Abstract
The entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Balkans was not born in a vacuum but rather in the context of the current socio-economic dynamics, building on the human and economic capabilities that were developed during the Socialist period in the region. So, as much as Socialism suppressed natural entrepreneurship as a mindset, it actually shaped and nurtured the skills and capabilities that are at the heart of the entrepreneurial venture creation observed in the region today, in particular in ICT ventures.
As important as the capabilities of the past are, the profile of today’s regional ecosystem has been highly influenced by the transitional socio-economic processes of more recent years. The processes, factors and dynamics that lead to the conception and growth of the ecosystem vary across the countries in the region, giving credence to the belief that the availability of solid early-stage financing combined with general public/government incentives can be essential for the nurturing of an entrepreneurship culture.
For this ecosystem, one of the key challenges over time seems to be that entrepreneurship here is not about volume, it is about niche specialization and regional impact.
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Andonova, V., Nikolova, M.S., Dimitrov, D. (2019). The Creation and Development of the Ecosystem: The Role of ICT. In: Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in Unexpected Places. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98219-9_3
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