Winners of Delo’s “Podjetniška zvezda” awards according to readers’ choice are Bird Buddy and Ledinek Engineering

The “Delova Podjetniška zvezda” (Delo’s Business Star) competition is organized annually by the Delo Business Center under the auspices of the Delo mediji company. For nine consecutive years, the expert committee has been selecting prominent Slovenian companies that are forging new paths with innovative approaches and standing out with their successes in Slovenian markets and beyond. This year’s selection was held under the title “Razvojni in tržni modeli za podjetja prihodnosti” (development and market models for companies of the future). The highlight of the project was the awards ceremony in Brdo pri Kranju, where the prestigious statuette was awarded to the winners, Unichem from Vrhnika in the small and medium-sized enterprise category, and NGEN from Žirovnica in the large enterprise category.

They also awarded two prizes to the companies that received the most votes from readers. Readers of the Delo newspaper and the Delo.si website were able to vote for the Business Star in two categories in early November.
In the small and medium-sized enterprise category, the company which received the most votes was Bird Buddy Studio, which produces smart bird feeders with a camera for nature lovers.

From left: Mojca Marija Pregelj (Generali Investments), Karin Rus (Bird Buddy, Delo’s Business Star in the SME category as per readers’ vote ) and Delo’s editor-in-chief, Bojan Budja. PHOTO: Voranc Vogel/Delo

The idea of ​​a bird feeder with a camera came to life during the pandemic and garnered a lot of enthusiasm. Since then, Bird Buddy, which now employs around 60 people, eight of whom are in the US, is confident that they have a product that the market wants. The feeders are equipped with an intelligent system that recognizes birds, provides data about them, and even remembers individual birds so that the user can track the frequency of visits. In this way, it allows users to expand their knowledge on the birds that stop at feeders.

The initial idea was upgraded last year, when they offered a hummingbird feeder to the market, as 90 percent of all customers come from the USA. Watching and feeding birds in the immediate vicinity of the home is the second most common hobby in nature there, after gardening. During this time, vibrant online communities on social media have also developed, where users share their photos and videos of birds every day.

As Bird Buddy learns from their customers, who are generally younger generations, they most commonly buy bird feeders as gifts for their parents and grandparents, or for their own family. In this way, users not only connect with nature, but also with each other, as intergenerational bonds are strengthened. They communicate over the phone more often, as parents enthusiastically tell about the birds that have visited their feeders.

Sources (in Slovenian):

Delovi podjetniški zvezdi po izboru bralcev sta Bird Buddy in Ledinek Engineering

Slovenska inovacija zbližuje ameriške družine

NGEN iz Žirovnice in Unichem z Vrhnike sta Delovi podjetniški zvezdi

Bird Buddy, podjetje ki proizvaja pametne krmilnice za ptice, član skupine Boscarol