EWA Demo Day 2025: Celebrating Women Agrifood Innovators in Serbia

The programme team opened the event, followed by an inspiring talk from Milana Latković (Colloco), who shared a strong message about safeguarding mental health on the entrepreneurial journey and “not losing your soul in the process.”

Mentors praised the significant progress participants had made since the matchmaking phase, noting more coherent, focused, and professional presentations. “You have all progressed – the key is to stay authentic, simple, and confident in what you do,” they advised.

In her keynote, Milana highlighted the emotional resilience required in entrepreneurship and encouraged founders to prioritise their well-being alongside their business ambitions.

• 1st Prize – Jovanka Jana Ninković, Bayan Food
  Bayan Food produces vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, allergen-free, and lactose-free food tailored for individuals with specific health needs, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Hashimoto’s, infertility, osteoporosis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Their innovative approach addresses the nutritional challenges faced by people for whom “regular” food can be harmful.
• 2nd Prize – Jelisaveta Ilić, Tisalytics Bio
  Tisalytics Bio, led by a team of young scientists and entrepreneurs, has developed an AI-powered solution for the early detection and prediction of harmful algal and cyanobacterial blooms that threaten aquaculture, rivers, and coastal ecosystems.

Other participants presented promising concepts spanning product development, sustainable agriculture, and digital agrifood innovations, demonstrating the diversity and creativity fostered by the programme.

Throughout the programme, participants gained valuable knowledge in market positioning, pricing, branding, legal structures, and intellectual property protection. Mentees shared their experiences:

• “I now know how to protect what I create!”
• “The price calculation training opened my eyes — now I know exactly how much my product should cost.”
• “I finally understand how to create a business plan that makes sense.”

The EWA Programme journey continues with the Regional Event – Acceleration of Innovation Through Women’s Leadership, taking place on 4 December 2025 in Warsaw. This event will bring together 13 women innovators from across Europe to connect with investors, corporates, and the wider EIT Food community. Serbia will be represented by Jelisaveta Ilić of Tisalytics Bio, the programme’s second-place winner.

The Women’s Entrepreneurship Academy, founded in 2006 in Novi Sad, supports women entrepreneurs from rural and semi-urban areas of Serbia. It has trained over 3,200 women and organized workshops, mentoring programmes, and provided access to interest-free loans for female startups. The Academy launched a business incubator and accelerator for women, earning recognition as a Centre of Excellence for Women’s Entrepreneurship. It also produces research on topics like women’s entrepreneurship and gender budgeting. Since 2019, with support from the U.S. Embassy, it has expanded its services, training over 90 women and 24 startup teams. In 2022, it signed an agreement to offer interest-free loans to women entrepreneurs in Vojvodina.

Learn more about Women's Entrepreneurship Academy on their webpage.