About STEMwise
How We Got Here
STEMwise started at the University of Zagreb's Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, where our founder Petar Gregurić spent years managing R&D projects and working alongside researchers in industrial engineering and AI. Somewhere along the line, a question turned into a decision: what if we actually tried to take one of these research results to market - not in theory, but for real?
The result was eSARP - an explainable AI platform for manufacturing decision-making, built on research conducted at the Faculty. Petar founded STEMwise as an official university spinoff to carry that technology from the lab to industry, with a formal technology transfer agreement and a seat in the Faculty's incubator.
That process - navigating EU funding, building a product, learning what it actually takes to turn research into something a factory can use - changed how we work. It gave us an exploitation methodology that isn't borrowed from a textbook. We made it, and built it from first-hand experience.
Today we are working on two fronts. We continue developing AI technology - advancing eSARP and building new solutions on top of the explainable AI architecture we created. And we apply what we learned along the way to help EU consortia and institutions do what most research projects struggle with: turning results into products, services, and real market impact. We went from a research team at the University of Zagreb to a recognised R&I partner across 19 countries - by building first, and advising second.
The Path So Far
Research origins
Fundamental AI research at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Zagreb. Managing R&D projects with a cumulative budget exceeding €15 million.
eSARP development
From research concept to AI platform. Building an explainable decision intelligence system for manufacturing — one that captures what experienced operators know but can’t easily document.
STEMwise founded
Official university spinoff. Technology transfer agreement. Incubator residency at the Faculty. A company built around one idea: research should end with a product, not a report.
First EU projects
Joining Horizon Europe and i3 consortia as research partners. Bringing exploitation expertise and AI technology to projects across smart manufacturing, community safety, green hydrogen, and climate resilience.
Horizon Europe Summit
Launching an annual consortium-building event in Zagreb. Not a conference — a working instrument designed to turn ideas into funded partnerships.
Growing the portfolio
8 R&I projects across 19 countries. From a team in an academic incubator to a research partner trusted by consortia spanning the continent.
eSARP at TRL 7
Industrial validation. The AI platform works in a real operational environment. What started as a research question is approaching market readiness.
The People Behind STEMwise
Petar Gregurić
Founder & CEO
Petar spent over five years at the University of Zagreb’s Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, where he managed three R&D projects with a combined budget north of €15 million. That experience — coordinating large research teams, navigating EU reporting cycles, and watching promising results stall on the way to market — is what led him to build STEMwise.
Adriana Planinić
Scientific Manager
Adriana is an ecologist who ended up in the world of EU research management — and brought an ecologist’s perspective with her. Before STEMwise, she spent over 15 years across academia and international research institutions. As an Assistant Professor at the University of Mostar, she developed the first Urban Ecology curriculum the institution ever offered. At St. Anna Children’s Cancer Research Institute (CCRI) in Vienna, she managed H2020 projects within the European Reference Network for Paediatric Cancer (ERN-PaedCan) and the European Joint Programme on Rare Diseases (EJP RD).
Based in Zagreb. Working Across Europe.
STEMwise is based in Zagreb, Croatia — housed in the technology incubator at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Zagreb. Our projects span 19 countries, from Portugal to Latvia, from the UK to Turkey. We're a small team in a widening country, and we think that's an advantage — it keeps us grounded, hungry for more, and very aware of what it actually takes to build something from nothing.