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Spotted: North Macedonian software engineer and eco-activist Gorjan Jovanovski is the co-founder and CEO of air quality app AirCare. He is on a mission to help users understand the air they breathe through education.

Setting AirCare apart is its community section, which aims to educate users about the effects of air pollution – empowering them to take the next steps by connecting them to local organisations and events. Jovanovski told Springwise, “Since we are all activists behind it, we want to actually make a change,” adding that, “We want our users to be the ones leading the fight for clean air and a greener future, and that is the ultimate goal of AirCare.”

Other features include a World Pollution Map, providing users with an overview of the current air quality all around the globe with historical pollution data showing trends.

What started as a local movement in North Macedonia in 2014, has grown into a worldwide community, receiving over 20 awards from organisations such as the United Nations’ Young Champions of the Earth prize, T-Mobile, and the President of North Macedonia.

Jovanovski told Springwise that AirCare was inspired by growing up in Skopje (North Macedonia) – one of the most polluted cities in Europe. He explains that “As kids, we didn’t know this was pollution, we used to call it ‘smelly fog’, and even romanticised the smell of winter.”

At university, Jovanovski started teaching himself how to make mobile apps, while simultaneously realising the need to make data about air pollution more accessible. But it was only in 2020, after working at Booking.com in Amsterdam for four years, that it became clear to him the need to focus on AirCare and make a positive impact on the world. “I quit the six-figure salary job, moved back to Skopje, and dedicated myself full time to this” he told Springwise.

Other recent air quality innovations spotted by Springwise include a smart air filtration and monitoring system for building management, smarter, cheaper industrial air quality management, and sound cannons used to blast air pollution away.

Written By: Katrina Lane