Bosqar Invest founder Stjepan Orešković has built a group of companies spanning sectors including outsourcing, HR, tourism and most recently food, with operations far beyond their small home market of Croatia. He talked to bne IntelliNews about the need for the EU to foster a culture of entrepreneurship that can scale companies beyond national borders. 

“It’s always about entrepreneurship,” said Orešković on the sidelines of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) annual meeting in London in May. “It’s about people who have the courage to go over the borders. Some don’t have the appetite or courage to go further, but if you believe in the beauty of creating things, then it helps you grow. It’s never only about profit or money.”

That concept has underpinned Bosqar’s rapid expansion into international markets. “If you look only at a market of 3.8mn people, you immediately reach the barriers, but we are very much international. Actually, most of our revenues come from the DACH [Germany, Austria, Switzerland] region, Central Europe and Turkey,” he said. “We will probably also expand in the future to Africa. That’s the beauty of going global.”

Orešković is part of a new generation of Central European business leaders, who are increasingly critical of Europe’s failure to nurture scale-up companies. That prompted him to launch a new initiative, Future 500, aimed at promoting competitiveness within the EU, which Croatia joined back in 2013. 

“Europe is missing global leaders. We believe Europe will not be able to create a global leading company in the next 25 years,” he said. “Most productivity comes from those companies. But Europe does not have the mechanisms or focus to support the growth of companies that have the potential for scale like the US and China have. This is a job that should be done in a very concrete and focussed way.”

Croatia has emerged as one of the fastest-growing EU economies in recent years, and Orešković considers the country’s success story is just beginning. The next stage will depend on strengthening institutions and embedding transparency. “I believe in science,” he says, citing MIT economist and recent Nobel laureate Daron Acemoglu. “He says what creates successful countries is independent, inclusive, transparent institutions. I think this is the next stage for Croatia.”

“We’re exiting one historical phase and entering a new one. The next level would be more credibility and independence for institutions and for companies.”

Feeding the future

Much of Bosqar’s current activity is in tech and business services, with its business process and technology outsourcing (BPTO) vertical Mplus emerging as a European leader. However, Orešković sees food production as a strategic area of investment. “It has huge potential because the productivity of the agricultural sector is very low. You can look at it as a problem or an opportunity,” he said. 

The company is building out its presence in the bakery sector. “You will not expect profit margins like you can create in the tech sector, but you can have stability and security.” Moreover, he added, “I think it’s a great feeling if you can contribute to the stability of food [supply], also increasing quality and making it safe.”

Looking beyond Bosqar’s own operations, Orešković discussed what is needed to enable companies to thrive and grow. 

“You need more than just a food product or a tech application. You need financing, education, communication and branding, as well as a level of financing Europe was not capable of providing so far.”

Commenting on the focus of the Future 500 initiative, Orešković envisages a model of expansion based on concentric circles: first Southeast Europe, then Central and Eastern Europe, then the wider continent. “The centre of the world is where the company with the best technology is,” he says.

Orešković is also adamant that scaling companies to a global level requires more than private effort – it needs state backing. “Nothing happens by itself,” he says. “If you look at the history of any global leader, you will find an entrepreneur, science and state support.”

To that end, he wants Europe to get serious about targeted industrial strategy. “We should ask ourselves: which are the future potential global leaders in Europe, and then give them any kind of support they need.”