Start Your Business
Student Ideas Competition
The fully updated pages for the Start Your Business competition are now part of a separate website: podnikavost.muni.cz
Do you have an interesting idea? Are you looking for a way to turn it into a functional product or service? Enter the 3rd year of the competition at Masaryk University, in which the best ideas will receive a total of CZK 600,000 and support from the experts at JIC who have some great advice about starting a business.
APPLICATIONS for the 3rd year of the competition WAS CLOSED on February 28, 2023.
What can you get?
- financial support for your own business
- mentors' support and help from experts
- network of contacts among other enterprising students
- experience with presenting your ideas and plans in front of others
You can enter the competition, if:
- you are a Bachelor's, Master's or doctoral student of any MU programme,
- you have a great business idea,
- you know your competition and want to take the first steps towards bringing your idea to fruition,
- you need funding to start your business,
- you want to start a business, and you're serious about it.
How can you enter:
- read the rules of the competition
- you can enter as an individual or as a team of up to 4 students
- register your idea by 28 February 2023
- If you need help filling in the annexes, write to joklova@ctt.muni.cz. We'll be happy to send you a recording of a webinar that will tell you how to do it.
Expert Committee:
Radoslav Trautmann
Among his key competencies at the Technology Transfer Office MU are searching for technology transfer business opportunities, devising intellectual property commercialization strategies, negotiating licensing agreements, market research and market potential analyses, innovation management and starting spin-off companies.
Alena Šafrová Drášilová
She is an assistant professor at the Department of Corporate Economy, Faculty of Economics and Administration. She teaches courses regarding mainly business and management and does research in the field of international management. She worked as a marketing and PR manager, and she's offering consultancy and training services as a freelancer.
Libor Hoření
Libor has been an internet entrepreneur since he was 17 years old - he founded several online projects, such as the largest online cookbook in the Czech Republic called Toprecepty.cz. He also ran the DobroKava stand at the Green Market in Brno for 3 years and invested in the mobile app Nesnezeno. He currently runs the non-profit news server pozitivni-zpravy.cz. He focuses on online marketing, finding business opportunities and projects that aim to improve the environment around us. Forbes ranked him among the 18 most inspiring personalities in the Czech Republic. At JIC he supports student projects through one to one mentoring.
Pavel Minařík
Graduate from Faculty of Informatics, Masaryk University. During the professional career participated in several research and development projects in domain of network traffic monitoring, analysis and cyber security and author of more than ten publications in the domain of behavior analysis and several algorithms for traffic processing and anomaly detection summarized in PhD thesis “Building a System for Network Security Monitoring”. At present Pavel works as vice president of technology at Progress Software for AX (Application eXperience) domain and is responsible for technology strategy and innovation of the following products: Flowmon, LoadMaster and WhatsUp Gold.
Miloš Dendis
Miloš Dendis is one of the founders of GeneProof biotechnology company, where he is currently a director. After almost 18 years of building a biotech company from a start-up to an established company with an international business network, he decided to share his experience and support the innovation environment in the Czech Republic as an Angel investor.
Jana Joklová Kaňová
She is a key person responsible for the student competition Start Your Business at the MU Technology Transfer Office. An integral part of her workload is involvement in the transfer team, project evaluation and the MU Spin-off platform.
Michal Sikyta
He is an investment manager at Soulmates Ventures, an accelerator and VC fund for sustainable innovation. He seeks and supports meaningful innovative approaches. To support founders and the sustainability community, he leads the nonprofit Green Innovation Academy platform. He founded Flüchtlinge Willkommen Österreich and has been involved in the expansion of the project across Europe. He was behind the development of the non-profit projects PROSA, HOME and work:in. He is an AMO analyst for sustainable finance. He studied at the University of Vienna and the University of Oxford.
Partners:
Progress is dedicated to propelling business forward in a technology-driven world. It helps businesses drive faster cycles of innovation, fuel momentum and accelerate their path to success. Progress is the trusted provider of the best products to develop, deploy and manage high-impact applications. Progress is behind Flowmon, a network traffic monitoring and analytics solution with advanced capabilities for detecting operational, performance and security issues. Hundreds of thousands of enterprises rely on Progress, including 1,700 software companies and 3.5 million developers.
Competition Details
1. Registration and selection of interesting projects
You can register until 28 February 2023. It is a very simple process. You only need to fill the online form and annex the Cash Flow document in according to the template.
We'll choose up most interesting ideas that will make it to the next round of the competition
2. Presentation day and introducing the ideas
By the end of March, up to 30 teams will get an opportunity to present their ideas to the expert committee.
The top ten teams chosen by the committee will receive CZK 10,000 to develop their idea further.
3. The finals
The committee will choose the ideas that were developed the most using the funding and have the greatest business potential.
It will then split approximately CZK 600,000 among the teams.
FAQ
What if I don't have a team?
It's OK. A team comprising just one student – you – can also enter the competition.
What if I work on the idea with more people?
A team of up to four members can enter the competition.
What if I work on the idea with someone who is not a MU student?
Only MU students can officially enter the competition; however, others can still help you.
Can I enter even if I don't have any experience with doing business?
Yes, the competition is intended for students interested in business and those who want to take their first business steps.
Can I participate even If I stop being a student during the course of the competition?
Finishing, interrupting or terminating your studies during the course of the competition is in conflict with the rules and will end your participation.
What can I do with the funds if I pass succesfully the competition?
The money, which the university sends you to support the project, is not billed to us in any way. It is up to you to decide how to dispose of the funds.
Do you need more information?
One of the fundamental values of Masaryk University is its responsibility towards knowledge and technology transfer. The mission of the Technology Transfer Office is to help good ideas cross the university's threshold and take care of its applicable results.
JIC helps people develop their businesses to make the world a better place. Its vision is an open, innovation-friendly environment that is home to globally successful business people and inspires the world. JIC helps, guides, inspires, teaches and believes that only people who make good sense of work and business can be both successful and happy.