Albania is a country that tempts entrepreneurs on the beginning of their business path with its strategic geographical location as it connects Western and Eastern Balkans and the possibility to register a company in less than 24 hours having no more than a 1 euro in your pocket! If all the above haven’t convinced you that Albania is the right place for developing a startup then take into consideration the fact that taxation in the field of information technology has decreased in recent years from 15% to 5% there.
Although Albania has never won a single medal in the Olympic Games, it has a lot to be proud of as it’s the country strongly committed to supporting the startup ecosystem through acceleration and incubators programs!
Elevator Lab
Powered by Raiffeisen Bank, the Elevator Lab is one of those initiatives that allow the CEE startup ecosystem to bloom and expand in such a fast way. The organization is present not only in Albania but also in 13 other European countries where it supports startups working on innovative solutions that can be applied in the financial sector. During the program, selected teams from the fintech sector are encouraged to develop MVP with the help of local banking experts, have a chance to broaden the knowledge of various methodologies such as lean canvas and enhance the sophisticated art of pitching their ideas in front of investors. In addition, the winning team gets a cash prize and an opportunity to become a RBI group’s partner together with educational perks from Innovation Centre Kosovo and Innovate Albania.
Tirana Inc.
The purpose of creating Tirana Inc. was to make Albania the number one destination for ambitious European students who want to become entrepreneurs. The incubator was founded in 2021 thanks to the collective cooperation between Albanian Universities, Preneurz.Amsterdam and the EU for Innovation. Only 10 teams are accepted to the program and have a chance to develop their business ideas for 100 days under the careful supervision of business experts from around the world. What is more, every participant becomes a member of a vibrant community of passionate founders and there is a prize of 5k EUR for the best team!
Yunus Social Business Balkans
Yunus Social Business (YSB) focuses on projects that can have a positive and meaningful impact on the day-to-day life of people living in Western Balkans countries. YSB believes that everyone with a good attitude and well-tailored mentorship has the potential to become an entrepreneur and change the world. The goal of the program is to encourage and give people the necessary skill set for designing, testing and building entrepreneurial initiatives on the basis of an impact idea. Startups that are admitted to YSB accelerators and incubators work on developing their projects through training, coaching and mentoring offered by skilled founders, most of whom have tackled societal problems in a financially sustainable way. There are three projects supported by YSB that you should definitely know! Growpreneur - an accelerator that offers two programs depending on the stage of development, RISE project - an incubator focused on developing social impact startups and Promoting SEs - training addressed to women entrepreneurs who want to run successful social enterprises.
Women Founders Network Albania
Founded in 2107 and based in the heart of Tirana, Women Founders Network Albania, is the first accelerator for women entrepreneurs in Albania. The aim of the initiative is to reduce disproportion between the number of male and female founders through individual mentoring, basic knowledge transfer and, most important of all, by proving that the startup ecosystem is equally accessible to both men and women. Apart from covering fundamental business subjects, the program includes workshops dedicated to topics relatable to women-only, such as being a working mom or the legal aspects of maternity leave.
Besides the acceleration project, Women Founders Network Albania organizes numerous events that answer the needs declared by she-founders and enable the exchange of experiences and knowledge.
Ofiçina
The great dream and purpose of Oficina’s initiative is turning Albania into a country with knowledge-based economy as a driving force. In order to accomplish that goal, Oficina runs an incubation and acceleration program in collaboration with international organizations and offers co-working space rich in technical infrastructure. The program is dedicated to the startups with MVP which are ready to commercialize the project regardless of the sector it contributes to. The application process is open all year round and selected participants have the opportunity to develop their idea under the supervision of individually chosen experts and mentors. Besides the authorial program, Oficina supports founders by holding sector-oriented events and cooperating with other players from the European startup scene.
Metropolitan Incubator
Metropolitan Incubator is the pioneer of university-based initiatives in the district of Albania that focuses on supporting business development and influencing regional economic development of later-stage projects. The program is addressed to startups that are registered for more than 2 years and currently focus on expansion in the market. Among innumerable benefits that come with participation in the Metropolitan Incubator worth distinguishing are continuous one-on-one mentoring, membership in various regional and international networks for startups, the possibility to advertise to a wide audience, courses increasing entrepreneurial knowledge and access to coworking space. In the METINC’s portfolio, you can find a.o. WebProm - a platform that enables 7 different ways of online advertising or Shametaj Bee Farm - solution to the lack of unitization of local honey products.
Innovation Hub GJIROKASTER
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Gjirokaster supports the regional business community in a multitude of ways, as it’s well known that startups contribute enormously to the national economy. They have initiated a unique Innovation Hub GJIROKASTER that offers a holistic approach for not only startups but also for SMEs and local stakeholders. There are four main initiatives that help entrepreneurs to kick off their businesses in different stages of development i.e. Incubation Facilities that includes co-working space and validation models, Acceleration Services with free coaching and mentoring session for the best market introduction of your ideas, Training Academy which focuses on entrepreneurship subjects leading to success and Funding Support about fundraising from private investors as well as from public grants.
Want to discover more accelerators and incubators from other countries? Check out the list below.
Top Accelerators and Incubators from:
- Round-up Of The Best Accelerators In The CEE Region
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- France
- Finland
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Spain
- Switzerland
- Türkiye
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
- Western Balkans.
Related Posts:
Best Startup Accelerators and Incubators In Croatia (by Dorota Potępa, Community Builder, Vestbee)
Best Startup Accelerators and Incubators In Austria (by Dorota Potępa, Community Builder, Vestbee)
Best Startup Accelerators and Incubators In Latvia (by Dorota Potępa, Community Builder, Vestbee)
