Four Czech start-ups will seek investors for their projects in Las Vegas

22 Dec. 2016 | CzechInvest | The companies will attend the CES 2017 conference thanks to CzechInvest’s CzechDemo project

CzechDemo

The CES conference will take place in Las Vegas from 5 to 8 January 2017 | Four start-ups – Oscar Tech, Six Guys Labs, XTND and PIXBUF – will attend the conference with support from the CzechDemo project

A select quartet of Czech start-ups which successfully underwent an evaluation within CzechInvest’s CzechDemo project will travel to Las Vegas at the beginning of January 2017 in order to gain contacts and opportunities at the prestigious four-day CES 2017 conference. Oscar Tech, Six Guys Labs, XTND and PIXBUF will present their projects at the event. Two of the companies previously had a similar opportunity in autumn this year at TechCrunch Disrupt in London.

“CES 2017 is an ideal opportunity for Czech start-up companies. The conference is annually attended by more than 165 interested parties from 150 countries. Czech start-up entrepreneurs thus have a great opportunity to establish themselves among major players and gain potential investors,” says Karel Kučera, CEO of CzechInvest.

The Brno-based firm Oscar Tech will present its Oscar Senior technology, which offers entertainment and connectivity for seniors. Through video, text, calling and problem-free sharing of photographs, Oscar Senior offers this particular age group the possibility to stay in touch with family and friends.

PIXBUF, a start-up from the Děčín area, will attempt to attract investors with its application for easy management and distribution of photographs on social networks and photography services. The application enables users to easily upload photographs to the system and thus distribute them to social networks and to amateur and professional photography services for presentation or sale.

Thanks to the CzechDemo project, the other two start-ups heading to Las Vegas previously had the opportunity to gain experience at TechCrunch London earlier this year. The Plzeň-based company Six Guys Labs produces special trackers mapping the activity and relaxation of dogs and cats. Technology start-up XTND of Ostrava develops and manufactures premium electric skateboards made of high-tech materials.

Focused on new developments and innovations in consumer technologies, CES is a global event with a fifty-year history. During the trade fair, companies can demonstrate their products in an exhibition space, meet with potential partners and get inspiration from other exhibitors. A number of talks will be given during the event and visitors can learn about the latest trends in various fields such as 3D printing, for example. The trade fair will also feature the CES 2017 Innovation Awards, a competition that annually recognises extraordinary design and manufacturing of consumer-technology products.

“Promising start-ups often struggle with insufficient funding, while first-hand experience abroad can be of key importance for their further development. Therefore, we are helping them to cover the costs of, for example, travel, event registration and translation of materials,” says Markéta Havlová, head of the Start-ups Department at CzechInvest.

Within the CzechDemo project, CzechInvest plans to support up to 144 Czech firms with more than CZK 10 million and send them to a total of twelve prestigious start-up events around the world. The selected participants will receive discounted services including payment of up to 75% of the cost of registration and stand fees, a financial contribution to cover 100% of translation costs and 50% of the cost of round-trip air tickets for two persons. The CzechDemo project is implemented within the Marketing programme, priority axis 2 – Development of Business and Competitiveness of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises of the Operational Programme Enterprise and Innovation for Competitiveness. More information about the CzechDemo project is available here.

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