BisterUm, Vitalizem, and AR Bracelet are the winning teams of the Ferfl program, which promotes ideas with a social impact. Organizer: Cene Štupar Public Institution – Ljubljana Education Center has concluded the School of Social Impact Entrepreneurship and moved the Ferfl program into its final phase: the integration of the winning teams into a social enterprise incubator. There, through three months of comprehensive support, the winning teams will develop their ideas from concept to market launch.
Ferfl, a comprehensive program for promoting ideas with a social impact, has encouraged people of all ages to start thinking about a better future and entrepreneurial ideas that create a brighter tomorrow. The program, which has already brought together numerous entrepreneurs and public organizations, has actively engaged aspiring young people over the past few months , somewhat less young entrepreneurs, and above all those with ideas who, in various ways , were seeking opportunities in the world of social entrepreneurship. By the end of the program, however, only the 6 most polished ideas made the cut. Thus, over the past month, six teams honed their skills at the School of Social Impact Entrepreneurship, where 19 new entrepreneurs developed their ideas and prepared to enter the market. On May 31, team representatives gave 3-minute pitches—brief presentations—to convince the expert panel that their idea was the one that would succeed in the market. The polished presentations, the result of several months of hard work, made it quite difficult for the expert panel to select a winner.
The presentation began with the “Ljubljana as a Playground” team, led by Zukanović Mevlo and Rotar Ines, who introduced fun games for exploring Ljubljana. A representative from the team then continued Sedežka, Sabina Mivšek, who presented the idea of a café with a secondhand shop. Next were the winners: Tina Štukelj, from BistroUma, with an idea for the rehabilitation of people with cognitive difficulties, and Mojca Cerovšek, from Vitalizem, with an idea for alternative medicine for animals. The second-to-last presenter was Ana Tomašič from the Škatlc team, with an idea for experiential tools for exploring nature. The third-place winning team, AR Bracelet—Gašper Kos and Maja Novak—was the last to present, with an idea for testing the presence of drugs in beverages using a wristband.
On this occasion, the Deputy Mayor of Ljubljana, Mr. Dejan Crnek, and Bojan Hajdinjak, M.A., Director of the Cene Štupar Public Institution, addressed the audience. The presentations were followed by the counting of votes; during this time, successful young companies that had participated in the Ferfl programs in recent years (Najemi panj, Agora Natura, Dežela zelišč, Bokri, and Rožma) introduced themselves. This was followed by a rousing announcement of the winning teams; due to a tie in the voting, three teams were declared winners (instead of two): BisterUM, Vitalizem, and AR Bracelet. From June through the end of August, the teams will receive support from the Social Entrepreneurship Incubator. To help them develop their ideas, they will be provided with three months of free office space and comprehensive business mentoring, including 12 hours of consulting in the areas of business, marketing, law, finance, accounting, and legislation.
