Save The Date
Wednesday 18:00, March 7th, 2018

About Tech.O Vol. 4

"Social Impact and Equality through
Innovation and Technology"

The fourth edition of Tech.O sheds light on social impact and what each of us can do to build a better tomorrow – for everyone. Our aim is to raise awareness and address pressing social issues through discussion, innovation and technology. Join influential local and international guests who will be sharing their insights about social impact and take the first step towards change.
No one can do everything, but everyone can do something. Let’s do something together. Take a step, make an impact. See you there!

Agenda

18:00

Arriving at the Venue and Registration

18:30

Opening Speech British Ambassador to Macedonia, His Excellency Charles Garrett

18:40

"The innovative adolescent brain" Benjamin Perks, UNICEF Representative

18:50

Q&A

19:00

"The Power of Higher Expectations." - Edward Gonzalez, Ph.D.

19:10

Q&A

19:20

“Starting a social enterprise in Macedonia - barriers and opportunities.” - Ljubomir Stojcheski

19:30

Q&A

19:40

“STAKEHOLDERS, not shareholders!” Dushko Cifliganec

19:50

Q&A

20:00

"Innovation’s link to research - Inverted pyramid the practice in Macedonia." Vesna Kuzmanovic

20:10

Q&A

20:20

"Igniting Innovation for Social Impact" Tracy Sparks

20:30

Q&A

20:40

Meet the businesses showcasing their success social impact stories in the social impact corner + Cocktail Party

The Event is Hosted by

Event Speakers

His Excellency Charles Edmund Garrett

British Ambassador to Macedonia

Charles Garrett is the British Ambassador to Macedonia working on the close and long-standing partnership between UK and Macedonia and their shared interests. He joined the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in 1987. His career has been divided between Europe with postings in Cyprus and Switzerland, and East Asia with postings in Hong Kong and Taipei. In his work on Europe Charles has worked on EU Enlargement issues, Central Europe, Head of the Balkans Team of the UK Know How Fund. Working on East Asia he has served in the Hong Kong Joint Liaison Group and the Hong Kong Department in the Foreign Office. Serving in London, Charles was on secondment as Foreign Affairs Liaison at the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust and as Head of International Relations at the Organising Committee of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. He was part of the Strategic Finance Team and early in his career he was part of the Economic Relations Department.

He holds MA from the London School of Economics and BA in Russian Studies from University College of London.

In his free time Charles enjoys cycling and is a fan of football and nature. Charles is married to Véronique and they have five children.

Benjamin Perks

UNICEF Representative

Benjamin Perks is the UNICEF Representative in Skopje and is responsible for advocating for and supporting reforms that strengthen the human rights of children, particularly with regard to child protection, justice, health, education and early childhood.

He has previously served with UNICEF in Montenegro, Georgia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, India and Albania. In Afghanistan he helped to coordinate the Back to School campaign in the Northern part of the country which brought 1 million girls and 2 million boys into school-most of them for the first times in their lives. In a personal capacity he is currently a Senior Fellow with the University of Birmingham’s Jubilee Centre which researches teaching on character, social and emotional skills in schools.

He holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations from the University of Kent at Canterbury and has recently completed a mid-career programme with the Harvard Graduate School of Education on Leadership and Education Reform.

Edward Gonzalez, Ph.D.

Director of USAID’s General Development Office.

Dr. Edward Gonzalez is a political scientist and is currently the Director of USAID’s General Development Office. He has been with USAID since 2009 and arrived in Macedonia August 2016. Prior to Macedonia, Dr. Gonzalez served as USAID's Democracy and Governance Officer in Islamabad, Guatemala, Afghanistan, and Lahore. He has particularly expertise and interest in local governance, citizen security, private-sector engagement, rule of law, civil society strengthening, youth-empowerment, and improved monitoring and evaluation methods.

Dr. Gonzalez received his Ph.D. in 2009 from the New School for Social Research in New York, and focused his dissertation on Political Clientelism (i.e., vote buying) in Latin America.

Ljubomir Stojcheski

Founder and CEO of Freshys, the first fast food restaurant with a social business model in Macedonia.

He is a BS in Computer Science and with a topic on Social entrepreneurship he has a Master degree in MBA Management. In 2016 he won the second prize in the Social Impact Award in Macedonia and represented the country at the annual winners summit in Vienna.

The restaurant operates for 2 years and donates 34% of its profits as food donations for homeless and socially disadvantaged people, through close cooperation with several organizations and activists.

