You can imagine it yourself. You are a sporty type who likes to play, for example, tennis. But you don't always find a partner. And so you look for friends and acquaintances. Signing up for a club is not a way. You don't want that kind of commitment. But where to find opponents? Ideally one who will play at the same level as you? The answer is offered by the Ústí startup HuráLiga, which a few years ago went through a business incubator from the Innovation Center of the Ústí Region (ICUK) and expanded not only within the Czech Republic, but also into neighboring countries.

Two friends who have always been close to sports, Ondřej Krejčí and Břetislav Krček, already organized a small league for amateur athletes in the past. It was a badminton league in Ústí nad Labem. And when one of the founders is a programmer, the idea to create a portal that would gather amateur athletes was born.

Early stage support from ICUK and investment

Bréťa and Ondřej founded the company in 2019. Do business incubator of the Innovation Center of the Ústí Region (ICUK) they came without a detailed business plan. They had an idea but didn't know how to turn it into a business that would support them. "At the incubator, I was mainly absorbed by the community of startupists and mentors. It was great to work with other budding entrepreneurs to solve initial business problems. We supported each other and gave each other feedback. We then established a long-term working relationship with the mentors, and each meeting moved me forward by leaps and bounds," remembers the course of the Ondřej incubator.

After the end of the incubator, they started expanding in the Czech Republic. Shortly after they organized the amateur league in Liberec, the phone rang from one of the athletes, who was a member of the local league, saying that he was not only excited about their idea and wanted to thank them, but above all, he was ready to invest his financial resources in the project. And that allowed the founders to throw themselves fully into the project. In the end, the investment turned out to be critical for the survival of their company during the Covid-19 pandemic, when all sports centers gradually closed. "It was a difficult period. But we didn't sit at home and complain. On the contrary, we started to work even harder on our portal and I believe that this work helped us in expanding to other markets." says Ondřej Krejčí.

And how does the HuráLiga portal work? If there is a sufficient community in your city for your chosen sport, which is registered on the given portal, an amateur league is created, thanks to which you have the opportunity to play a match against another player every week. You can play the match at any time, you can agree with the opponent and above all, the selection of future opponents is adjusted according to your results.

1500 matches across Europe per week!

In the Czech Republic, the startup HuráLiga.cz has already gradually penetrated 24 cities where amateur leagues are organized. The most common sports are tennis, badminton, table tennis, darts and billiards. "Sports where one team consists of a larger group of people, such as football and hockey, are more difficult to organize. It is much easier for 2 tennis players to agree on when to play their match than for 22 soccer players," comments co-founder Ondřej Krejčí on the distribution of the most popular leagues.

"France and Italy were a tough nut for us. They didn't really understand our whole "voluntary amateur league" principle and it went against their way of thinking. It was a financially demanding period for us. We have invested considerable resources here. Eventually we had to admit that these markets were not for us and we pulled out. In contrast, Poland and Germany took off at a fast pace. For example, we haven't even been on the market in Germany for a year and we already organize several hundred matches here every week," Ondřej explains about the expansion abroad. The HuráLiga team organizes around 1,500 matches in Europe per week.

Even dead ends must be stepped on

Another expansion, or rather the expansion of the product line, was the organization of leagues in esports. "In the beginning, we recruited hundreds of players in esports, mainly in FIFA, but gradually this community started to decline. The reason is clear, every such game is based on multiplayer, so the background for the players in the game itself is logically simpler than we were able to prepare. And by the nature of FIFA's economy itself,” Ondřej describes the situation when they embarked on a new segment that turned out to be a dead end.

But that's what startup life is all about. Constantly looking for new opportunities. The story of the founders of the startup HuráLiga.cz proves that your hobby can be turned into a successful business that will grow from Ústí nad Labem to Europe. The service of the business incubator of the Innovation Center of the Ústí Region can also help you. For the more advanced and goal-oriented, ICUK has another program called Platinn, whose services HuráLiga intends to use. But the important thing is always in yourself, your will to succeed.

HuráLiga's journey with ICUK

• Graduation from the ICUK business incubator
• Participation in the public grilling of Ústí startups - Startup Go Grill
• ICUK Platinn mentoring program admission phase