STeP Ri — Science and Technology Park of the University of Rijeka

STeP Ri (Znanstveno-tehnologijski park Sveucilista u Rijeci) is the Science and Technology Park of the University of Rijeka, founded in August 2008 by the University with support from the City of Rijeka, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County and the national innovation agency BICRO — the first university-founded science and technology park in Croatia.

What it does: STeP Ri advises researchers and entrepreneurs on turning university knowledge into business, incubates spin-off companies, and manages intellectual-property protection, licensing and commercialisation for the University of Rijeka; it has been an Enterprise Europe Network partner since 2011.

Results: from 2013 through the end of 2019 it advised 1,357 companies, scientists and novice entrepreneurs, and since 2010 has contracted more than 50 projects worth over 225 million kuna (~EUR 30 million) in total, of which STeP Ri's own share was 21 million kuna. It has been self-sustaining since 2013 through space rental, consulting and project-implementation revenue, and was named Croatia's best entrepreneurial support institution in 2012.

Caveat: reported figures cover advisory reach and contracted project value, not an independently audited count of spin-offs created or jobs generated, and the organisation remains small (around a dozen staff as of 2023).

Why it's a good practice: Croatia's first university-anchored technology-transfer institution, sustaining a multi-level public partnership and EU project pipeline for over 15 years.

Read the full analysis: https://www.step.uniri.hr/