Dushko Chifliganec

Deputy GM of Adora Engineering

Very young and even more motivated and energized individual. Mr. Chifliganec spent his adolescence in Dubai, where he obtained his BA in Economics and Business at the one of the very best business schools in the Middle East, the prestigious American University in Dubai. Besides enabling him to acquire exceptional academic education, the fast and ever growing environment of Dubai imposed positive pressure on Mr. Chifliganec to develop very sharp and entrepreneurial mindset, which he considers to be his most valuable asset. In addition to, Dubai enabled him to obtain very extensive networking.

Today, Mr. Chifliganec is constantly between the Middle East and Macedonia. In UAE, he very successfully runs a large scale business engaged in the booming Organic Food & Beverage industry. In Maccedonia, he is the Deputy GM of Adora Engineering.

Adora was created 15 years ago only by his father, and today it is the biggest real estate developer in Republic of Macedonia and signifies one of the most successful business stories in the country. Dushko believes that the best is yet to come!

Vesna Kuzmanovic, Ph.D.

Coach and Mentor for Social Enterprises

Born in Skopje but raised in Yugoslavia, country which doesn’t exist anymore. So, felt on own skin what means when someone lose the homeland and how important is to develop vision for life beyond and out of borders.

Vesna has finished high school and Psychology on University in Skopje, Postgraduate Study in Belgrade, MBA in Thessaloniki, Doctoral studies in Belgrade. Started own business (start up) in 2000, as a first local Market research agency and in one year became market leader. After 7 years has sold the company to International GfK, (remain partner for 5 years) and two years after the selling the whole package of shares left the company and started again with consultancy company in area of research and innovation. STRATUM R&D now operates as external R&D department to Macedonian and international companies present on Balkan region.

Extensive professional experience in Research, Management and Innovation was excellent base for involvement in coaching and mentoring startups. Educational background in Psychology influenced in dedication to social entrepreneurship and in the last three years was mentoring more than 50 startups from the Mediterranean region.

Tracy A. Sparks, DMBA

Innovation + Design Strategist

Four time entrepreneur with one business exit to USA’s largest Bank. Tracy collaborates as a facilitator at the crossroads of corporate and entrepreneurial innovation. Her expertise lies in triple bottom line (sustainable) business Innovation and impact entrepreneurship program design and development with direct experience in training program managers and Design Thinking facilitators.

Tracy has guided hundreds of micro and small enterprises and startups to investment ready in USA’s Silicon Valley, Macedonia and the region over the last 9 years. Tracy is the World Innovations Forum, Society3™ Ambassador to Macedonia and founder of Macedonian company, Plenty Practical, a design and prototype lab.

Tracy designed, prototyped and contextualized boot camp and accelerator programs, currently active in Macedonia and Albania.

Social Impact Corner

We are glad to present to you the startups who will showcase their work in the Social Impact Corner

,,Храна за сите - Food for everyone'' is innovative platform that will allow you to get information and buy delicious food, that catering facilities could not sell during the day for a lower price. (up to 80% cheaper)

Our mission is to motivate the catering facilities and the people to return the lost value back onto food as something that should be eaten and not thrown away.

,,Храна за сите - Food for everyone'' fights food waste by giving stores a platform to sell their surplus food for lower prices. Additionally, there is a part of the platform through which the catering facilities with the help of NGO's will donate the food where it is most needed.

,,One Made" is the first innovative social enterprise for production and sale of high-quality, organic cosmetic products. "One Made" settles two key issues: increases the employability of the members of single-parent families and meets the market demands for organic, edible and exclusive cosmetics.

At the same time part of the total income is donated in the only "grass root" civil organization and improvement of the rights of single-parent families in Republic of Macedonia.

PRIM3D is an innovative company that provides Software-as-a-Service and other digital content for enterprises, that specialises in Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). Currently we operate in the real estate market and other retail affiliate markets with ongoing expansion in automotive industry and avio industry.

PRIM3D other goal is to find a way to bring Virtual Reality in local Education and Medicine. Virtual Reality by its pure definition, can deliver experiences and interactions, that are either not practical or not possible in the ‘real world’ and provides an unparalleled way to immerse and captivate. Enhancing and extending the learning experience its is at the heart of what Virtual Reality can offer and is possibly one of the most powerful of all technologies that could help change how we learn forever. Benefits that do not apply only to general education but to special education students also.

Solving global problems, create impact and influence the society are the driving forces of the Social Impact Lab. We create space for the young people, the potential social entrepreneurs and the early start ups to work on establishment of their future venture and to develop their potential.

