11 March 2021, Ostrava:
- CzechInvest is the organiser of the Creative Business Cup this year for the fifth time. The purpose of the competition is to support creative Czech startups.
- The Czech final of the competition was held at Brick House in Ostrava on 10 March 2022.
- From the ten finalists, the jury selected as the first-place winner the startup Sensio, which will represent the Czech Republic at the global final in Copenhagen. Second place was won by Virtual Real Life, followed by Cementum in third place.
It is not for nothing that the Czech Republic is said to be a nation of entrepreneurs and creative people. The Creative Business Cup competition organised by CzechInvest has the aim of bringing greater visibility to ideas that are not lacking in creativity and have strong potential not only in the Czech Republic, but also abroad.
The best Czech startups from the cultural and creative industries were presented in the course of the evening competition, which was hosted by Albert Čuba of Divadlo Mír. The startup Sensio was named the winner of the competition, while also earning the title of Darling of the Audience, as well as the Design Sprint special prize of the Moravian-Silesian Innovation Centre.
Sensio’s MyCello product involves the 3D printing of violoncellos tailored to customers’ requirements. “The idea emerged during the pandemic, when, as a musician, I needed to play at home and it was often not possible because of the volume. It occurred to us to make an electric instrument that could be both quiet and loud, as well as extremely light and exactly as the customer would want it,” says Jan Tobolík, head of Sensio.
Sensio is now headed to the finals in Copenhagen, where it will face startups from around the world. “This evening was packed with emotions and great experiences. Winning all three awards surprised us and we have gained tremendous energy from this. Success doesn’t come by itself; you have to go out and get it, and I'm happy that we managed to succeed in putting all of our experience to good use in the MyCello project,” adds Tobolík.
The jury was also impressed by the startup Virtual Real Life, which finished in second place. The company is involved in the use of virtual reality in rehabilitation from the comfort of home and could thus serve as a partial solution to the problem of overcrowding at rehabilitation facilities.
Third place was taken by the startup Cementum, which manufactures sustainable concrete products for use in construction and demolition. The jury was impressed by the idea, which falls within the circular-economy category and currently has no competition in the Czech Republic.
The winners were chosen by an expert jury composed of Jakub Hájek, head of CzechInvest’s Startups and Innovative Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Division; Martin Hykl, founding partner of the law firm 3ADVOKÁTI; Tomáš Cironis, director of the European SWCSummit; Adéla Hradilová, coordinator of the implementation of activities to support small and medium-sized companies/startups within the Moravia-Silesia Regional Innovation Strategy of the MSIC; and Zuzana Paulovics, leader of the ČSOB Start It programme.
This year’s edition of the Creative Business Cup featured startups focusing on the creative use of materials, as well as startups using artificial intelligence, virtual reality or 3D printing and 3D scanning. “Strong players competed in this year’s event, all of which were great and I firmly believe Sensio will find success also in the international final in Copenhagen,” says Markéta Mentelová, sector manager for the cultural and creative industries at CzechInvest.
The competition was made possible thanks to the main partners ČSOB Pojišťovna and 3ADVOKÁTI. It was also supported by, for example, CzechCrunch, StartupJobs, Roklen24, BusinessInfo.cz, FinTech Cowboys, MSIC, Startup World Cup & Summit, Czechstartups.org, Kreativní Česko, Nafirmy.cz and We Are Signature. The Creative Business Cup was held under the auspices of Ostrava Mayor Tomáš Macura and Deputy Governor of the Moravia-Silesia Region Lukáš Curylo.
In addition to material prizes and expert consulting, the winner of the national round of the Creative Business Cup competition will proceed to the international final in Copenhagen, which will take place in June 2022.
About the Creative Business Cup competition
The Creative Business Network is a non-profit organisation focused on support for start-ups in the creative industries. It has annually organised the Creative Business Cup competition since 2012 with the aim of supporting creative startups, putting them in touch with each other and helping them find investors and conquer foreign markets. CzechInvest is the organiser of the Czech round of the competition for the fifth consecutive year.
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. More information is available at www.czechinvest.org and on CzechInvest’s Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn pages.
Contact to CzechInvest:
Kristýna Turečková
Communication Specialist
+420 606 097 738
kristyna.tureckova@czechinvest.org