His Royal Highness Crown Prince Alexander was awarded yesterday at the European Business Angels Investment Forum in Istanbul as the Royal Family who gives the most support to startups and entrepreneurs in South East Europe. The award ceremony took place at the gala dinner to celebrate the European Business Angels Week at the Shangri-La Bosphorus Hotel – Istanbul.

On the behalf of Crown Prince, Mr Zoran Markovic, Consul General of the Republic of Serbia accepted the reward and read his letter to the audience. In his letter, the Crown Prince thanked EBAN – European Business Angels Network, TBAA – Business Angels Association of Turkey, Borsa Istanbul and Forbes – Para Conferences for their great contribution to the global entrepreneurship ecosystem by organising the European Business Angels Investment Forum and pointed out: “The most important global challenge of the 21st century is to create new jobs for new generations. IT and mobile technology investments are increasing globally, which results in fewer people being recruited for new jobs. Because technology handles so much of the work, there will be less demand for manpower. The only solution to this challenge is to create a different mindset for the young generation. This new mindset is very clear: Set up your own business instead of looking for a job!”.

Crown Prince Alexander Foundation’s for Education goals to strengthen entrepreneurial opportunities in Serbia was recognized and supported by the President of the Business Angels Association of Turkey, Mr Baybars Altuntas who has visited Royal Palace in Belgrade last year.  Two very successful Startup Weekends were organized in the Palaces, which supported more than 200 entrepreneurs through mentorship, contacts and even finances. The Palace has also hosted twice the biggest European seed fund, Seedcamp, and organized many other events to support the development of entrepreneurial and startup ecosystem. Teams that have participated in the programs have so far raised more than 500.000 euros of investment.

Crown Prince Alexander is also a founder of The Royal Council for entrepreneurship, which is a body that gathers most important organizations that support entrepreneurship in Serbia and empowering entrepreneurs is one of the main goals of the foundation.

This award shows that this actions are not only important and recognized in Serbia, but also from a global perspective.