Currently we operate from Skopje Macedonia and we are trying to strength and reshape the eco- system of social entrepreneurship in the country. In achieving so Social Impact lab runs couple of programs and project dedicated to fostering social entrepreneurship and reestablishing cooperation with all relevant players.

We invite everyone that is interested in shaping a better world to join us in our Lab.

Sozdadi.com is the first regional online marketplace for entrepreneurship support by selling handmade and homemade products from The Balkans, following in the tradition of open craft fairs, giving sellers personal storefronts where they list their goods. 20% of the monthly income is used for sale and promotion of charity-made products, therefore marginalized people and people with disabilities have an opportunity for self-employment and working from home, without fees and additional expenses.

Sozdadi.com is designed to combat unemployment by using strategies that focus on creating new jobs and provide effective distributive channels, promotion, modern design for E-shops, simplicity and connection. The mission of the platform is to reimagine commerce in ways that build a more fulfilling and lasting world.

We are committed to using the power of business to create a better world through our platform, our members, our employees and the communities we serve. We provide supportive, non-competitive atmosphere where sellers can not only build relationships with customers, but with each other , in order to further support the local movement! We believe in providing the best experience and the best services for our clients!

MamaOrgana produces organic fertilizers and substrates from organic food waste.

40% of the food meant to be eaten ends up at the landfill, polluting the air. We collect part of that waste and produce our products.With our products anyone can have organic garden anywhere, farmers can use it for converting to organic food production, urban gardeners can use it for growing their own food in the apartments.

Recently we have started with production of our new line, Fresh Air on-a-plate, decorative combination of air purifying indoor plants Our company is a social enterprise who supports single parent families, so part of our profits goes to education and personal growth of our employees and their children.

Host

About

Valoso Hub is an international startup company based out of Melbourne, Australia. Satisfied by the quality of the work done by a few highly-skilled Macedonian freelancers, the company’s management saw Skopje as a prime city to expand its presence. Now, with a team of over twenty people and a proven business model, we are dedicated to bringing new ideas and cutting-edge technologies to market and support the local enthusiasts tending to make a difference.

We are open for collaboration with other innovative companies and organizations eager to make an impact and we are looking forward to increase the level of collaboration in the Macedonian IT and business community by building and sustaining long-term partnerships.

Social activities

Giving presentations to the kids from the orphanage “11 октомври” in our offices

Cooking for homeless people with “#ретвитниоброк”

Event Partners

Confirmed Partners

In-kind Partners

Media Partners

Become a partner

The funds raised in excess of the event expenditure costs will go to charities!

CONTACT
Elena Dimoska
Tel.: + 389 (0)78 614 391
Email: [email protected]

Registration

If you would like to part take in Tech.O 2018 we invite you to fill out the registration form below

REGISTER

Previous Events:

Wednesday, April 26th, 2017

Agenda

18:00

Meeting the Startups - Arrive at the venue, get checked in and meet the startups that will showcase their businesses/ideas

18:30

Event Opening Speech - Taner Selim - Site Manager at TabTale MK

18:35

"Is Your Startup Ready to Raise Capital?" - Wilfried Durand - Founder at Onvey & Onbrowse, Mailjet | Entrepreneur, Startup Advisor

Get the answers you need:

  • - Do you need investors’ money: yes/no - up/downsides

  • - How much capital and when

  • - What kind of investor you need

  • - At which stage and for what

  • - How to determine startup value

  • - How to determine investor equity

18:55

Q&A Session with Wilfried Durand

19:05

"Test-Driven Laravel" - Amo Chohan - Head of development at Energy Aspects, Laravel and TDD evangelist

A high-level overview to why Laravel offers the best out-of-the-box test setup and how it facilitates test-driven development, including:

  • - API testing

  • - Database (integration) testing

  • - Browser testing

19:25

Q&A Session with Amo Chohan

19:35

"The Dualarity - How to Find the Sparkle in Your Transformation" - Olivier Van Duuren - Founder at The Dualarity, Public Speaker

Digital transformation and disruption demands a transformation both on a personal and a business level. The changes that are upon us will alter the face of every industry, business and government, and even more importantly the way our society lives. Transforming while performing is a true balancing act, challenging companies of all sizes in this digital revolution powered by new technologies crossing the physical, digital and biological world. To succeed in digital transformation, you need to put the customer at the heart, people as the soul and digital as the oxygen aligned to your company’s purpose (why) and aspiration (what). How do you find the right balance between performing – delivering on the short-term commitments of your core products and services, such as scorecard, P&L, market share – and transforming – the long-term belief in your future and the power to adapt and lead? How do you find the sparkle in your transformation?

