Oltjana Beci’s start-up success: How an OSCE scholarship opened a door for a young Albanian entrepreneur

“When Sylph was announced as one of the top ten start-up ideas at the European Innovation Academy, I simply couldn’t believe it. I quickly tried to locate my teammates so we could go onstage to give our final pitch and receive the award.”

Oltjana Beci (24) from Albania and her team won a six-month mentorship with Dybaw Venture Capital, an innovative business advisory firm based in Geneva, for their start-up project, a warehouse-patrolling drone called Sylph.

“It’s an autonomous intelligent drone that could potentially revolutionize the security industry,” says Oltjana. “A smart solution that increases security in warehouses, preventing thefts, fires and chemical spills at significantly reduced costs. Imagine that!”

It all started with Oltjana being one of the 18 finalists in the OSCE scholarship programme for young people from the Western Balkans selected to attend the European Innovation Academy (EIA) in Turin, Italy, this July. The EIA is a leading summer entrepreneurship programme that helps students and youth develop their ideas for start-ups.

2018 OSCE scholarship programme at the European Innovation Academy

Sponsored by the Italian 2018 OSCE Chairmanship in the framework of the project YDEAS (Young Developers and Entrepreneurs to Advance Start-ups in the Western Balkans) and managed by the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA), the OSCE scholarship programme at the European Innovation Academy was specifically aimed at 18-to-25-year-old young people from the Western Balkans to create a regional community of young people with innovative ideas and cutting-edge skills, ready to compete in the global market. Through the call for candidacies launched to identify 18 finalists in the scholarship programme, OSCE field operations, in collaboration with the local branch offices of the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO), were able to reach out to more than 1,000 young people in the region.

“In Turin we formed multicultural teams and for three intense weeks we designed, tested and launched project prototypes, business models and marketing campaigns,” explains Oltjana enthusiastically.

She tells how every day from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. the OSCE scholarship recipients together with about 500 other participants from around the world attended various workshops, master classes and speeches and were mentored by professionals coming from the world’s top institutions.

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At the end of the programme, ten start-up projects were selected as the best and the ten winning teams were awarded various prizes - interviews, provisional patents, trademarks or mentorships with consulting companies lasting from three months to a year.

Sylph, the warehouse drone

Oltjana explains how Sylph, an autonomous warehouse drone, would regularly patrol a storage facility to detect risks and alert security guards of security breaches that may have been overlooked.

“The name Sylph is a combination of Latin and Greek, an imaginary winged air spirit helping on the ground. Our French teammates came up with it and we love it,” she says.

Being a culturally diverse group from Albania, France, Taiwan and the United States, the Sylph team decided to contact warehouses and security companies in their home countries to learn about the security problems they face.

“In the process of putting the project together, we discovered that warehouse security officers often have a hard time telling whether an alarm is real or false,” says Oltjana. “An indoor drone like Sylph can check out a scene up close and provide information in real-time, allowing guards to react before it’s too late.”

Oltjana and her teammates worked on every step of the project together. As the Chief Technology Officer, she focused more on designing the digital prototype and on hardware issues. “Despite our specific roles, we always worked as a team. I think that was another reason we were successful,” she says.

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As there is a great demand for autonomous patrolling drones in Texas, the team plans to start their activities there first. Later they hope to expand to the rest of the USA, before eventually entering the global market.

Valuable connections

The EIA programme helped Oltjana make many connections both within and outside of the Balkans.

“It was an amazing experience and I hope that the project continues. Many young people would love to have the opportunity I had this summer. It changed my life,” she says.

Oltjana is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Electronic Engineering and will be writing her thesis on cyber security. 

“It has always been my dream to have my own innovative business in my field of study. The experience I gained through this programme is invaluable. Now I know what it takes to be an entrepreneur,” Oltjana concludes.