The highlight of the Festup Ústí nad Labem startup festival was the evening presentation of the best startups selected by innovation centers in the Karlovy Vary, Liberec and Ústí nad Labem regions. Eight entrepreneurial projects presented their technology companies, products and future plans in three minutes before a jury consisting of investors and experienced businessmen - Holek founder Pavlína Louženská from marketing, investor fund representative Václav Pavlečka and entrepreneur Michal Slavev.
Winning startup IQstat, founded by students Šimon Falta and Šimon Kala, addresses the energy needs of companies and households. It appealed to the jury primarily by connecting technical know-how with the current problem of high energy costs. It brings a simple and affordable solution for the flexibility of electricity consumption. Their mobile application helps manage the use of appliances according to current electricity prices and photovoltaic data, without the user having to check anything. The jury appreciated not only the technological sophistication, but also the well-thought-out business model built on a monthly subscription of 10 % of the savings achieved.
The startup led by Šimon Falta and Šimon Kala also impressed with its vision of how to intelligently predict future consumption and help stabilize the energy grid. The founder's excellent, confident and convincing presentation performance also played a major role in the decision.
"Three minutes isn't much, but a good team needs less. When a founder is clear about what he's doing and why, it shows right away. Incredible energy. We're also glad he went through our incubator," explains the decision on behalf of the organizer, ICUK director Martin Mata.
Special Jury Prize – Worksheet.ai
The performances of the competing startups were balanced, so the jury wanted to highlight one more project – Worksheet.aiThe second award-winning team showed how artificial intelligence can help in practical ways in education. Their tool simplifies the preparation of worksheets for teachers while allowing students to learn from their mistakes with personalized feedback.
The jury was particularly impressed by the strong user benefits – teachers save time, students learn more effectively and the system supports differentiation of teaching. The project is already running in schools and has received positive feedback directly from practice.
Reframed – Audience Award
The project received the third award, this time from the audience itself. ReframedHe impressed with his comprehensive software solution for designing photovoltaic systems on historic buildings, which suggests the optimal location of photovoltaics from photographs and creates all the documents for completing the project, subsidies and approval by the preservationist, as well as connection to the distribution network.
In addition to the awarded teams, other projects also attracted attention. MyPaperwork.ai showed how artificial intelligence can help people process residence permits in Europe. Motioncoach.ai brought a personal trainer and physiotherapist in one app. First Car Diagnostics showed that even a car engine can talk, you just need to give it the right diagnostics. Nox helps manufacturing companies detect downtime and increase efficiency. And Seonali opened up a completely new topic of how to monitor brand visibility in the environment of large language models.
Startup presentations to investors took place on Thursday, October 16, as part of the FESTUP startup festival in the premises of the event organizer, the Innovation Center of the Ústí nad Labem Region. The Center celebrated its 10th anniversary at the festival. Festup was granted patronage and opened by the Governor of the Ústí nad Labem Region, Richard Brabec. The main partner was Komerční banka. The event was supported by the Smart Accelerator for the Ústí nad Labem Region III project, registration number CZ.02.01.02/00/22_009/0004316.
