The business incubator of the Innovation Center of the Ústí nad Labem Region (ICUK) once again concluded its educational program Startup Go! with final presentations of graduates in front of a professional jury and the public. The popular event called Startup Go Grill, in which startups have only 5 minutes to present, took place this year on Friday, December 12th in the premises of the innovation center.
The business incubator of the Innovation Center of the Ústí nad Labem Region concluded its 14th run with traditional public presentations of the Startup Go Grill. The program began in September with 13 innovative projects, 10 completed it, and 8 budding entrepreneurs ventured into the final Grill. After all, speaking in front of the public is not an easy task.
"Startups only have 5 minutes to present and it's literally a barbecue, because the jury often has really tough questions. The goal is to practice and prepare companies for the so-called investor pitch,“" explains the purpose of the event, the director of the Innovation Center of the Ústí nad Labem Region, Martin Mata.
Who took home the award?
This year, the expert jury selected from several interesting projects. The Teleportík project became the absolute winner of Startup Go Grill, a portal to the children's world that grows with users and offers children the joy of discovery, educators time savings, and parents meaningful tips for their children's development. Second place went to Buddychip, innovative dog tags with an NFC chip for easy return of lost dogs to their owners. On The Motokeška project came in third place., a nationwide initiative connecting motorcycle tourism, geocaching and exploring the regions of the Czech Republic.
The evening also included an audience vote for the most interesting startup. The audience award was won by the project Kočárapp., an application for searching for routes suitable for riding with a stroller based on difficulty, terrain and stroller type.
"Startup Go Grill final presentations are a great opportunity for startups to reach out to their first customers and fans. It's about building a community that gives startups valuable feedback.,"," adds Jan Wedlich, who moderated the event.
The next incubator run begins
Although one run of the Startup Go business incubator has ended, ICUK remains in contact with graduates and helps them in their further development. At the same time, new projects are currently being recruited for the next run of the program. Interested parties with a business idea can apply now.
Funded from the Ústí nad Labem Region Transformation Center project, registration number CZ.10.02.01/00/22_002/0000053.
1st place: Teleporter – Pavla Banašová, Kristýna Ihmová, Markéta Včeláková
2nd place: Buddychip – Martin Molzký, Roman Čmelík
3rd place: Motocafe – David Král, Jan Havel, Štěpán Pisklák
Audience Award: Kočárapp – Michaela Jakl Kotwieja, Michal Jakl, Pavlína Hovorková
