The ESNC Croatia Challenge 2012 offers the following prizes:

First place: incubation package (mentoring, marketing, software licenses, access to experts, access to Venture Capital)

• At STeP Ri for 12 months (a EUR 7,500 value), or
• At TICM for six months (a EUR 3,500 value), or
• At TP Varaždin for six months (a EUR 3,500 value)

• The chance to pitch their business ideas directly to CRANE (Croatian Business Angel Network)
• A one-year development license to use GDi ATLAS data content for Croatia and the Gdi LOCALIS
• and Esri tools, along with a week-long course in using these tools from GDi GISDATA

Regardless of small area it encompasses at the threshold of Central and Southern Europe on the Mediterranean Sea, the Republic of Croatia is ideally located at the intersection of major European corridors, including road, sea, and railway traffic.

With its diverse and beautiful landscapes, Croatia and its 4.2 million citizens understand that tourism is one of the main forces driving their economy. However, the country also has an excellent fibre-optic infrastructure and a large, competent ICT workforce.

At the end of 2011, Croatia signed a treaty to become the 28th member of the European Union on 1st July 2013.

The Technology Innovation Centre Medimurje, Science and Technology Park Rijeka (StepRI), Technology Park Varaždin, and Technology Development Centre Osijek – all ESNC partners from Croatia – are co-financed through the Business Innovation Centre of Croatia’s TEHCRO programme. This programme provides financial support for establishing, upgrading, and developing technological infrastructure in order to secure the premises, services, and business support required to transfer technology, commercialise the results of R&D, and above all, provide access to the essential resources innovative companies need to develop. The technology transfer office of the University of Split, meanwhile, systematically promotes entrepreneurship while encouraging the transfer of knowledge and research results from the university to the economy.