A winner has been named in the national round of the Creative Business Cup 2024 competition supporting creative startups. From among the ten finalists, the jury of experts chose E-CAFE BIKE as the competition’s top startup during the awards ceremony held yesterday at the Varšava cinema in Liberec. By winning the competition, which was organised by CzechInvest, E-CAFE BIKE advanced to the global final, which will be held in Copenhagen in June. The Audience Favourite Award was presented to Kenka puppetgame.
"The final evening of the national round of the Creative Business Cup 2024 competition is over and I am pleased to say that the event exceeded everyone's expectations. This year, the competition was complemented by a rich accompanying programme focused on the creative industries and thanks to the large turnout and feedback, we have verified that there is a great demand for it. The winner of the E-CAFE BIKE competition won the jury's heart with a product that combines business and creativity, and we wish him good luck at the global final in Copenhagen," says Markéta Mentelová, Director of the Creative HUB at CzechInvest and organiser of the Czech round of the Creative Business Cup competition.
The winning startup, E-CAFE BIKE, whose business is focused on electric bicycles, has come up with innovative electric-powered cargo trailers that are fully energy self-sufficient thanks to their use of solar panels. The company’s line of electrified cargo trailers will be connectable to most ordinary bicycles and electric bikes and will offer payload capacity of up to 250 kg and 800 litres of cargo space, roughly twice that of a typical passenger car. The jury was impressed by the overall sophistication of the project and its emphasis on taking an environmentally friendly approach.
“We are tremendously happy about our victory and we are now looking forward to the final round, where we will face global competition. We believe that startups are showing the direction that the world will take in the future. Winning the national round will help us not only to raise our prestige, but will also give us an opportunity to demonstrate honest Czech manufacturing abroad,” said Zuzana Malinová of E-CAFE BIKE immediately following the announcement of the competition’s results.
The jury composed of representatives of CzechInvest and partners of the competition awarded second place to the startup Kenka puppetgame and third place to Younglink, a platform for the prevention of bullying. Kenka puppetgame also received the Audience Favourite Award thanks to the startup’s humorous presentation and the enthusiasm of its founders.
The purpose of Creative Business Cup is to support creative startups from around the world, put them in contact with each other and assist them with finding investors and conquering foreign markets. The Investment and Business Development Agency CzechInvest is the organiser of the Czech national round of the competition. The agency seeks out creative and innovative startups throughout the Czech Republic and helps to verify their global potential by means of the Creative Business Cup competition. The main partners of this year’s edition of the event include the Liberec Region, the City of Liberec, Lipo.ink, Smart Accelerator of the Liberec Region and Start it @ČSOB.
Contact for the media:
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+420 724 591 667
david.horinek@czechinvest.org