MyCol Receives Slovenia’s First Seed Investment from Vesna Deeptech Venture Fund

MyCol d.o.o., a spin-off company from the National Institute of Chemistry, has become the first recipient of a seed investment from Vesna Fund — Slovenia’s new venture capital fund dedicated to supporting breakthrough deep tech developments.

This is a significant milestone for the Slovenian innovation ecosystem, as MyCol embodies the successful transfer of cutting-edge science into business. Their key solution is temperature-sensitive smart labels that clearly and permanently indicate when the temperature of products has exceeded a safe threshold by changing color. Such indicators are particularly useful for quality control, safety, and product transportation. The technology is based on an innovation developed at the National Institute of Chemistry and is already licensed to the company.

The Vesna Deeptech Venture Fund is the first fund of its kind in Slovenia and the broader region, founded with a vision to support technological breakthroughs in research projects. Its focus is on innovations originating from scientific research with high potential to address global challenges in areas such as materials, health, energy, and cybersecurity.

The National Institute of Chemistry systematically supports knowledge transfer into practice. Through the NICKI mechanism, it facilitates raising the technology readiness level of research, and it actively encourages the establishment of spin-out companies as a key step toward commercialization of research results. Besides MyCol, two other spin-offs, Mebius and ReCatalyst, have been founded — these three companies have already created new jobs and attracted millions in additional funding.

The story of MyCol and the Vesna Fund is a great example of how quality scientific work, strategically directed capital, and effective support for the innovation ecosystem can together create the future of high-tech entrepreneurship.