Startup Report Slovensko 2025 (Slovenská sporiteľňa (Erste Group))

Summary

• The Slovak startup ecosystem is heavily concentrated in the Bratislava region, which accounts for 49% of responding startups.p.8
• International sales are critical for growth, as 44% of startups derive more than 50% of their total revenues from foreign markets.p.11
• A total of 23% of startups are considering moving their operations abroad, citing access to investors (79%) and better infrastructure (74%) as primary reasons.p.15
• Bootstrapping is prevalent in Slovakia, with 58% of founders retaining a 100% equity stake in their companies.p.24

Key insights

1. IT/Software leads as the dominant sector for Slovak startups at 38%, followed by Healthcare at 15%.p.6
2. Sales and customer acquisition are cited by 53% of startups as their single biggest operational challenge.p.13
3. Startups report that technical roles (57%) and sales positions (38%) are the most difficult to recruit for.p.30
4. Salary expectations represent the largest obstacle in hiring talent for 50% of startups.p.31
5. Angel investors are the most common source of current external financing, used by 41% of funded startups.p.26
6. Over 86% of surveyed investors identify the political situation in Slovakia as a top risk for 2025.p.44
7. More than half of surveyed investors (62%) state that a shortage of high-quality startups is a key investment barrier.p.44
8. Slovakia has only 97 startups per million inhabitants, compared to 1,048 startups per million inhabitants in Estonia.p.47
9. Public procurement spending in Slovakia accounts for approximately 13.2% of GDP, representing significant unused potential to drive startup demand.p.52