A Major International Breakthrough for a Montenegrin Deep Tech Company
A team from Montenegro has made a major step forward on the international startup scene. DeepMark, a deep tech company developing technology for verifying the identity and authenticity of AI generated voices, has been selected for Y Combinator, one of the world’s best known startup accelerators based in Silicon Valley.
By joining Y Combinator, DeepMark gains access to a global network of companies, investors and partners, as well as an opportunity to further develop its business with a focus on international markets and present its technology on the global startup scene, including Silicon Valley, one of the world’s leading centres of technological development.
“Y Combinator has the best business network in the world. We are a deep tech company from the Balkans, and it was challenging to validate us as a team on the international market. This changes that. First and foremost, we will get the best business training we can, as well as access to a network of potential partner companies and major investment funds. Until now, we have been fighting every battle uphill, and this changes that to some extent. Of course, the work will not be done by itself, and we now expect more challenges and effort than ever,” said Slavko Kovačević of DeepMark.
DeepMark develops technology for verifying the identity and authenticity of voices generated by artificial intelligence. When an AI agent speaks, DeepMark embeds a compact identifier into the audio that can be read directly from the sound, without relying on metadata that can be lost during processing or file transfer. The identifier is linked to a trust record, enabling a bank, customer service centre or a person interacting with an AI agent to verify who the agent is in real time.
The journey of DeepMark did not begin with Y Combinator. In 2023, the team led by Slavko Kovačević received €33,392.30 from the Innovation Fund of Montenegro through the Early Stage Startup Support Programme for the project DeepMark, a Deep Learning Based Audio Watermarking Solution, through which the startup was established. Support continued in 2025 through the SME Innovation Enhancement Programme, under which €200,000 was approved for the development of the project PatchMark: A Patchable Audio Watermark Resistant to Cloning.
The Innovation Fund of Montenegro was part of their development journey, providing financial and mentoring support during the period when the team was building the foundations of the company.
“The Innovation Fund of Montenegro helped us immensely in the early stage of our development, when we received both mentoring and financial support. The mentoring we received from our selected mentor, Gordon, was particularly valuable because it brought about a mental transformation for us. We learned the ABCs of entrepreneurship. That support was important during the period when we were building the foundations of the company and taking the first steps on the journey that has now brought us to Y Combinator,” said Kovačević.
Kovačević, however, does not describe the success as something that happened solely because of support. As he explains, opportunities can open doors, but it is up to the team to make the most of them.
“All of this would have been in vain if it had not been for our own effort and hard work. We could have received unlimited support, but if we had not used those opportunities in the right way, it would not have mattered. Previous work experience, good timing, a factor of luck, persistence... Ultimately, how a team from Montenegro uses the opportunities provided by the Fund and other investors depends on that team and many other factors.”
For Montenegro, DeepMark’s success represents an international breakthrough for a homegrown innovative company and shows that teams from the country can reach some of the world’s best known international startup platforms.
Their journey from the first idea to Y Combinator was neither simple nor based on a single formula for success. It required knowledge, hard work, mentoring, support, new experiences, opportunities and a great deal of persistence. Ultimately, all of this had to come together with the work of a team that turned an idea into technology and a product.
DeepMark is now entering a new phase of development. Y Combinator opens the door to the international startup community, investors and companies with which the team has not previously had the opportunity to connect.
For people in Montenegro who are developing an idea, building their first product or simply considering starting a company, their story can serve as encouragement that ambitious plans do not have to be born somewhere else.
Ambition does not have to start in a major technology hub. It can start in Montenegro.
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