Dear readers,

This week we’re looking at a new generation of SEE entrepreneurs who are building without borders, using global networks, international markets and ecosystems such as San Francisco as part of their everyday professional landscape. 

Our main story follows 21-year-old Darijan Ducic, whose journey between Serbia, Italy, Berlin and the Bay Area offers a glimpse into how the next generation of regional founders is thinking about entrepreneurship. Across the region, we cover EnduroSat’s plans for a major space and defense R&D center, Estel Technologies’ new pre-seed round, and Evrotrust’s partnership on digital identity and signatures. 

In Rumour Has It, we ask whether AI is really driving the region’s latest layoffs, while Bojan Lazic of Techstars Sarajevo shares his perspective on where smart money is moving, why smaller checks could be a better fit for the Balkans, and what investors are really looking for in 2026. 

Enjoy the read!
Bojan Stojkovski
Editor-in-Chief, IT Logs

For a growing generation of entrepreneurs from Southeast Europe, the idea of having to choose between building locally and thinking globally is becoming increasingly outdated.

They are growing up in multiple countries, moving between ecosystems, building international networks almost by default and treating places such as San Francisco, London and Berlin not as distant technology hubs, but as parts of the same professional landscape.

At 21, Darijan Ducic is a good example of that shift. Born in Serbia and raised in Italy, he has already lived and worked across several European cities, spent extended periods in San Francisco and now travels between some of the world's most active technology ecosystems while maintaining a base in the Bay Area.

His current work revolves around 8x, a company emerging from the Entrepreneurs First ecosystem - the second biggest accelerator in the world. The startup is building what Darijan describes as an AI marketplace connecting humans and brands. Its activities include user-generated content, sales and research, with the broader idea of allowing companies to access people on demand rather than relying exclusively on traditional full-time teams.

But the company is only part of the story. What is perhaps more interesting is the way Darijan operates: constantly moving between communities, organizing hackathons, meeting founders and investors, and deliberately placing himself in environments where ambitious people are building the next generation of companies - a mindset that is becoming increasingly popular among young entrepreneurs across the region.

Growing up between countries

His early interests were varied. He played football and was fond of karting, played video games and experimented with different things before starting work at 16. Darijan eventually enrolled to study business in Urbino, Italy, but quickly became dissatisfied with the traditional path.

“After a couple months, I already felt that this wasn’t giving me too much value,” he recalls.

By that point, he was already experimenting with startups. His first serious venture was a mobile platform connecting workers with businesses in the hospitality industry. The company reached around 1,000 users and 90 companies, generated media attention in Italy and gave him his first taste of building a company.

But it also taught him an important lesson about choosing the right environment. The next stop on his journey was Berlin, where he worked in sales for another company, eventually selling to clients including GetYourGuide and WeWork. Then came a trip that would fundamentally change his perspective.

The appeal was not simply the amount of capital or the number of tech companies in the city. It was the people. “Everyone that I met was building something, so I thought to myself this is a super cool place. And I definitely needed to be here.”

San Francisco as a base, not a destination

Darijan's relationship with San Francisco is also representative of a broader change in how young founders approach global technology hubs. For previous generations, moving to Silicon Valley often meant relocating permanently. Today, the relationship can be much more fluid.

In a matter of just a few months, he has spent time in San Francisco, returned to Europe, traveled to London and Slovenia, and is now organizing events in different countries before heading to India and eventually returning to the Bay Area.

“We just came back from San Francisco one month ago, and now we are traveling a bit almost everywhere,” he says.

Next stops include Berlin and New Delhi, with San Francisco again becoming the base later in the year. For Darijan, geography is therefore less about where a company is registered and more about where its network exists. But there is a certain advantage in building from San Francisco.

A young entrepreneur from Serbia or N. Macedonia can spend a few months in San Francisco, return to Europe and immediately plug back into the same international network. While the physical borders remain, the professional ones increasingly do not.

Bringing the “SF vibe” back to Europe

Darijan has been actively trying to reproduce some of that environment in Europe. After events in London, he brought the community to Slovenia, organizing a hackathon that attracted more than 100 builders and more than 60 teams.

The event included partners such as OpenAI, ElevenLabs and PostHog, alongside investors including Silicon Gardens and Bek Ventures. The significance, for Darijan, was not simply the hackathon itself, but the network it helped create. “What matters again is the ambitious people that you meet,” he says. His team opened its office to the local community, allowing founders and builders to work alongside them.

A young founder meets another founder, an investor meets a potential entrepreneur, an employee leaves a successful startup and eventually starts a company of their own. Over time, those connections compound.

The problem, in his view, is not necessarily a lack of capable people, but rather a lack of examples. While the region has seen a few unicorns, that’s still not enough. “They don't have an example, a big example, such as multiple unicorns. So that is missing for most countries from the region.” Darijan explains. 

This creates a cycle. Talented people leave for London, Berlin, San Francisco or other established hubs because those places offer greater density of founders, capital, experienced operators and potential customers.

Once they leave, the local ecosystem loses some of the people who could have helped build its next generation. Darijan also argues that successful companies can eventually become the foundations for stronger ecosystems because employees who gain experience and equity can later become founders and investors themselves.

The implication for Southeast Europe is clear: building an ecosystem now is more about creating companies large enough to generate experienced founders, executives, investors and employees who can go on to build the next layer.

A different definition of success

There is also a cultural difference that Darijan believes separates Europe from the US.

“Most European founders I know are not ambitious enough. They don't want to build something super big, or they don't want to change the market.” Darijan says, describing American founders as more willing to pursue ideas that initially appear unusual or unrealistic.

That does not mean Europe lacks advantages. Darijan says European food and quality of life are generally better, among other things. But he believes the environment in San Francisco encourages a different level of ambition.

“San Francisco is a bit in the future. Europe is still not there.” For a generation that can move between both worlds, however, the choice does not necessarily have to be either-or.

Therefore, Darijan's advice to young entrepreneurs in the region is consequently less about finding the perfect local conditions and more about refusing to wait for them.

At the same time, he also rejects the idea that there is a single conventional path into entrepreneurship and perhaps most importantly, he believes ambitious founders need to physically put themselves in the rooms where ambitious people are already building.

“Book a flight and go to San Francisco, to London, and meet people.” Darijan puts it bluntly.

For the next generation of founders from Southeast Europe, networks are no longer necessarily local, or even regional. Their customers, investors, collaborators and competitors can be anywhere. And as travel becomes easier, remote collaboration becomes normal and startup communities become increasingly interconnected, the region's most ambitious young entrepreneurs may not be defined by where they come from at all.

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