20:05

Q&A Session with Olivier Van Duuren

20:15

Cocktail party

The Event is Hosted by

Event Speakers

Amo Chohan

Head of development at Energy Aspects, Laravel and TDD evangelist

Amo Chohan is Head of Development at London based energy commodities research firm, Energy Aspects and oversees the development of the systems used across three international sites.

Amo has worked in-house and consulted for a number of companies throughout the UK, Europe and Japan and has a career in web development spanning over 10 years. A TDD and Laravel evangelist, and novice pilot.

Olivier Van Duuren

Founder at The Dualarity, Public Speaker

In September 2016 Olivier launched The Dualarity (www.thedualarity.com), a business and book on how to take the pain out of your personal and business transformation, leaving you with a regained sense of spark.

After 22 years working in the senior international ranks at one of the world's most successful technology companies called Microsoft, he has a unique perspective on the intersection of innovation, transformation and human performance.

An international public speaker, trend sensemaker, executive whisperer and author, Olivier is a thought leader on personal and business transformation, innovation and on the impact of the changes around us in our society and industry.

Wilfried Durand

Founder at Onvey & Onbrowse, Mailjet | Entrepreneur, Startup Advisor

Wilfried Durand is a multi-hat web entrepreneur with a strong interest in building and growing global services. He is passionate about SaaS and e-commerce models, especially when it comes to dive into data, analytics and user experience.

Wilfried co-founded Mailjet in 2010, an e-mail service provider that raised $17.46M to date to become a global key player and the European leader in its industry in less than 5 years. Wilfried now acts as a business angel and startup advisor for young companies in France and Bulgaria and recently started his new venture: Onvey - a startup lab that focuses on UX optimization to make the web better every day.

Event Speakers

Amo Chohan

Head of development at Energy Aspects, Laravel and TDD evangelist

Amo Chohan is Head of Development at London based energy commodities research firm, Energy Aspects and oversees the development of the systems used across three international sites.

Amo has worked in-house and consulted for a number of companies throughout the UK, Europe and Japan and has a career in web development spanning over 10 years. A TDD and Laravel evangelist, and novice pilot.

Olivier Van Duuren

Founder at The Dualarity, Public Speaker

In September 2016 Olivier launched The Dualarity (www.thedualarity.com), a business and book on how to take the pain out of your personal and business transformation, leaving you with a regained sense of spark.

After 22 years working in the senior international ranks at one of the world's most successful technology companies called Microsoft, he has a unique perspective on the intersection of innovation, transformation and human performance.

An international public speaker, trend sensemaker, executive whisperer and author, Olivier is a thought leader on personal and business transformation, innovation and on the impact of the changes around us in our society and industry.

Wilfried Durand

Founder at Onvey & Onbrowse, Mailjet | Entrepreneur, Startup Advisor

Wilfried Durand is a multi-hat web entrepreneur with a strong interest in building and growing global services. He is passionate about SaaS and e-commerce models, especially when it comes to dive into data, analytics and user experience.

Wilfried co-founded Mailjet in 2010, an e-mail service provider that raised $17.46M to date to become a global key player and the European leader in its industry in less than 5 years. Wilfried now acts as a business angel and startup advisor for young companies in France and Bulgaria and recently started his new venture: Onvey - a startup lab that focuses on UX optimization to make the web better every day.

Event Partners

Media Partners

Wednesday, March 15th, 2017

Agenda

18:00

Meeting the Startups - Arrive at the venue, get checked in and meet the startups that will showcase their businesses/ideas

18:30

Event Opening Speech - Vladimir Trajkovik - University Professor, Entrepreneur

18:35

"The challenges of investing in disruptive technologies" - Tatjana Zabasu - Managing Partner South Central Ventures, Slovenia

18:50

Q&A Session with Tatjana Zabasu

19:05

"Empowering Global Business with Cross Border Payment Solutions" - Sasa Susa - Brand Ambassador Payoneer, Serbia

19:20

Q&A Session with Sasa Susa

19:35

"VR: Practical use and Applications" - Peeter Nieler - Virtual Reality R&D Professional, Estonia

19:50

Q&A Session with Peeter Nieler

20:00

Cocktail party

The Event is Hosted by

Event Speakers

Sasa Susa

Payoneer Ambassador
(Serbia)

Sasa holds an Informatics degree from the University of Novi Sad and has over a decade’s experience in IT related business. His current interests are within service delivery and e-commerce. As the Payoneer Ambassador, he aims to educate the business community on international opportunities.
Through Payoneer forums, networking dinners and other social gatherings, Sasa aspires to bring the community closer together and increase its collective level of knowledge and expertise.

