According to the European Innovation Scoreboard 2025, Slovakia’s innovation performance stands at just 62.6% of the EU average. The challenge is often not a lack of ideas, but getting them to customers, investors and international markets. New incubator Halif Hatch aims to help bridge that gap by connecting startups and emerging talent with real market opportunities. Launching in Bratislava, the project is owned by UAE-based Tahaluf and led in Slovakia by Swiss company Innixus. We spoke with CEO Simon Reiniche, Head of Operations Alexandra Procházková and Head of Marketing Barbora Cisáriková about why Bratislava, and why now. In the latest episode of Slovak Sound Check, we expand our Slovak fruit vocabulary beyond the market basics.