Mission Statement

How does the Declaration of Intent look like?

All members sign a Declaration of Intent which states their commitment to contribute to the mission of the Alliance. The Declaration of Intent will be published on the alliance’s website alongside the list of members. The Declaration of Intent is accompanied by individual Action Statements in which each member describes its actions towards the common goal.

Actions of the Western Balkans Startup Alliance?

1. Alliance members (“Hubs”) act as regional community facilitators

2. Alliance members cooperate on cross border initiatives and projects;

3. Alliance members support the exchange of good practices and ideas

4. Alliance members jointly increase the public awareness of the ecosystems

5. Alliance members jointly lobby for legislative and policy changes

6. Alliance members jointly work on approaching and involving investors.

7. Alliance members promote the WBSA on national, regional, and international events.

To achieve this the alliance members will meet regularly in joint coordination Meetups (virtually and/or physically) and collaborate on specific topics and challenges in smaller (working) groups of interested members, so called Keystone Teams. Alliance members agree to dedicate at least 4 hours per month in support of the WBSA.

Access to the Alliance

Joining the alliance is free of charge, the only currency is the commitment to jointly improve the regional ecosystem. Organizations interested to contribute to the objectives mentioned in this mission statement are invited to apply to become a member. The Secretariat will review the application of the interested organization and inform the founding members of the Alliance. If a Founding member has an objection, it will be required for that objection to be submitted in email to the Secretariat within 10 working days upon receiving the email for the new membership application.  The Secretariat is required to inform the rest of the Founding members if objections are submitted and organize a meeting to discuss the issues at hand. Acceptance of new members to the Alliance will be done only with a 51% majority vote from all Founding members.

Secretariat, coordination and communication services

The Secretariat of the alliance, providing in particular coordination and communication services, will be financially supported for an initial phase by GIZ and should technically be supported by two founding members of the alliance.

The services of the secretariat include:

• Preparing and facilitating meetings of the Alliance Team
• Managing communication and promotion (Website, SM, contacts, events)
• Managing request from partners and other organizations (e.g. new membership requests)
• Developing a concept to sustain the Alliance after the GIZ project
• Supporting the work of the Keystone Teams (if required)

GIZ would offer to provide the first 

Annex I – Draft for Declaration of Intent
In order to be eligible as a Member of Western Balkans Start up Alliance interested, institutions and organizations have to fill out the following Letter of Intent:

1. Name of the startup/ institution / organization
2. Address of the startup/ institution / organization
3. Please provide 5 Action statements bellow on how you will commit in assisting the alliance.
4. By signing this letter of intent, the undersigned hereby confirms his intention the following:

1. to collaborate with the Western Balkans Start up Alliance and to contribute to the aims of the alliance
2. that no direct or indirect interest exists which may be considered as constituting a real, potential or apparent conflict of interest for your membership in the Western Balkans Start up Alliance