Commissioner Sikela launches the Future 500 platform to support promising European companies
Bled – Before the start of the main foreign policy event in Slovenia, the Bled Strategic Forum, a new platform to support the most promising European companies was launched today in Bled with the Future 500 forum. European Commissioner for International Partnerships Jozef Sikela expressed his belief that Future 500 can be a catalyst for collaboration, investment, and change. Sikela expressed his conviction that Europe must act decisively in light of the growing challenges posed by conflicts, the consequences of climate change, and global competition.
Future 500, led by the Atlantic Council and IEDC – Bled School of Management, in collaboration with the Bled Strategic Forum (BSF), the Podim conference as a partner in the startup ecosystem, and ISR – Institute for Strategic Solutions, will be responsible for identifying and accelerating the growth of the 500 most promising fast-growing companies from Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe and the wider EU. The first comprehensive list is expected to be presented on September 1, 2026, according to the founders of Future 500.
“Today, vision and idea meet here, but above all, the courage that Europe needs at this moment,” said the Minister of Economy, Tourism, and Sports Matjaž Han. He explained that finding the answer to how to turn small companies into global champions that will shape our economic future is one of the most important questions of today’s Europe. “Our task is to create the conditions in which entrepreneurial ideas can grow,” he said. The forum was also attended by the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Founder of Future 500 and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of IEDC – Bled School of Management Stjepan Orešković highlighted Europe’s lack of energy as a problem. “We do not want what Europe is doing now, looking for ways to support and finance dying industries,” Orešković emphasized. He is convinced that Europe should create and support those who are forging new paths, which China and the USA have been doing for the last two decades while Europe has only been healing its wounds. (September 1)
