Serbian startup funding in 2026: more money, thinner middle
Žarko Antanasković · October 2026 · 4 min read
Serbian startups raised $43.9 million in 2025. That is 36% more than the year before and more than double 2023 [1]. The average round also grew, from $1.54 million to $1.83 million [1].
Good news, but the total hides the real story. Money is moving at the start and at the end of the funnel. The middle is getting thinner.
Pre-seed is up, seed is down
Pre-seed doubled in 2025, both in number of deals and in volume. Eight startups closed a pre-seed round in their first year of operation, compared with zero the year before. Two Series A rounds closed, together worth $14 million [1].
Seed went the other way. The number of seed deals fell by 50% [1]. Seed is where a startup proves it can sell, and that is exactly the step fewer Serbian companies are clearing.
Founders want to raise. Few are ready
The Startup Scanner 2026 survey of 170 Serbian startups shows the gap clearly. More than 72% plan to raise external investment in 2026, and one in four is going for a round above $1.1 million [1]. So far, only 29.9% have ever received external investment [2].
The readiness numbers explain why. 42.2% of startups have no stable monthly revenue, and 70% have never had a valuation from a previous round [2]. More than half of founders expect monthly revenue growth above 10% this year, while only 9.5% are growing that fast today [1].
Who you know still decides who gets funded
Among startups that raised in 2025, 68.2% found their investor through a referral. A year earlier that number was 49.1% [2]. Cold outreach is not how capital moves in Serbia. Warm introductions are.
Where the money comes from
| Source | What it offers | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Innovation Fund: Smart Start | Grant up to RSD 5.4M per project plus RSD 600,000 for mentoring, 6 to 9 months, teams of 2 to 5. The 6th call is open until 16 November 2026 [3]. | Idea to MVP, non-dilutive |
| Innovation Fund: Early Development | Grant up to about €80,000, covering at most 70% of eligible costs, projects up to 12 months [4]. | Young companies with a tech product |
| Innovation Fund: Serbia Ventures | The Fund invests up to €5M as a limited partner in new Serbian VC funds, matched by private capital, including calls focused on AI and biotech [5]. | Growing the local VC base |
| DSI Business Angels Network | 50+ angels, the first Balkan member of the European Business Angels Network. Its 10 portfolio startups went on to raise $9M in follow-on money [1]. | Pre-seed, warm intros |
| Regional VC | South Central Ventures manages the €40M ENIF fund for the Western Balkans [6]. TS Ventures is the corporate VC of Telekom Srbija, set up in 2021, and ICT Hub Venture is the investment arm of ICT Hub [7]. | Seed to Series A |
| Foreign VC active in Serbia | Investors in 2025 rounds included 20VC, Project Europe, Inovo, 5Q Ventures and Silicon Gardens [1]. | Larger pre-seed and Series A |
| EBRD Star Venture | Supported 31 startups and trained more than 200 early-stage founders in 2025 [8]. | Mentoring and investor access |
| Tax incentives | Companies that invest in new innovative startups get a 30% tax credit, capped at RSD 50M per year and RSD 100M per investor per startup [9]. Founders can be exempt from payroll tax and contributions for 36 months [10]. | Lower cost of investing |
What this means
For founders: public grants are the realistic first cheque. Smart Start and Early Development do not cost equity and they buy time to get to revenue.
For investors and ecosystem builders: the gap is seed. Programs that move teams from first customers to repeatable revenue matter more right now than programs that bring more ideas into the funnel.
For everyone: introductions are infrastructure. If 68% of funded founders met their investor through someone they know, then communities, angel networks and events are not a side activity. They are the pipeline.
Figures as of October 2026. Program terms change between calls, so check the Innovation Fund website before applying.
Sources
- Startup Genome, Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2026, "Serbia's Startup Ecosystem Is Ready to Scale, Together" (citing Garaža's report on investments in Serbian startups and the Digital Serbia Initiative Startup Scanner 2026). https://startupgenome.com/report/the-global-startup-ecosystem-report-2026/serbia-s-startup-ecosystem-is-ready-to-scale-together
- Biznis.rs, coverage of Startap skener 2026. https://biznis.rs/novac/investicije/milion-evra-prihoda-godisnje-misaona-imenica-za-97-odsto-startapova-u-srbiji/
- Biznis.rs, 12 September 2026, sixth Smart Start (Pametni početak) call. https://biznis.rs/preduzetnik/za-razvoj-inovativnih-ideja-do-54-miliona-dinara-po-projektu/
- Biznis.rs, Innovation Fund call for the Early Development Program. https://biznis.rs/vesti/bespovratna-sredstva-za-inovacije/
- WBC-RTI.info, Call for Serbia Ventures Program, and Biznis.rs, Serbia Ventures AI. https://wbc-rti.info/object/news/22564 https://biznis.rs/vesti/srbija/fond-za-inovacionu-delatnost-investira-u-ai-startape/
- Živković Samardžić, South Central Ventures and the Enterprise Innovation Fund (ENIF). https://www.zslaw.rs/?p=5066
- Vestbee, Top VC funds in the Western Balkans. https://vestbee.com/blog/articles/top-vc-funds-in-the-western-balkans-to-finance-your-startup
- EBRD, EBRD invested over €800 million in Serbia in 2025. https://www.ebrd.com/home/news-and-events/news/2026/ebrd-invested-over--800-million-in-serbia-in-2025.html
- Žunić Law, Serbian tax law: key incentives for IP and innovation in 2026. https://zuniclaw.com/en/serbian-tax-law-key-incentives-for-ip-and-innovation
- Žunić Law, Tax incentives for innovative startups in Serbia. https://zuniclaw.com/en/tax-incentives-for-startups
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