The grand finale of the best business ideas within this year’s free Entrepreneurship Academy , realized by the Association for the Affirmation of Culture (ASK) under the auspices of the NCR Foundation , is another proof of how brave and ready young people are today to make changes. Of the 30 selected talented finalists, who studied hard and developed their businesses and ideas for six months, Nikola Milanović , a twenty-six-year-old from Kragujevac, made the strongest impression on the expert jury, winning first place with an application designed to connect owners and pets as well as possible.
“Our mission is to make it easier for dog owners to care by giving them the opportunity to bond with their pet in addition to basic monitoring and understanding.” Through personalized recommendations and support, our goal is for every pet, and therefore their owner, to be happy,” said Nikola Milanović and added “With WellpetAI, owners can understand what their pet wants to tell them. Also, artificial intelligence enables the prediction of anomalies in behavior and health, which gives owners peace of mind and security, and makes their pet happy and satisfied.”
When asked how WellpetAI works, Nikola said:
“Wellpet.AI uses two cutting-edge technologies: artificial intelligence and smart IoT devices.” This combination enables the translation of the pet’s needs and signals in real time. Artificial intelligence analyzes the data from the smart collar and provides owners with insight into the dog’s emotional state, prediction of possible problems and personalized training advice.”
The online mathematics school MatŠ brought second place to Kosta Soldo and Vladan Vuković, and the third placed Miloš Mladenović and Slavica Simijonović developed the Heaven Gardens business, which deals with the recycling of building materials – decorative bricks, handmade production and production using old tools methods.
Almost 200 young people from 10 cities in Serbia are involved in the Digital Economy for Balanced and Resilient Economic Development project, financed by the NCR Foundation. Through 2 generations of the Academy of Entrepreneurship, which is completely free, 75 young people were given the opportunity to improve their knowledge and skills and start their own business ventures. As part of this project, a digital resource center was created with over 200 contents necessary for starting entrepreneurial initiatives, which was visited by more than 220,000 people.
This project is part of the wider mission of the Association for the Affirmation of Culture to support young people in their entrepreneurial endeavors. In today’s business environment, self-employment and entrepreneurship represent key models for long-term quality of life assurance. Young entrepreneurs bring innovation, create new jobs and boost economic growth. Their successes not only impact their lives, but also the wider community, creating economic opportunities and strengthening local economies. Two years ago, we embarked on this journey together with the aim of empowering young entrepreneurs in Serbia, and today, we can proudly say that we have achieved a lot,” said Andrej Balanč, executive director and founder of ASK , when awarding plaques to the best participants of the Academy of Entrepreneurship and closing the project at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce.
The Association for the Affirmation of Culture (ASK) was founded in 2015. year with the aim of having a positive impact on the local community, youth and the public. They began by engaging in humanitarian work, and today their activities have expanded to empowering young people in the areas of activism, employability, entrepreneurship and environmental protection. More than 2,000 young people have gone through their programs, influencing almost 50 local communities in Serbia.
