Number of startups in Serbia decreasing

In Serbia, the number of startups decreased in 2024, and half of the newly founded companies or entrepreneurs who carry out innovative activities and who have the potential for rapid and large growth do not have recurring income, according to research by the Digital Serbia Initiative, the results of which were published today. Startup founders are 36.5 years old on average, and 80% of them have higher education.

Two-thirds of their teams have exclusively male founders (65.2%), while 26.3% of startups have only one woman in the founding team.

Returnees from abroad make up 22% of the founders, which is an increase of five compared to 2023. A quarter of the founders are serial entrepreneurs, while 27% of the founders previously worked in other startups.

The “Startup Scanner 2025” research also showed that 41% of startups work in the field of artificial intelligence, 19% in data processing and analytics, and 24% develop innovations in sectors such as BioTech, MedTech, FoodTech and AgriTech.

The majority of startups (67%) are not yet profitable, of which 68% have existed for less than three years, while among those that have existed for more than three years, 6.6% do not market products, and 33% have an annual income of less than one million euros.

Among the startups without monthly income, 69% plan to rely on grants in 2025, while 70% of the startups with monthly income growth of up to 10% plan to be financed from their own funds, and 67% of the startups with monthly income growth of over 10% aim for investment funds.