Tatjana Zabasu

Managing Partner South Central Ventures
(Slovenia)

Tatjana Zabasu is a Managing partner at South Central Ventures, fund manager active in the Western Balkans, and Partner at RSG Capital, Slovenia based fund manager. She has 10 years experience in venture capital and enjoys working with entrepreneurs, is interested in technology and growing successful businesses. She currently serves on boards of four companies, ShoutEm (mobile), Efos (agritech), Edition Digital (digital publishing) and TAB Systems (home automation). Prior to joining RSG Capital in early 2007, she was Corporate Finance advisor in Deloitte, where she primarily worked with international clients in merger and acquisition processes and business development strategies. Before that, she worked for the Slovenian Ministry of Economy as a Head of the Minister's Office and was involved in entrepreneurship and competitiveness policies implementation.

Peeter Nieler

Virtual Reality R&D Professional
(Estonia)

Serial entrepreneur with background in AI, SaaS and even film production. A sought after speaker on VR & startups, and a published technology thought-leader. He began Criffin at the dawn of VR’s second coming, before the founding of Oculus, with the foresight that locomotion and full-body interaction would be the next frontier in VR. Co-founder and advisor of VR research company Virtual Neuroscience Lab researching neurohaptics and presence in general.

Event Partners

Wednesday, February 8th, 2017

Agenda

18:00

Meeting the Startups - Arrive at the venue, get checked in and meet the startups that will showcase their businesses/ideas

18:30

Event Opening Speech - Zoran Vitanov - Entrepreneur

18:35

"What to look for in a startup business and how to work with founders (working with founders 101)" - Jovan Madzovski - CEO at CEED Hub Skopje

18:50

Q&A Session with Jovan Madzovski

19:05

"Top 7 Tactics Used by Grouper That Can Help Any Business Win Big" - Nina Angelovska - CEO & Co-founder at Grouper.mk

19:20

Q&A Session with Nina Angelovska

19:35

"The latest or upcoming IOT trends and how they apply or effect Web and App developers" - Igor Stamatovski - CEO & Co-founder at Iborn.net

19:50

Q&A Session with Igor Stamatovski

20:00

Cocktail party

Event Speakers

Nina Angelovska

CEO & Co-founder at Grouper.mk

Nina Angelovska is a 28-year-old entrepreneur who launched the first deal platform in Macedonia in 2011 and transformed the e-commerce market. Nina and her team managed to contribute to increasing online sales in Macedonia by more than 600%. Today, Grouper.mk is the leading e-commerce website in Macedonia with a team of fifteen people. E-commerce is her passion as well as her field of expertise.
She has been a speaker at many events, conferences and trainings, sharing her professional knowledge and experience. Nina was recognized as one of the most successful and inspiring female founders in Europe and her name appeared in the article, “100 Female Founders Europe” that was published by the eminent German magazine, The Hundert, and later shared by Forbes.

Igor Stamatovski

CEO & Co-founder at Iborn.net

Igor Stamatovski has ten years of experience in software development. Five years ago, he founded his own company, iborn.net, developing web based solutions for the Danish health insurance market for a fast growing health insurance provider. During this time the company has bootstrapped the software development team, stabilized the product and introduced software development.
Structuring the company for growth and innovation, Igor established a young, talented and knowledgeable management team with fields of expertise in health and health insurance. One of the founders of Skopje’s KIKA hacklab in 2009, Igor is a free software advocate and has been a member of Free Software Macedonia since its inception in 2002.

Jovan Madzovski

CEO at CEED Hub Skopje

Jovan has twelve years of experience and he was responsible for project management of multimillion projects related to economic development, support of small and medium enterprises, micro financing, investing in shares in companies, and environment/recycling and energy. His responsibilities include planning, technical coordination and supervision of project implementation activities in accordance to project objectives and documentation. Jovan is a certified management consultant and trainer for human resources.

Event Supporters

What people say about Tech.O

"You give us great chance to meet new people, share knowledge and experience. Thank you!"

— Keti Jovanovska, NLB

"Tech.O is a small boutique conference that has especially warm and welcoming feeling. Very well organised and moderated, I will speak at their events again when possible."

— Peeter Nieler

"The event is great and maybe fund will invest in our startup."

— Antonio Kuzmanovski, WheninX