Belgrade IT sector

Summary

The IT sector of Belgrade is the concentration of information technology centers and service providers in the Serbian Capital of Belgrade, comprising 6,924 companies as of 2013.[1] The IT sector in Serbia is projected to become largest sector of the Serbian economy.[2]

Microsoft, Huawei, and Kaspersky have opened development centers Belgrade. Microsoft Development Center Serbia was, at the time of its establishment, the fifth such center in the world.[3] Other global IT companies that choose Belgrade for their regional or European center include Asus,[4] Intel,[5] Dell,[6] Huawei, and NCR.[7] These major investments generated over €678.3 million in Serbia's exports in 2015.[8]

Startup community edit

Nordeus, a local video game startup, is one of Europe's fastest-growing gaming companies.[9] In five years of operation, Nordeus has grown to over 150 employees and €64 million of yearly sales.[10]

Another local startup, FishingBooker, was founded in 2013 and now employs over 90 people. FishingBooker has been described as "the world’s largest online travel company that enables [users] to find and book fishing trips."[11] Like Nordeus, FishingBooker, is a bootstrapped startup.[12]

In the first quarter of 2016, more than US$65 million has been raised by Serbian startups including US$45 million for Seven Bridges (a Bioinformatics firm) and US$14 million for Vast (a data analysis firm).[13][14] Also in 2016, a Belgrade-based website AskGamblers which generates over €810,000 in revenue and €620,000 in profits was sold to Catena Media for €15 million.[15]

The startup community is supported by a non-profit organization called Startit which acts as an incubator for new companies. Startit raised US$108,000 from its Kickstarter campaign in 2015,[16] allowing it to expand its Belgrade center, build a second center in Inđija (completed in February 2016), and expand further to other cities with strong IT industry: Novi Sad, Zrenjanin, Vršac, Subotica, Šabac.[17] Other developments include an agriculture drone startup that uses drones for land surveying, TeleSkin an app which can identify and track skin cancer and there was another successful Kickstarter for Hexiwear a customizable smartwatch for developers.[18]

References edit

  1. ^ "U Beogradu radi 120.000 firmi". Večernje Novosti. 23 April 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  2. ^ "IT sektor, perspektiva srpske privrede - Serbia.com". 2016-03-29. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
  3. ^ "Microsoft Development Center Serbia". Microsoft.com. 1 April 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  4. ^ "Asus otvorio regionalni centar u Beogradu". Emportal.rs. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
  5. ^ "Centar kompanije 'Intel' za Balkan u Beogradu – Srbija deo 'Intel World Ahead Program'". E kapija. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
  6. ^ Beograd, Ana Vlahović (25 September 2011). "Srbija centar IT industrije". Pressonline.rs. Archived from the original on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  7. ^ NCR planira da udvostruči broj zaposlenih u Srbiji u 2014 (in Serbian), eKapija, 24 July 2013, retrieved 4 November 2013
  8. ^ "IZVOZ IT SEKTORA DOSTIGAO 678 MILIONA EVRA: Informacione tehnologije ključne za privredni razvoj Srbije!".
  9. ^ "Srpski Zakerberg: Branko je napustio "Majkrosft" i u Srbiji napravio firmu koja je partner "Fejsbuka"". Blic.rs.
  10. ^ "Подаци о обвезнику". fi.apr.gov.rs.
  11. ^ "Be Ready to Learn and Catch a CEO's Attention". nevena.blog. 13 March 2019.
  12. ^ "Vukan Simić (FishingBooker): Svaki dan na posao dolazi 80 ljudi koji veruju u ono što stvaramo – to je naš najveći uspeh". Netokracija.rs. 20 May 2019.
  13. ^ "Srpsko-američki Seven Bridges uzeo investiciju od 45.000.000$ za brži razvoj terapija za rak". 16 February 2016.
  14. ^ "Vast uzeo investiciju od 14 miliona dolara za razvoj B2C proizvoda i širenje u Beogradu". 12 February 2016.
  15. ^ "Domaći proizvod AskGamblers prodat za 15 miliona evra". 4 April 2016.
  16. ^ "Startit Center — Tech Community For A Better Society". Kickstarter. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  17. ^ "Startit Centar — otvaranje na jesen". startit.rs. Archived from the original on 2015-08-01.
  18. ^ "Srpski AgroDrone razvija poljoprivredu budućnosti". 24 December 2015.