Lučić: To sell digital tools or anything for five million in five years in Montenegro is almost impossible

Start-ups in Montenegro have the potential for development, but it is necessary for them to think globally from the beginning, validate every step of the idea's development, and be prepared to work hard and step out of their comfort zone, it was assessed at the Future Markets 2026 conference.

Tehnopolis representative Željko Lučić, at a panel titled Start-up ecosystem and support for the development of ideas, said that it is crucial for development that teams first well define the problem they want to solve, reports PR Center.

"If we define the problem well, that's 80 percent of start-ups. A start-up that has the ability to be in love with the problem, not the solution, is almost guaranteed success, after hard work," Lučić said at a conference organized by the Office for Career Development and Lifelong Learning of the University of Montenegro.

He added that Tehnopolis, through programs such as BitProblem, BitID, BoostMeUp and Protobit, helps teams validate an idea, develop an MVP and prepare for the next stages of development.

"Any aspect of a start-up idea must be validated. It can be validated in Montenegro, but we need to think globally right away," said Lučić.

According to him, a serious startup cannot remain limited to the domestic market.

"The definition of a startup for me is five million in five years. That's difficult in Montenegro. To sell digital tools or anything for five million in five years in Montenegro, that's almost impossible," said Lučić.

The representative of the Science and Technology Park, Radivoje Drobnjak, stated that in previous years the term start-up was often misunderstood in Montenegro.

"Seven years ago, when we established the Science and Technology Park in Montenegro, every kiosk that was opening was considered a start-up. In principle, every newly founded company was treated as a start-up," said Drobnjak.

He explained that a start-up means a company that produces an innovative product or service, offers it to the market, and has the potential for rapid growth on a global level.

The Science and Technology Park, according to Drobnjak, strives to develop synergy in the ecosystem, without overlapping programs, and to ensure that what institutions have at their disposal is used adequately.

"Today, the Science and Technology Park is implementing eight European donor projects, is part of eight different consortia, and in the previous period we implemented more than ten similar programs and projects and established cooperation with around 250 institutions and organizations across the EU," said Drobnjak.

He added that they want to encourage technology transfer and enable tenants, as well as users from other sectors, to connect with people who have experience in developing start-ups, including those who have tried but failed.

"That's a taboo that we have to break. In our country, failure is somehow a heresy and we make a stigma out of the fact that if we start doing something, we should immediately succeed and achieve brilliant results," said Drobnjak.

As he said, some Montenegrin start-ups have survived precisely because they went outside the domestic market.

"They couldn't sell what they were offering here. In fact, they shouldn't just sell here, they should sell it all over the world," Drobnjak explained.

He announced that the Science and Technology Park will work more intensively on support programs, especially aimed at tenants, as well as on the development of academic start-ups, starting in the fall.

OneAI representative, Aleksandar Bojović, spoke about the development of artificial intelligence in healthcare and stated that it is an area that requires a special level of responsibility, because technology directly affects people's health and lives.

"A medical start-up is much different from others. In development and testing, it's not just about financial consequences or an application that doesn't work, it's about lives, so the approach was very thorough," said Bojović.

He explained that OneAI deals with analyzing ECG signals and implementing artificial intelligence into treatment protocols in a way that is understandable to doctors.

According to him, collaboration with doctors was key to developing the solution, because through that process, the team understood the way doctors think, interpret data, and make decisions.

"By working with them, we realized that we needed to develop personalized models. We are, in effect, creating a digital twin of the patient," said Bojović, adding that such a system, through data collection and analysis, can help recognize patterns in patients, including situations when a patient skips therapy.

Speaking about the relationship between artificial intelligence and medicine, he stated that the goal is not to replace doctors, but to support them.

"We will not replace doctors, but we will ensure that those who do not use artificial intelligence and advanced tools disqualify themselves from the competition," said Bojović.

Deepmark representative Slavko Kovačević stated that validation is important for obtaining investments, as well as the team's ability to present the value it offers.

"It's one thing to present the values ​​you offer, and another to own them," said Kovačević.

He said that in his first conversations with investors, he was frustrated because he could not adequately present the potential of the team and the product. According to him, early-stage investors often assess the character, decisions and perseverance of the founders.

Kovačević added that during the investment closing process, immediately after the operation, he participated in a conversation with the investment committee.

"That conversation was very difficult, I could barely talk, but it impressed them, because they saw that I cared. It was a positive sign to them that I was ready to be persistent and work," said Kovačević.

He believes that supporting start-ups is important, but that it can also create a comfort zone.

"Help is good and it's good to have it, but a side effect is that it creates a comfort zone. To get results, you have to get out of your comfort zone," said Kovačević.