From Hackaton Idea to Startup: BHFF Alumnae Lejla Nezirović and Sajra Agić Build EcoMetrics

What started as an idea for a hackathon has grown into a startup with ambitions to help companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina navigate the growing importance of sustainability and ESG.

BHFF Alumnae Lejla Nezirović and Sajra Agić are the founders of EcoMetrics, an ESG platform designed to simplify the way companies collect, track, analyze, and report sustainability-related data.

Over the past six months, the two founders have transformed an initial idea into a functional product that they are now presenting to companies, gathering feedback, and preparing for their first customers.

From a Hackathon Idea to a Real Business

The idea for EcoMetrics emerged while Lejla and Sajra were preparing to apply for a hackathon focused, among other topics, on sustainable business.

As they researched potential problems to address, they began exploring ESG reporting and the position of companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina in relation to the growing expectations of the European market.

The more they investigated, the clearer it became that the challenge extended beyond the scope of a hackathon project.

Companies often already have the information needed for ESG reporting, but that data can be scattered across Excel spreadsheets, PDF documents, invoices, and internal records. Bringing those different sources together and turning them into useful information can be difficult and time-consuming.

Although they did not make it into the hackathon, by that point Lejla and Sajra had researched the problem deeply enough to recognize that the idea had potential beyond a single competition.

Instead of stopping, they continued.

They developed a business plan, spoke with companies to validate the problem, explored funding opportunities, and began turning EcoMetrics into a real product.

Making ESG Data More Accessible

EcoMetrics combines automation, data analytics, and artificial intelligence to bring sustainability-related information together and transform it into clear ESG metrics, actionable business insights, and structured reports.

The goal is to help companies better understand their ESG performance, make data-driven decisions, and prepare for increasing expectations from the European market, business partners, and international value chains.

For Lejla, however, EcoMetrics represents much more than a technology platform.

Over the past six months, building the startup has required her to develop not only her understanding of the technology, but also her knowledge of the market, customer needs, business models, sales, and the realities of turning an idea into a sustainable business.

The experience has reinforced an important lesson: building a company also requires building the person capable of building it.

Learning Through Building

Developing EcoMetrics has given Lejla the opportunity to put into practice skills and areas of knowledge she had previously wanted to develop, while continuously requiring her to learn new ones.

The startup journey has therefore become a professional development experience in itself.

Instead of learning about entrepreneurship only theoretically, Lejla has had to engage with real questions: What do companies actually need? How should a product respond to those needs? How can an idea become a viable business? And how can customer feedback shape the next version of a product?

These questions have become part of the everyday process of building EcoMetrics.

A Solution Designed for Bosnia and Herzegovina

For Sajra Agić, the long-term vision for EcoMetrics goes beyond helping individual companies comply with ESG requirements.

She wants EcoMetrics to become a platform that enables small and medium-sized enterprises in Bosnia and Herzegovina to more easily understand and monitor their impact on the environment, employees, and society.

A particular focus is on companies connected to the European Union market, whether through imports, exports, or cooperation with EU partners.

Rather than positioning ESG as simply another obligation, Sajra sees EcoMetrics as a practical tool that can help companies become more responsible and sustainable while preparing for the expectations of the markets they operate in.

Making ESG Accessible to Smaller Businesses

One of Sajra's central goals is to make ESG more accessible.

Large companies may have the resources to hire sustainability teams or external consultants, but smaller and medium-sized businesses often do not have the same capacity.

EcoMetrics aims to provide a simpler and more accessible alternative, allowing companies to monitor their own data, identify areas where they can improve, and become better prepared for the requirements of the European market.

This vision places technology at the service of a broader goal: helping more businesses understand sustainability as part of their long-term development rather than something reserved for large corporations.

From Product Development to Market Validation

After almost six months of active development, EcoMetrics has reached an important stage: market validation.

The founders are currently presenting the platform to companies, speaking directly with potential users, and using their feedback to understand how effectively the solution addresses real business needs.

Their immediate goal is to acquire their first customers and continue validating the value of the product through real-world use.

From there, Lejla and Sajra plan to continue developing EcoMetrics alongside the evolving needs of their customers, expand their client base, and establish the platform as a relevant ESG solution for businesses in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

A Vision Beyond Individual Companies

In the long term, the founders see potential for EcoMetrics to expand beyond the domestic market and into the wider regional and European markets.

For Sajra, however, the broader purpose remains closely connected to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

She hopes EcoMetrics can contribute not only to individual companies, but also to the competitiveness and sustainable development of the country's economy, helping strengthen the connection between domestic businesses and the European market.

What began as research for a hackathon has therefore evolved into something much larger: a startup built around a real business challenge, shaped through conversations with companies, and driven by the ambition to make sustainability more accessible.

For Lejla Nezirović and Sajra Agić, EcoMetrics is still at an early stage. But the journey from an initial idea to a functional platform already demonstrates an important part of entrepreneurship: when an idea proves worth pursuing, the end of one opportunity can become the beginning of something much bigger.