About us

Zasavje It was always known for revolutionary stories, creativity and interesting ideas. But once the rich valley of Zasavje rapidly lost its power when it transitioned to a new state. Factories closed – STT, Peko, Iskra, Furniture Factory, TET, Ipoz, RTH ... Many They have lost their jobs. Many have moved away. Our beloved valley has fallen into apathy.

But the rest is what the wind doesn't blow away, fire doesn't char, earthquakes don't collapse and economic situations don't change: real values, innovative people, hard work and kameratšaft (camaraderie). 

A handful of us have always believed that we can succeed if we believe in ourselves, are committed and look for opportunities outside the conventional thinking. 

In 2000, we founded Dewesoft, a company that manufactures measuring instruments. Today, it is a $100 million company with 400 employees worldwide. But even though Dewesoft has been successful, our valley has still suffered. How to help the whole valley and beyond?

We decided to offer what we have and what we do best - good infrastructure, knowledge  and connections. 

A few months of knocking down walls, more building new ones, a lot of fun, more dreaming... and it was born. Katapult. A supportive environment that, with its infrastructure, knowledge and services, as well as Dewesoft’s test laboratories and production lines, helps innovators and entrepreneurs to develop the next world-class Slovenian success stories. 

We have already renovated most of the buildings of failed companies and brought content into them (former Iskra, Peko, Strojna tovarna Trbovlje, Žito), but Dewesoft and Katapult have outgrown their current premises of 12,000 m. ². That's why we are expanding the concept and building a whole city, the City of Acrobats, to support new ideas. In this way, we are revitalising a region that is becoming a centre of technological development and innovation, unique not only in Slovenia but also in Europe. 

Dewesoft is a high-tech company. It produces measuring instruments that are used in the research laboratories of the NASE and at all car manufacturers worldwide. It operates in 70 countries around the world and employs over 400 people; it is one of the five largest measurement technology companies in the world, and we have development and production for the whole world in Trbovlje. 

The employee co-ownership system is a model example of such ownership systems. 

More on: Dewesoft.com 

Catapult is a business accelerator supporting companies with a physical product.

The catapult covers four areas:

• enthusiasm (for entrepreneurship and technical professions)
• Education,
• mentoring,
• promoting the development and production of physical products.

More on: Katapult.si

We see apathy being replaced by hope, creativity and faith in what we can achieve. I believe that we have succeeded in spreading a positive mindset and encouraging entrepreneurship in our valleys.