While many quality early-stage startups continue to seek the right support at the right time, 3V Innovation Hub arrives with a clear mission: to help founders reach their goals faster than others managed to do alone over years.

Behind this startup hub and investment-strategic partner stands Luka Vuković, a man who has built his experience in the startup world and accelerator programs worldwide — from Dubai, Portugal, Hungary and Poland to Switzerland and Croatia.

We are glad he found his place in the Split Tech City community.

In short — what do you do and how did it all start?

3V Innovation Hub is a startup hub and investment-strategic partner for early-stage startups. We help founders through investments, mentorship, strategy, connecting people and operational support.

Over the years of working in the startup world, participating in accelerator programs and international projects — from Dubai, Portugal, Hungary and Poland to Switzerland and Croatia — I gained significant experience, valuable connections and the opportunity to meet investors and partners with whom we’re launching this story today. Through that journey, I realized how much quality early-stage startups often lack concrete support, mentorship and the right people at the right time, which is where 3V was born.

We focus on early-stage startups that already have at least some form of initial traction or market validation. We don’t expect them to have everything solved or have a perfectly organized business, but it’s important for us to recognize the key indicators that tell us the potential.

We’re particularly interested in projects that, beyond business potential, have some broader value for society, because we believe that technology and entrepreneurship can be tools for creating positive change.

How would you describe the entrepreneurial climate in Split and the surrounding area?

I think Split has really started to wake up seriously over the last few years when it comes to technology, innovation and startups. Previously, people much more often thought about leaving, while today more and more young people are trying to build projects with global potential right from Split.

What’s particularly positive to me is that a real startup community is finally beginning to form. People are connecting more, sharing experiences, meeting investors, going to conferences and starting to think globally much earlier.

Of course, we still lack more capital, experienced mentors and people who have gone through serious startup scaling, but the energy is incomparably better than 5 or 10 years ago.

Split Tech City plays a huge role in changing the perception of Split as a startup and tech city, in my opinion, as they’ve been actively connecting people for years now, organizing events and creating a sense of community within the local tech scene. I think initiatives like that can have enormous long-term impact on the development of the city.

Which projects and collaborations are you most proud of so far?

I’m most proud of Look@, a project we developed over years and through which we went from one idea to international markets, investors and projects around the world.

Look@ sculptures can today be seen on three continents, and that’s perhaps the most beautiful feeling — to see that something that was just an idea in someone’s head years ago today stands for example in South Africa, Dubai or Poland and people use daily something that we created from Split. Over the years of work and international trade fairs, we met investors and partners from Dubai, Singapore and other markets, and recently we closed a seed investment for further project development, which is huge recognition and confirmation that people outside Croatia believe in what we’re building.

We’re especially proud of international awards the project has received. In Portugal, Look@ was recognized as one of the most innovative solutions in tourism, while in Dubai we were also awarded for innovation and participated in international startup and accelerator programs.

I’m also proud that through sport and KK Solin I had the opportunity to build community and lead people for years. I think sport helped me a lot in entrepreneurship — it teaches you discipline, pressure, working with people and long-term thinking.

And today, perhaps I’m most delighted by 3V itself, because I have the feeling that now I can help new people reach where we’ve been trying to get for years ourselves.

Which technologies and tools do you use in your work?

Today AI has become a completely unavoidable tool and I think it will change almost every industry in the coming years. We use it practically in all segments of our work — from market research and data analysis to content development, idea validation, process organization and communication.

Personally, what fascinates me most is the speed at which you can test something today and turn an idea into a concrete tool or product. A few years ago, certain things required large teams and months of development, and today with AI and modern tools you can do a lot incredibly quickly.

For example, recently I single-handedly put together an internal platform, 3V Radar, which we use for evaluating startups, communicating with projects and tracking idea development and investment opportunities. That would have been almost unthinkable without a serious development team a few years ago.

Of course, serious and scalable products still require quality developers and expertise, but AI has tremendously lowered the entry barrier to innovation and enabled many more people to actively participate in technology development.

In addition to AI tools, we use various modern systems for productivity, automation, CRM, MVP development, analytics and project organization. We put great focus on rapid market testing and making decisions based on real data and user feedback, rather than just feelings.

Do you work from an office or remotely?

Yes, our office is in Split Technology Park, on the 4th floor.

Split Technology Park is a natural environment for us because it brings together people who are building startups, developing new products and thinking globally, which creates excellent entrepreneurial energy and new opportunities for collaboration.

Are you planning to expand the team? How many people do you have now?

We’re currently a small team, but it’s more important to us to have quality and motivated people than to grow quickly at any cost.

As new projects and activities open up, we’ve started expanding the team. Soon a student developer will be joining us, and we currently have two more positions open and active conversations for a graphic designer position and a junior marketing assistant & startup operations position.

We’re looking for people who love the startup environment, want to learn and actively participate in creating new projects, not just do a standard 9-to-5 job.

Why did you decide to join the Split Tech City community?

Because I believe that a serious startup ecosystem cannot be built individually. Split Tech City is one of the rare communities that truly connects people from technology, startups and entrepreneurship, and I think that’s very important for Split.

It’s important to us to be part of the community, meet new people, share experiences and help as much as we can with others who are just starting out.

Is there anything else you’d like to highlight?

I’d like to tell people not to wait for the “perfect moment” to start a project, because that moment usually never comes. Most good startups look uncertain, chaotic and unfinished at the beginning. What matters is to start, learn and adapt along the way.

And perhaps most importantly — we shouldn’t underestimate Split and Croatia. Today, serious global stories can be built from here too.

So: visit www.3v-hub.com and apply!