Ivan Livić
Episode · #803
PAMETNA HRVATSKA Ivan Livić
Guest Ivan LivićHosted by Marijana MatkovićJune 3, 2026
About this episode
What you'll hear in this conversation
Returning to Croatia after a decade in global tech hubs like Singapore, Ivan Livić saw a problem in the European real estate market that few others recognized: the fragmented, often unreadable data surrounding property auctions across different countries. His venture, Vendue Tech, aims to bring clarity to this opacity, combining artificial intelligence and cloud computing to structure publicly available information into clear, investor-ready insights. Livić's story is about spotting a universal problem from a unique vantage point, and then building the technical infrastructure to solve it at scale. Readers will gain insight into how a personal frustration, viewed through a global lens, can become the foundation for a cross-border platform.
Insights from the conversation
What to take from this episode
01
Fresh from a 'speed dating' session with four investment funds at ZICER, Livić describes pitching his project in seven-minute slots. Even for a developed beta-stage startup, direct, time-boxed interactions remain a primary path to connecting with early capital and testing investor interest.
02
After 11 years living abroad, including nine in Singapore, Livić observed a striking lack of unified solutions for public real estate data across Europe and Asia Pacific. Returning home after global exposure can reveal innovation gaps that local players, accustomed to the status quo, might overlook.
03
Vendue Tech's core task is to take publicly available data, which is 'very unstructured' and 'not easily accessible,' and transform it. The real opportunity isn't creating new data, but making existing, fragmented information legible and usable at the scale required by investors.
04
Livić envisions his Bidsale AI platform as a single destination, much like Amazon for products or Airbnb for rentals, covering everything from legal advice to risk analysis. To redefine an industry, frame your new solution in terms of consumer experiences people already understand and trust.
05
Livić’s own multi-year struggle to buy a property in Croatia while living 10,000 kilometers away in Singapore sparked the idea for Vendue Tech. The most compelling business ideas often come from deeply felt personal frustrations with existing processes, especially when living far from the problem.
06
Vendue Tech's first clients came from Spain, Germany, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and even family offices in Luxembourg and Austria, finding the company via LinkedIn without any active marketing. Don't limit your market assumptions; your first customers often find you from unexpected places, signaling where true demand lies.
07
While based in Croatia, Vendue Tech is not currently focusing on the local market because it's 'too small.' When resources are limited, prioritize larger markets with greater gravitational pull, even if your home market has personal relevance.
08
Vendue Tech defines itself as an 'engineering firm' developing infrastructure for 'any type of real estate, any type of auction, any type of data.' Build a core engine that is data-agnostic; let clients define the specific data sets they need to apply it to.
09
Clients currently do manual analysis of real estate appraisals that are often 'unreadable' due to old scanned formats. Vendue Tech uses AI to present these data points 'beautifully,' turning messy, time-consuming manual processes into clear, structured, and user-friendly experiences.
10
The Australian market, with over 70,000 auctions annually, including private properties, differs significantly from Europe's more state-centric auction system. Different legal systems offer different market opportunities; understanding these nuances can reveal untapped segments not yet common in your primary target region.
Ivan Livić