For many startups, participation in the acceleration or incubation program is the first step towards successful business development and fundraising. Such programs last about 1,5 - 3 months and support early-stage startups with mentoring, networking opportunities, working space, and access to investors and funding. No wonder their popularity is rapidly growing. According to the data from the UNFCCC report (Climate Technology Incubators and Accelerators), there are already over 7,000 startup incubators and accelerators in the world. As a part of the series describing the CEE Startup & VC Ecosystem, we introduce you to the most innovative startup accelerators and incubators in the Czech Republic.
StartupYard
StartupYard, founded in 2011, focuses on tech startups from Central Europe. They have already accelerated over 70 companies, while few of them have been acquired allowing founders to raise over €30M. Among StartupYard fields of interest are startups developing products and solutions in the robotics, internet of things, cryptography, cybersecurity, predictive analytics, artificial intelligence as well as AR and VR areas. How does it work? It’s a 3-month program with a €40K investment and more than 150 mentors whose goal is to set participants on the path to growth using their experience, connections, and support! Find out more about them in our Q&A session.
UP21
UP21 offers a bit of a different approach than ordinary accelerators do. It is a navigation company for innovators, and from the first day, UP21 joins a startup’s team to provide entrepreneurs with support like a financial investment, co-pilot, navigation plan, invaluable business network, and community. The accelerator consisting of experienced entrepreneurs, advisors, and lawyers, has more than 15 funded projects and with support from the VC fund, it has already invested over $5M. UP21 focuses on early-stage, tech-enabled businesses, and has a wide range of partnerships with companies like HubSpot, Intel, IBM, AWS, and Google Cloud Platform.
Founder Institute Prague
The Founder Institute is guided by the motto: “It is time to build the future in Prague” and it works with teams in the pre-seed stage to help startups before they will be able to join seed accelerator programs. Since 2009, the Institute’s methodology has helped more than 4,300 companies building businesses that have a significant influence on the market. What is more, the Founder Institute’s alumni secured more than $950M in funding! Among them are well-known companies like Udemy - the world’s largest destination for online courses and Travelcar - Europe’s fastest-growing service to rent your car. The offer includes a critical support network with helpful startup mentors and founders, structured methodology, challenging process, and lifetime support.
Akcelerátor VŠEM
The mission of VŠEM Accelerator is to contribute to a sustainable future, the one everybody wants to live in. The projects can come from all over the country under two circumstances: it has to solve the problems the Czech Republic is struggling with and show global potential. The accelerator supports teams working on an idea, designing innovations, getting to know customers, and testing a prototype of a product. In a span of 3 to 9 months in the VŠEM Accelerator participants gain competencies for innovation, testing, project management, entrepreneurship, and intra-business.
ESA Business Incubation Center
Thanks to applying to ESA Business Incubation Center, startups can be a part of the European network, which will allow them to work in an entrepreneurial, high-tech environment. But what is so special about this incubator? Space technology turning innovative ideas into successful businesses is its main focus! ESA Business Incubation Center is seeking innovators who can transform space technologies into products for practical use in our daily life on earth. Consulting services, €50K investment, technological support, and discounted office rental are guaranteed to all participants.
ITACA Business Incubator
ITACA Business Incubator helps startups to travel the way from idea to reality. They support startups on each stage of its existing focus on fields like MedTech, CleanTech, FinTech, Cyber Security, BlockChain, AI, Big Data, and Cloud solutions. With ITACA Business Incubator startups will accelerate 4 main competencies: product, business model, negotiation with investors, and above all, marketing and sales. The incubator also offers the support of more than 30 business mentors among which there are international corporations as well as investor and startup experts with their knowledge and wide network.
CzechAccelerator
CzechAccelerator is designed for young (up to 7 years) companies from the Czech Republic, with high growth potential and innovative existing products or services.
This project is run by CzechInvest and provides startups with a wide range of services like assistance from foreign experts, consulting services involving the protection of intellectual property, and assistance with preparing marketing materials and translations.
i&i Prague
i&i Prague operates as a private company as part of the Czech Academy of Sciences and its Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry. Their motto “From the lab to the market” shows that they believe in the need of helping inventions grow. i&i Prague works with startups from the field of MedTech, BioTech, Medical Diagnostics, and Drug Detection. Accelerator’s strategy is to develop the project to be ready for acquisition, out-licensing, or to reach sufficient sales, within 3-5 years after joining the program.
AI Startup Incubator
Established in Prague in 2017, AI Startup Incubator supported by various AI experts is exclusively aimed at startups developing AI-based solutions. AI Startup Incubator supports projects by accelerating them from the idea through minimum viable products to finally offer a market-ready solution. The incubator and its partners provide investment in the range from $150K to $1.5M for 12 months of the incubation program and after a successful incubation, they continue to support startups in reaching subsequent funding rounds.
BOLT
BOLT is a particular startup incubator and as a venture associated with O2 Czech Republic, it connects funding with unique competencies of telecommunication companies like technology, the possibility of market validation, and access to customers. The startup’s idea doesn’t necessarily have to cover the field of telecommunications, because there are many business areas in O2, in which new solutions can be used. The only thing incubator is looking for, is a great idea, a skilled team, and determination in the effort.
*If you have some insights about the article or know an accelerator or incubator that should be included in this list, drop me a line!
Want to discover more accelerators and incubators from other countries? Check out the list below.
Top Accelerators and Incubators from:
- Round-up Of The Best Accelerators In The CEE Region
- Albania
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Denmark
- Estonia
- France
- Finland
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Spain
- Switzerland
- Türkiye
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
- Western Balkans.
Related Posts:
Startup Accelerator Of The Month - StartupYard (by Magdalena Balcerzak, Manager, Vestbee)
Startup Accelerator Of The Month - Startup Wise Guys (by Magdalena Balcerzak, Manager, Vestbee)
