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Stratowave
Episode · #83

PAMETNA HRVATSKA Stratowave

Guest StratowaveHosted by Boris ŽivkovićMay 3, 2026
About this episode
What you'll hear in this conversation

The conversation begins with a common frustration: the gap between prohibitively expensive military-grade drone communication and unreliable civilian options. Milko Kleinhauß, Ivan Nikolić, and Ivan Pelivan, the founders of Stratowave, saw this not as a limitation, but as an opportunity to "reinvent warm water." They set out to deliver military-level wireless communication range and reliability for commercial drones, but at a price point that makes sense for businesses, not just defense budgets. Their solution isn't a complex new protocol, but a radical reconfiguration of existing Wi-Fi technology. What started as early experiments in 2003 – networking 16 boats during a regatta or sending Croatia's first email from the sky – has evolved into a system capable of continuous HD streaming from the stratosphere. Now, with drones becoming a fixture in commercial operations, Stratowave is positioned to empower businesses to do more with their aerial fleets, from monitoring agricultural fields to providing rapid response media coverage. This episode unpacks how a team with a long history of tinkering with wireless tech turned a series of ambitious experiments into a viable commercial venture. You'll hear how they bootstrapped their initial funding, navigated the startup ecosystem, and are now on the cusp of bringing their long-range Wi-Fi solution to market. It's a reminder that sometimes, the most sophisticated problems are solved not by inventing something entirely new, but by looking at existing tools with a fresh, engineering-first perspective.

Insights from the conversation
What to take from this episode
01
Stratowave isn't building new communication satellites; they're "reconfiguring Wi-Fi" to achieve long-distance drone communication. The most effective innovations often don't introduce new physics, but rather new ways to push existing, affordable technologies far beyond their intended limits.
02
Their goal is to achieve "military solution performance with cheaper, more acceptable commercial solutions like Wi-Fi." The market opportunity isn't always in creating entirely new capabilities, but in democratizing access to existing, high-performance ones previously reserved for niche, high-budget sectors.
03
Stratowave explicitly states that commercial users are "not interested in controlling a drone in New Guinea from Croatia," and they focus on a proven 20-50km range. Instead of chasing extreme, technically possible distances, define a practical performance envelope that serves the vast majority of real-world commercial applications.
04
The Stratowave story began in 2003, networking 16 boats during a regatta and sending Croatia's first email from the sky. Foundational expertise for future ventures is often built through audacious, seemingly impossible experiments, not through detailed market research.
05
Their early work included sending a probe into the stratosphere, maintaining continuous HD stream throughout its high-speed ascent and parachute descent. Pushing technology to its absolute physical limits in non-commercial contexts is how you stress-test its core capabilities for the commercial applications that follow.
06
Stratowave describes their approach as "reinventing warm water" – finding a commercially viable path to deliver existing, high-value capabilities. True innovation isn't always about new discoveries; it's often about making previously unattainable solutions accessible through a superior price-performance ratio.
07
Initial funding came from self-employment grants and startup contests, which were "necessary to start operations" but only "enough for the beginning." Capital-intensive ventures require a layered funding strategy, starting with accessible seed grants and then aggressively pursuing larger, proof-of-concept programs as the technology matures.
08
Their first sale to a large media company involves quick drone deployment for aerial footage, functioning "like ordering food on Pauza.hr." The true measure of a complex technical solution is not just its raw capability, but its ability to deliver an almost on-demand, frictionless user experience for the client.
09
Being at ZICER offers "a great working environment" with similar companies, creating "synergies" where they "help each other in business and technical segments." Proximity to other startups, especially in a shared physical space, fosters informal, reciprocal support that can solve both technical and business challenges more effectively than formal partnerships.
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