FY 2023 Quarter 1 Report: 1 October – 31 December 2022 for Media Innovation Activity (Mediji.Inovacije)

The project has a total estimated cost of $13,902,274, and its geographic focus is Serbia. The project's objectives include the implementation of business and technological development, leveraging USAID funds with third-party funds to incentivize firm-level investments, and improving beneficiary access to finance and investment readiness. During the reporting period of October to December 2022, Mediji.Inovacije completed foundational design activities for its initial cohort and deployed experts to guide transformative processes. Notably, Vreme, a weekly magazine based in Belgrade, resolved a long-standing ownership question and took a significant step toward entering the next phase of its development trajectory. FoNet produced a three-year strategic plan to overhaul its operations and upgrade technical capacities and media market orientation. Mediji.Inovacije received three additional applications under its Annual Program Statement from Boom93, Just Start, and 021. The project onboarded three more clients, signing grant agreements with Agelast, Podmedia, and Južne Vesti. Tampon Zona, a podcast that promotes the empowerment of women and girls, made significant headway toward becoming a sustainable, business-savvy outlet, with an aggregate audience of over 1.5 million accounts on social media. Mediji.Inovacije also supported the development of four newsletter initiatives, organized an InfoJam event, and finalized a contract with Digitalk to promote information sharing and partnership in the media sector. The project facilitated the participation of JustStart and AI Software at the annual Brave New Media Forum, where they gave presentations on their projects. Mediji.Inovacije and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) representatives met to share information and discuss synergies, and the project signed a four-year cooperation agreement with the Science and Technology Park of Niš to promote support for innovation throughout the information ecosystem in Serbia. Mediji.Inovacije continued to review and improve the Access to Finance (A2F) Toolkit, which is anticipated to be a reader-friendly guide to commercial financing products available to media and media-adjacent organizations. The project began formulating the concept and strategy for organizing four A2F awareness events, which will be aligned to the needs of the Mediji.Inovacije cohort. Mediji.Inovacije assessed the current business and financial status of 11 current and future clients, providing a basis for developing a tailored A2F strategy for each client. The project's progress under Objective One, Implementation of business and technological development, includes finalized intervention design for all members of the initial cohort, conducted an InfoJam, and started supporting the development of four newsletter initiatives. Under Objective Two, Leverage USAID funds with third-party funds, the project strengthened collaboration with GIZ, maintained collaboration with Motorola, and signed a cooperation agreement with the Science and Technology Park in Niš. Under Objective Three, Improve beneficiary access to finance and investment readiness, the project developed the A2F Toolkit, conducted business and financial assessments of 11 organizations, and organized one-on-one sessions with clients to improve their financial capacities.