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Hyundai provides CZK 10 million to support winning projects of the Hack the Crisis hackathon


Hyundai provides CZK 10 million to support winning projects of the Hack the Crisis hackathon Source: CzechInvest

Hyundai has become a new partner of the Hack the Crisis Czech Republic hackathon announced by CzechInvest at the beginning of April in cooperation with the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The Czech branch of the South Korean carmaker is providing a financial donation in the amount of CZK 10 million, which will be used to award the eight best projects that registered in the hackathon from 1 April to 31 May 2020.

Via the manufacturer Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Czech in Nošovice and the brand’s Czech representation, Hyundai Motor Czech, Hyundai has decided to provide a financial donation in the amount of CZK 10 million to the Hack the Crisis Czech Republic hackathon for the purpose of supporting the Czech Republic in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Thanks to this new partner, the hackathon’s best projects will be able to win awards in the amount of up to CZK 3 million. “We have decided to support the Czech Republic in this difficult situation and we very much welcome the idea that the amount will be used for the best projects that address this situation and its consequences. We will also be involved in the selection of the best projects, so we will see it live and be able to influence what the funding we provide will be used for,” says Petr Michník, head of the legal and external relations departments at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Czech. “We have a number of outstanding projects registered in the hackathon and we therefore very much appreciate the opportunity to recognise them in this way. This will be the largest amount awarded in a competition of this kind,” says Patrik Reichl, CEO of CzechInvest.

“The Hack the Crisis hackathon is one of the main activities by means of which we have been striving to support technology and good ideas to combat the crisis practically from the very beginning. Thanks to the financial donation from Hyundai, we can now support the best projects that arise in the hackathon,” says Minister of Industry and Trade Karel Havlíček, adding: “The financial allocation of the Czech Rise Up programme, in which the hackathon participants are registered, has nearly been exhausted. The Ministry of Industry and Trade will thus have to terminate acceptance of applications. Therefore, we are pleased that the private sphere has, at its own initiative, joined in the awarding of prizes to projects in addition to public funding.”

Participants who signed up for the Hack the Crisis hackathon prior to the announcement of this special prize are automatically entered in the competition, which means that their projects do not require any further registration, though they can still make final adjustments to their registration forms. Upon termination of receipt of applications, the competition proposals will be evaluated and the hackathon jury (so-called expert board) will then select the fifteen best projects, whose representatives will present them to the expert jury composed of representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and CzechInvest and three representatives of hackathon partners. The final winners will then be decided by the jury in a live broadcast, during which it will also assess how the presenters demonstrate their products and explain how they plan to use their potential winnings.

Hack the Crisis brings the state and private partners together

Hack the Crisis is a virtual hackathon that was launched with the aim of coordinating the needs of the state with energy and volunteering in the IT community and business environment, thus supporting the implementation of relevant projects that can help in the current situation or mitigate its impact. The main organisers of the event are CzechInvest and the Ministry of Industry and Trade. To date, more than fifty partners from the private and public sectors have become involved in the hackathon, providing their services and products to selected projects. Free mentoring is being provided by more than 130 experts in various fields.

The presentation of the best projects will take place online and the public will also be able to watch it. “We are preparing streaming of all of the best projects, during which the winners will also be announced. The first-place winner will receive the largest prize in the amount of CZK 3 million, second place CZK 2 million and third place CZK 1 million. The jury will select five projects to share fourth place, each of which will receive CZK 700,000,” says Reichl, detailing the amounts of the prizes to which the winners can look forward.

The prizes are intended primarily for development of the winning projects and can be used, for example, to cover wage costs, acquisition of hardware and software, certification, licenses, rent, legal services, protection of intellectual property, promotion, mentoring and other similar costs association with the given project’s development and growth.

Project registration is still open

The hackathon was officially launched on 6 April 2020 and 140 projects are currently registered in it. These projects include ideas from many different areas, though most commonly healthcare and IT. “However, acceptance of registration forms has not ended. More promising projects can still be added. Nearly two weeks still remain until the end of May, so I would like to call on everyone who is hesitating to register their projects to not wait and to register in time on the hackathon’s website at www.hackthecrisis.cz,” says Tereza Kubicová, who is organising the hackathon for CzechInvest.

About CzechInvest
CzechInvest plays a key role in the area of comprehensive support for business and investments. The agency’s unique combination of regional, central and international operations ensures the integrity of its services and its ability to connect global trends with the regional conditions in the Czech Republic. One of CzechInvest’s primary objectives is the transformation of the Czech Republic into an innovation leader of Europe. CzechInvest is a state contributory organisation subordinate to the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic. The agency was established in 1992.

About Hyundai
With technically advanced equipment and employing 3,300 people, the Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Czech (HMMC) plant in Nošovice is Hyundai’s first manufacturing facility in Europe. Production began in 2008 and the plant currently turns out 1,500 vehicles per day, i.e. more than 300,000 per year; the facility celebrated the production of its three millionth vehicle last year. Cars from HMMC were distributed to more than seventy countries on five continents last year. Production of the Kona Electric model, the first new-generation electric vehicle manufactured in the Czech Republic, began in March of this year. The Kona Electric joined five other models that are currently in production at the plant: i30 Hatchback, i30 Fastback, i30 kombi, i30 N and Tucson.

Contact to CzechInvest:
Jana Kohoutová
Spokesperson
+420 720 965 969
jana.kohoutova@czechinvest.org

Contact to Hyundai:
Pavel Barvík
PR manager and spokesperson
+420 602 266 815
pavel.barvik@hyundai-motor.cz  

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