Croatia’s startup story has already defied all expectations. A country of just four million people has produced two unicorns – Infobip and Rimac Automobili – and notable exits including Photomath, acquired by Google in 2023. Together, these milestones have attracted hundreds of millions in investment and put Croatia firmly on Europe’s innovation map. But at CRO STARTUP, the umbrella organization for Croatia’s startup community, we believe the country’s most significant chapter is still being written. And it might be written not in SaaS dashboards, but in laboratories.

The past decade of Croatian tech success has been dominated by software platforms, B2B solutions, and consumer applications. These are important achievements that proved Croatia could produce globally competitive companies. But the deeper potential – in biotechnology, advanced materials, AI rooted in scientific research, and clean technology – remains significantly underleveraged.

That is precisely why the shift toward deep tech matters so much right now. And it is also why the question of who gets to lead that shift is not peripheral. It is central.

The scientific foundation is strong

Croatia punches well above its weight scientifically. The Ruđer Bošković Institute, the country’s largest research organization, hosts more than 1,300 scientists working across fields from molecular biology to materials science and photonics. The University of Zagreb has produced generations of engineers and scientists with strong technical foundations. The country also has a network of specialist research centers and, through the BICRO business innovation system, dedicated infrastructure for turning science into commercial ventures – including the BICRO BIOCentre biotech incubator in Zagreb. More recently, Nuqleus – a deep tech venture builder born out of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (FER) and operated by the Innovation Center Nikola Tesla – has emerged as a key force in bridging the gap between Croatian research and the market. In three years, Nuqleus has incubated 23 startups and spun off 16 companies, partnering with scientific institutions ranging from the Ruđer Bošković Institute to the Faculty of Chemical Engineering. Its annual Liftoff conference, now in its second edition, is fast becoming one of the most significant deep tech events in Central and Eastern Europe – a platform that puts Croatian scientific talent in front of international investors and partners.

Yet despite this foundation, the leap from research to startup has historically been difficult. Croatia faces the same “valley of death” that challenges innovators across Europe: the gap between a working scientific concept and a fundable, scalable commercial product. Crossing it requires not only capital but a community of mentors, investors, and fellow founders who have navigated the same transition.

The evidence that deep tech can scale from Croatia

The most compelling proof that Croatian deep tech can succeed globally is GlycanAge. Co-founded by Nikolina Lauc and her father, Professor Gordan Lauc – one of the world’s leading glycoscientists – the company commercializes more than two decades of Croatian research into glycan biomarkers. Glycans, complex sugars that coat every cell surface and regulate immunity, inflammation, and ageing, hold extraordinary diagnostic potential. GlycanAge transformed that research into a biological age test that is entirely unlike anything on the market.

What followed is a story about what happens when scientific depth meets entrepreneurial drive. GlycanAge raised €3.9 million in seed funding in 2024, then closed a €7.4 million round in December 2025 — with investors including Vesna Deep Tech VC — and the company now partners with institutions such as St. Catherine Specialty Hospital in Zagreb, Northwestern University Hospital, and the Mayo Clinic.

“We are thrilled to have the support of investors who share our vision for a healthier future. This marks a significant milestone for GlycanAge, and we are excited to continue our journey towards transforming healthcare and empowering individuals to take control of their well-being,” said Nikolina Lauc, CEO of GlycanAge.

Nikolina’s leadership illustrates something important: the transition from academic research environment to commercial company is not automatic, and it is rarely easy. It requires someone willing to hold both scientific credibility and commercial urgency in the same hands. When that person is a woman operating in deep tech – a field where female-led teams still receive a fraction of total venture capital – the path is harder still.

Fasal Bio is another signal of Croatia’s emerging deep tech pipeline. The Zagreb-based startup, which secured €7 million in April 2026 to replace conventional plastics with renewable bio-based materials, represents exactly the kind of hard-science, materials-innovation company that Europe urgently needs to meet its climate goals.

The gender gap: real, but not inevitable

The story of women in Croatian deep tech mirrors the broader European pattern. Women are well represented in Croatian universities, including in STEM disciplines, and the country has strong traditions in life sciences and biology research. But academic participation does not automatically translate into startup founding, investment access, or leadership roles in science-based companies.

Across Europe, female-founded teams receive a small fraction of total venture capital – and deep tech compounds this challenge. Longer development timelines, higher capital requirements, and investor networks that remain predominantly male all create additional friction for women making the leap from researcher to founder. The question, as we see it at CRO STARTUP, is not whether the talent exists. The talent is there. The question is whether the right support structure exists around that talent at the right moment.

GlycanAge shows what is possible when it does. But GlycanAge should not be the exception. It should be the template.

Building the system around the talent

Our mission at CRO STARTUP is to make entrepreneurship more accessible for everyone in Croatia’s innovation community – and that means deliberately building pathways for women in deep tech. This means connecting researchers to mentors who have made the transition from lab to company, creating visibility for female founders as role models, and working with investors to ensure deep tech dealflow is evaluated on scientific merit rather than familiar patterns.

Through our involvement with EPIC-X, we are part of a broader European effort to identify and support women-led deep tech startups in ecosystems that are growing but still developing the support structures they need. For Croatia, that means bridging the gap between excellent science and commercially ambitious companies – and making sure that women are not just present in that pipeline, but leading it.

Croatia has proven it can produce world-class technology companies. The next proof point will be whether it can build the ecosystem infrastructure to turn its scientific talent – and the women within it – into the deep tech founders that Europe needs most.

This article was written in collaboration with EPIC-X. For more information about their work visit EPIC-X website.