Savinjska Region Incubator becomes a certified EU|BIC

EBN is pleased to announce that Inkubator Savinjske regije, known in English as the Savinjska Region Incubator, has been awarded EU|BIC Certification.

Based in Celje, Slovenia, the incubator supports entrepreneurs, startups and SMEs across the region through mentoring, training, professional consulting, networking, community building and access to funding support.

The certification recognises the organisation’s commitment to high-quality business and innovation support, as well as its growing contribution to regional economic development. It also marks an important step in the incubator’s continous thrive to improve, as it strengthens its impact measurement, service structure and international connections.

A growing innovation actor in the Savinjska region

Savinjska Region Incubator’s mission is clear: to send great ideas into the world. Its work is rooted in a strong local ecosystem, while also opening doors to national and international opportunities for the entrepreneurs it supports.

Through its programmes and spaces, the incubator connects founders with experienced mentors, practical knowledge, expert guidance, investors, partners and peers. This community-based model was also strongly visible during the international evaluation visit, which brought together the ISR team, local stakeholders, mentors and supported companies.

The EU|BIC peer review highlighted several strengths in ISR’s model. The incubator combines a clear regional development mission with a full entrepreneurial support journey, from idea validation to growth and internationalisation. It also provides strong physical infrastructure, including coworking areas, offices, meeting rooms, event spaces, a podcast studio and prototyping facilities.

The review also noted the strength of ISR’s lean and committed team. With four full-time equivalent staff members, the organisation delivers a broad portfolio of services and maintains close daily contact with its entrepreneurial community. The certification therefore comes at a timely moment, as ISR prepares for a new phase of growth and a broader regional role.

The role of the EU|BIC Certification process

EU|BIC Certification is a structured process that helps entrepreneurship and innovation support organisations reflect on the quality of their services, the strength of their ecosystem role, the performance of supported companies and their contribution to access to finance.

For ISR, the EU|BIC self-assessment questionnaire provided a useful framework to organise data, review services and clarify impact. It supported the team in connecting operational performance with broader regional outcomes, including job creation, startup survival, access to finance and ecosystem development.

We are truly delighted to hear it and are very excited about this achievement. The entire process has been an extremely valuable experience for us. Along the way, we had many “aha” moments that helped us reflect on our work, identify new opportunities for improvement, and better understand our strengths. It has genuinely been an excellent capacity-building journey for our team.

We are grateful to have been part of this process and are looking forward to continuing our collaboration within the network, learning from other members, and contributing wherever we can.

Sonja Majcen, Director, Savinjska Region Incubator

A peer-review process supported by EU|BIC expertise

The certification visit was carried out with Athziri Moreno Romo, International Relations Manager at the Central Bohemian Innovation Centre. During the visit, she reviewed ISR’s activities, support programmes for startups and companies, and the wider entrepreneurial ecosystem of the Savinjska region.

Her role was to assess compliance with EU|BIC Quality Mark Criteria and to bring the perspective of an experienced peer from the EU|BIC community. This peer-review dimension is central to the value of EU|BIC Certification. It helps organisations learn from comparable innovation support actors, identify practical improvement areas and connect their local work to European standards and best practices.

As reflected in the evaluation, ISR meets the EU|BIC Quality Mark Criteria with no mandatory conditions across all assessed sections. The review particularly underlined ISR’s high occupancy rate, strong event activity, mentoring effort, funding support to companies and clear potential for further growth.

Joining a European community of quality innovation support

By becoming a certified EU|BIC, Savinjska Region Incubator joins a pan-European and global community of organisations using business and innovation as a force for regional development. Certified EU|BICs share a common commitment to quality business support, regional impact, access to finance, internationalisation and continuous improvement.

For ISR and its members, this certification opens new opportunities to connect with peers, access knowledge, identify partners and strengthen international pathways for startups and SMEs. It also gives the Savinjska region a stronger position within the European innovation ecosystem.

EBN warmly congratulates Sonja Majcen and the whole Savinjska Region Incubator team, as well as the Municipality of Celje, local mentors, partners and entrepreneurs who contributed to this achievement.