AIsthesis: From Personal Challenges to Global Innovation

Faced with limited support and funding, startups in Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to show resilience and grit. Especially notable is the persistence of women—in 2024, startups supported by Swiss EP created 332 jobs, employing 33% of women. And out of 82 startups supported by Swiss EP in the country, 40 have a woman in their founding team.

One of them is Dragana Mujanović.

A Personal Motivation

Dragana's journey with AIsthesis is deeply personal. She first envisioned the idea while searching for ways to support her child with sensory processing disorder and wondering how she could help families like hers. Having witnessed firsthand her son’s challenges with sensory deprivation, she set out to develop an empathetic yet practical solution—an end-to-end system that monitors a child's sensory needs and delivers real-time, actionable interventions to their caregivers.

At Swiss EP's Founders Retreat in BIH in December 2023, Dragana shared how wearable hardware and AI could provide insights for better care. Her perspective, shaped by both lived experience and analytical problem-solving, made her approach unique.

Laying the Foundation

Unlike many entrepreneurs from the Balkans, Dragana doesn’t have a technical background. This didn’t deter her, and with good reason. She had other skills and a powerful drive to succeed.

Early in her journey, she connected with Foundation 787, a key player in the BIH startup ecosystem and a Swiss EP partner since 2019. Dragana recalls:

The early stages of a startup, when you're still in the idea phase, are often the most vulnerable. I was fortunate to meet Ms. Dajana and her team at that critical moment. I remember Ms. Dajana telling me, "You'll see where your story will be in a year." I could never have imagined that within a year, I would win global competitions and be accepted into Google for Startups as the only idea-stage startup, standing side by side with startups generating multimillion-dollar revenues. But sometimes, all we need to hear is—I believe in you.

Foundation 787 helped Dragana create a roadmap and refine her pitch. Dajana Džindo, CEO of Foundation 787, reflects on their collaboration:

I got connected with Dragana through acquaintances in the ecosystem, and I was immediately amazed by the idea, the energy, and the motivation behind it. Although Dragana was not experienced as a startup founder, she has a strong business development and finance management background and already had initial team members ready to start working. I encouraged her and offered support right from the start.

The joint work of AISthesis and Foundation 787 led to the first significant presentation of this innovative concept at the Business Angel Summit 2023.

Growing Through Strategic Partnerships

With startup support organizations propelling them, AIsthesis gained momentum in 2024. The startup was accepted into the Google for Startups: Women in AI accelerator program, Microsoft for Startups, and NVIDIA Inception program. At the same time, Dragana worked with Swiss EP experts to refine her business skills:

Swiss EP's support allowed us to openly discuss our challenges and focus on areas where we needed expertise. This kind of support is invaluable for founders, as it creates a safe space to be honest about where we need help, ultimately leading to stronger, more resilient businesses.

Mentors like Kamen Bankovski, Keo Sar, Maja Voje, and Sara Stojanovski provided invaluable guidance. While Kamen and Keo focused on refining the business strategy and preparing AIsthesis for investor engagement, Maja and Sara helped implement adaptability and a Go-To-Market strategy.

Maja talked about her experience in supporting AIsthesis:

I'm very impressed with AIsthesis's vision to expand its business. The market has a lot of momentum and enthusiasm, and I hope they will use it for the best.

In late 2024, AIsthesis presented its innovation at the Stanford Innovators Forum and was immediately accepted for mentorship under the Stanford Biodesign Innovation Methodology—a globally recognized leader in med-tech innovation.

Looking Ahead

Dragana and her team are starting 2025 with big goals. They have launched their MVP and onboarded 30 hand-picked users, showcasing the resilience and collaboration needed to succeed in complex environments.

For this team, AIsthesis is more than a startup—it’s a mission to enhance the lives of children with developmental challenges, made possible through the support of mentors, investors, and ecosystem builders, including Swiss EP.