How did the former technical director of the Czech music television channel Óčko start hybrid broadcasting in the Czech Republic?
Hybrid Company was present at the inception of HbbTV (hybrid broadcast broadband television), which we know in the form of a red button on television screens, in the Czech Republic. CzechInvest helped the company with its expansion throughout Southeast Asia and with the establishment of a branch in Singapore.
The technology-marketing firm Hybrid Company was present at the inception of HbbTV in the Czech Republic. The company was established by Lukáš Hnilička in 2015. Today, it ranks among the top experts in the commercial use of HbbTV technology in Europe. Hybrid Company combines the internet and television. Its product is a central system for online management of advertising formats in the television environment. It focuses on optimisation and monetisation of advertising space. The company collaborates with leading television stations in Central and Eastern Europe. With CzechInvest’s support, it began expanding to several Southeast Asian countries in 2018.
Collaboration with CzechInvest contributed to the establishment of strategic partnerships in a new region, the establishment of a branch in Singapore and the smooth start of the company’s expansion throughout Southeast Asia.
In June 2018, the company participated in CzechInvest’s one-week CzechMatch support programme in Singapore with the aim of exploring the possibilities of expansion in Southeast Asia. CzechMatch helps connect Czech startups with foreign investors. For startups in an unfamiliar environment, the programme opens doors to the local investor community, familiarises them with the market, and leads them to networking and new business opportunities.
What did CzechMatch bring to Hybrid Company?
- Important contacts and networking with the local startup community
- The Hybrid Company team received mentoring from the CEO of Expara, an angel investor who has established several investment funds and also runs Expara’s branches in Thailand and Vietnam. CzechInvest arranged a meeting with Kwee Liong Seen, honorary consul of the Czech Republic in Singapore and one of the most influential men in the area of digital technologies, as well as with Czech companies that are already operating in Southeast Asia (e.g. Kebola, Lasvit and others) and with other investors from Expara’s large portfolio of contacts.
- Establishment of a branch
- With the assistance of CzechInvest’s local partner, Expara, the Hybrid Company team became familiar with the local market. In autumn 2018, it had the opportunity to present its know-how at the Asia-Pacific Broadcast Union (ABU) conference. Hybrid Company then established a branch in Singapore.
- New clients
Hybrid Company’s collaboration with CzechInvest also resulted in several important negotiations on cooperation in Southeast Asia including, for example:
- ongoing talks with Media Corp., a partially state-owned company in Singapore that controls the local telecommunications market, as well as with the majority operator SingTel.
- in Vietnam with the television operators SCTV and HTV.
- in the Philippines with the broadcasters and operators Accion, Cignal and TV5.
- in Malaysia with MYTV, a state organisation that is responsible for the transition to DVB-T2, and with the country’s two biggest commercial groups, Astro Group and Prima Group, which operate the majority of channels.
CzechInvest plays a key role in the area of comprehensive support for business and investments and is a state contributory organisation subordinate to the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic. CzechInvest also accompany startups on the path to doing business. In 2019, it became the guarantor of the National Startup and Spin-off Environment pillar of the Innovation Strategy of the Czech Republic 2019-2030.
This project is implemented by CzechInvest with funding from the Marketing Program, priority axis 2 – “Development of Business and Competitiveness of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises” of the Operational Program Enterprise and Innovation for Competitiveness 2014-2020.