Launched in 2018, with co-financing from the Fund for Innovation and Technology Development of the Republic of North Macedonia (FITD), the Business Accelerator UKIM’s (BAU’s) mission is to identify and support the growth of the most promising entrepreneurs, startups, and spinoffs in North Macedonia, through provision of business acceleration services, early stage investments, and access to international markets. BAU offers pre-acceleration and acceleration programs, and manages an equity fund for pre-seed and seed investments, and early stage financing for entrepreneurs, startups and spinoffs in North Macedonia.

BAU was recently selected by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), an official and independent body of the European Union, as its official Community Regional Innovation Scheme (RIS) Hub for North Macedonia. EIT’s Regional Innovation Scheme (RIS) is an instrument dedicated to promote innovation across Europe, to narrow the innovation gap between the countries and Europe, and to strengthen the innovation capacity of ecosystems in low-innovation performance countries. As Regional Innovation Hub, BAU is responsible for promoting EIT’s RIS activities in North Macedonia, and identifying and engaging relevant beneficiaries and stakeholders from the education, business and research sectors.

Crimson is one of BAU’s principal founders, and provides support to BAU’s day-to-day operations and management of the accelerator’s investment portfolio. In addition, Crimson assists BAU with the design and implementation of its pre-acceleration and acceleration programs, operational processes and procedures, and investment/financing mechanisms and instruments.