Serbian Expat Meetup Recap: September 18th at KC Grad

Our autumn gathering took place on Thursday, September 18, at KC Grad in Belgrade, and once again showed us just how vibrant the energy of this community truly is.

The evening opened with a welcome from Uroš Živković, on behalf of the Returning Point team, followed by personal and professional stories shared by our guests – Jelena Trbović, co-founder of the njuppa app, and Aleksandar Berić, an engineer with extensive international experience and head of the R&D team at NextSilicon. Jelena spoke about how her time in Austria inspired the development of an app that helps reduce food waste, while Aleksandar shared what motivated him to return to Serbia after more than a decade in the Netherlands and contribute to the growth of the local tech ecosystem.

What made the evening especially meaningful was the level of engagement from the community: questions, comments, and personal reflections came from all directions. A spontaneous Q&A session quickly evolved into an open conversation, where many shared their own experiences with returning, the challenges they’ve faced, and the reasons they’ve chosen to stay.