Four Czech start-ups selected by the assessment committee of CzechInvest’s CzechDemo project will attend the prestigious TechCrunch Disrupt New York 2017 conference from 15 to 17 May. Six Guys Labs, XTND, viaGoood and Incomaker will present their products in the Startup Alley section. CzechInvest is assisting the firms by covering 50% to 100% of their costs.
“New York and TechCrunch are for young entrepreneurs with original ideas who want to expand to the United States, ideally. This is a prestigious event attended by thousands of people from the sector and there is a very good chance of drawing the attention of potential investors. Our start-ups have high-quality products and I believe that they won’t go astray in America,” said Karel Kučera, CEO of CzechInvest.
The start-ups travelling to New York include the Olomouc-based viaGoood, whose mobile application is intended for everyone who wants to live in a better world and help improve their surroundings. The simple tool intended for non-profit organisations rescues stray dogs, assists elderly people and protects endangered ecosystems.
Incomaker of Roztoky u Prahy will exhibit its innovative marketing platform with artificial intelligence. The platform collects data, converts that data into information and optimises marketing processes, thus increasing users’ revenues and lowering costs.
The other two start-ups in the quartet have already gained experience with participation in similar events with CzechInvest’s assistance. The Actijoy application from Six Guys Labs maps the activity of household pets and assists with their training and upbringing. XTND will present its electric skateboard.
TechCrunch Disrupt New York is part of a series of the most prestigious start-up events held in the United States, Europe and Asia. The conference programme also includes Startup Battlefield, in the course of which start-ups present themselves to investors and thus have a real opportunity to obtain an investment in the amount of USD 50,000, and a two-day hackathon focused on creating new products and projects.
Together with the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in New York and the company VentureOut, CzechInvest has prepared for the Czech start-ups an additional comprehensive accompanying programme financed from the economic diplomacy project. Prior to their departure, the start-ups will receive valuable information and joint and individual mentoring from renowned and experienced experts in areas such as strategy, the foundations of the legal environment and obtaining investments, which will prepare them for the highly competitive American environment. While they are in New York, the start-ups will also have the opportunity to meet with and pitch to a number of potential investors. At Bohemian National Hall in New York, they will attend the European Tech Mixer, a meeting of the European and local technology communities.
Within the CzechDemo project, CzechInvest plans to support up to 144 Czech firms with more than CZK 10 million and send them to 12 prestigious start-up events around the world by 2019. Selected participants will receive discounted services including payment of up to 75% of registration fees and stand-rental fees, a contribution for translations in the amount of 100% of costs and payment of 50% of the cost of round-trip airline tickets for two persons. The CzechDemo project is being implemented within the Marketing Programme, Priority Axis 2 – Development of Business and Competitiveness of Small and Medium-sized Enterprise of the Operational Programme Enterprise and Innovation for Competitiveness.