For ten years, the Innovation Center of the Ústí nad Labem Region (ICUK) has been connecting and supporting budding entrepreneurs, startup founders, innovators, experts and those who are just thinking about their own project – and the anniversary year of the Festup startup festival will be a grand reminder of this fact. This year, big names will join the celebration of innovative entrepreneurship. The festival will culminate in quick presentations of the best startups from the north to investors.
On Thursday, October 16, 2025 withe in the premises of the Innovation Center of the Ústí nad Labem Region (ICUK) you will meet a community of people united by the desire to create, think differently and develop - regardless of whether they already have their own idea or are just looking for it. This year's 10th year will bring a new program structure, top speakers, greater emphasis on supporting emerging startups and the involvement of three regions - the Ústí nad Labem, Karlovy Vary and Liberec regions. ICUK will also celebrate its 10th birthday with this jubilee year.
“Festup is our very first event that we have started organizing. And it is unique not only in the Ústí nad Labem Region. This time, we have also newly involved other innovation centers from neighboring regions, because we want to show that we have already achieved a lot in the area of business support and have something to show. The big names that we will welcome at the festival this year are proof of this,” adds Martin Mata, director of the Innovation Center of the Ústí nad Labem Region, to Festup.
"We wanted to create a day that will kick-start your day. Where you can take away ideas, contacts, motivation and courage to move forward. Festup is an event for everyone who is starting new projects and companies - and we know that there are many such people in our region.",” adds Michal Nejedlý, event manager of ICUK.
This year, Festup will welcome some of the biggest names in business and business development. The program will feature performances by, for example: Pavlina Louzenska, founder of Marketing Girls, Ales Burger, founder of HitHit and director of the event agency Next Level, which does events for Red Bull, among others, Martin Vymetal, Sales and Marketing Director of Boomerang Communication, visionary, coach and artificial intelligence expert Filip Dřímalka (known e.g. thanks to the book The Future of Unemployment) or Michal Slavev, founder of the Testuj.to platform. In addition, we are also preparing a series workshops, where participants will try out specific tools and approaches that are actually used in business, and business consultations with experts.
The highlight of the day will be investor pitch, i.e. a public presentation of the best startups from the Ústí nad Labem, Liberec and Karlovy Vary regions to investors. Startups will try to attract investors and obtain an investment. However, this cannot be guaranteed, so the winner will receive lucrative media space on TV Prima, in a startup magazine CzechCrunch and other media. The evening will be moderated by the well-known Ústí nad Labem beatboxer and musician Endru.
Participation in the festival is for visitors free of charge with mandatory registration on the website www.festup.cz . Although Festup will take place in October, the capacity of workshops and consultations is limited. We therefore recommend that you do not hesitate to register and secure your place in time. The official partners of this year's Festup are the magazine CzechCrunchwho will support the event through media and platform Hit Hit, which helps bold ideas grow and find their audience in the long term.
The event is supported by the Ústí nad Labem Region, Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem, KHK ÚK and will take place thanks to the support of the Smart Accelerator for the Ústí nad Labem Region III project, registration number CZ.02.01.02/00/22_009/0004316, which ICUK helps to develop and create an environment for innovative entrepreneurship and the emergence of new opportunities in the region.
