That the signed Memorandum of Cooperation between ICT Cortex and the Capital City is not just a letter on paper is best demonstrated by the implementation of the planned activities.

The first among them is the continuation of support for the development of the startup scene, which this year will also guarantee participation in the largest technology conference in the world – the Web Summit, which is organized in Lisbon from November 1-4.

The Secretariat for Support to the Business Community of the Capital City has announced a Contest for STARTUP ICT business support, to which all legal and natural persons can apply and apply for the ALPHA or BETA program.

The ALPHA program can be applied for by individuals or legal entities that were founded in the last 5 years with residence or headquarters in the territory of the Capital City and who want to start or develop their business ideas in the Capital City. A maximum of 3 participants (individuals or legal entities) who are among the winners of the previous Competition for the support of start-up businesses in 2021 can receive support for the BETA program.

According to the Decision on the Budget of the Capital City of Podgorica for 2022, funds for EUR 40,000.00 are planned for these purposes, to support innovative products and services that are at least on the third level of the technological readiness scale (TRL3 – technology readiness level) in the areas of fintech; IoT (Internet of things); game development; health tech; smart technologies (cities, buildings, etc.); digital transformation (ERP systems, e-business, financial technologies, etc.); green ICT (reduction of emissions, energy saving, etc.); machine learning and artificial intelligence.

The amount of funds that can be granted to one person under this competition is up to EUR 4,000.00 and can only be used for participation in the Web Summit 2022, whose topics are focused on IT and Internet technology and other types of new technologies.

In addition to fulfilling the conditions of the Contest, the participants of the contest must also meet the quality standards prescribed by the Web Summit.

The application form for the competition can be downloaded from the link, and the deadline for submitting applications is July 22.

As a reminder, thanks to the initiative of the ICT Cortex cluster and the support of the Capital City, last year Montenegro had an unprecedentedly large delegation at the Web Summit, where as many as seven Podgorica start-ups were presented.