment.
Many working areas have been initiated to help the interested persons with resources that are useful to them. Campus Cowork is a facility located in Stare Grunty and has accepted startups from 14 countries to work in their premises since the year 2016 when it was launched. It has by now initiated over 70 startups who are allowed to partner with the leading entrepreneurs. Some advantages come with the partnership with these groups such as; legal advice and access to facilities together with community collaborations geared towards bettering individuals and community. HUB Bratislava and Impact HUB are the other two partnering companies that offer this kind of exchange program.
Investments in Slovakia have not been quite many, but the recent trend is quite positive. Investments in the previous years have boosted the emergence of funds such as Limerock, Braun Holding and Neulogy Ventures. A 6.2% economic growth was achieved due to investments in 2018’s first quarter.
