The challenge
Varaždin and northern Croatia are home to many entrepreneurs with promising ideas and the will to act on them. What often holds them back is financing: traditional sources are hard to reach in the early stages, and many founders are unaware that crowdfunding can fund a project while also giving it something just as valuable, which is visibility. A campaign puts an idea in front of the public, tests real interest and builds a community of supporters before the product even exists.

The process
In partnership with Varaždin Technology Park, we ran a crowdfunding training programme designed to give local entrepreneurs both pieces of the puzzle: how to raise funds and how to get noticed. Participants learned how crowdfunding works and which models and platforms suit different projects, then moved on to the elements that make a campaign stand out: a clear story, a strong pitch, attractive rewards, a realistic financial goal and a communication plan that reaches the right audience. The workshops were practical and interactive, so entrepreneurs worked on their own ideas throughout and received direct feedback from our mentors.

The solution
By the end of the programme, the entrepreneurs understood how to plan a crowdfunding campaign from start to finish and had the foundations of their own campaign in place. Beyond the financing know-how, they gained a new way of thinking about visibility, using a campaign not only to raise money but to build an audience, validate their idea and attract partners. For Varaždin Technology Park, the training added a practical new tool to the support it offers its entrepreneurial community.