Ministry of Industry and Trade launches global network of business incubators for Czech firms

24 Mar. 2011 | CzechInvest, Ministry of Industry and Trade | After a year of successful testing in Silicon Valley, CzechAccelerator business incubators are being expanded to the eastern United States, Singapore, Israel and Switzerland.

logo OPPI The Czech Republic is building a worldwide network of business incubators for promising Czech firms. As early as at the beginning of next year these facilities will be in operation in Singapore, Israel, Switzerland and in two locations in the United States. Those interested in the programme can begin registering with CzechInvest from 1 April.

“The success of Czech firms that participated in the pilot operation of CzechAccelerator in Silicon Valley has convinced us that this is an excellent way to practically support promising Czech enterprises. The ideal result of the CzechAccelerator project is the situation when a firm sells its products around the world while its development and executive infrastructure remains in the Czech Republic,” says Martin Kocourek, Minister of Industry and Trade.

“The CzechAccelerator 2011-2014 project opens the path for Czech firms to global markets and helps them to find business partners literally from around the world. The project’s strength consists in the fact that it enables Czech firms to gain in only a few months experience which would otherwise take years to acquire,” says Petr Očko, Director of the Section of EU Funds, Research and Development at the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

“We realise that for small and medium-sized Czech firms it is not easy to penetrate world markets even though they offer outstanding products. Thanks to the encouraging results from the project’s first year of operation, we can now expand the programme to other countries and thus give a larger number of Czech firms the opportunity to penetrate world markets,” adds Miroslav Křížek, CEO of CzechInvest.

From July this year, Czech firms will have access to spaces in two CzechAccelerators on the east and west coasts of the United States. The first will be a continuation of the pilot project in Silicon Valley. The second will be located near either Boston or New York. From the beginning of next year, these will be joined by facilities in Israel, Singapore and Switzerland.

“In the pilot round, we paid for only office rent and related services for participants in Silicon Valley. In the new programme, we will also pay for participation in conferences and trainings as well as acquisition of licenses. We will also contribute funding for expert consultants and will partially pay for accommodation and transport,” says Miroslav Křížek.

Small and medium-sized Czech technology firms are eligible to register in the CzechAccelerator 2011-2014 programme. The main prerequisite is that they have prepared their own innovative product for which they want to find applications on foreign markets. CzechAccelerator proved its worth primarily in seeking out foreign business partners, building the business network and generally in improving products on the basis of experience from completely new markets.

In selecting programme participants, the assessed criteria will include the potential of the offered product, its technical sophistication and its feasibility. The quality of the given firm’s management background will also be evaluated together with its business plan and, of course, its relevance in terms of the programme’s objectives. The assessment committee will be composed of specialists for the given sector and representatives of the state administration, as well as private investors, who will assess the investment appeal of the product and the self-presentation quality of the firm’s representatives.

The CzechAccelerator 2011-2014 project is intended especially for modern innovative firms which offer unique products. It is suitable particularly for firms that operate in the areas of information and communication technologies, natural-sciences sectors, clean technologies or nanotechnologies. However, companies from other sectors of the manufacturing industry and services can also register in the programme. The European Union is providing financial assistance for the CzechAccelerator 2011-2014 project via the Operational Programme Enterprise and Innovation. Therefore, the final product must be realised outside of the territory of Prague.

The CzechAccelerator 2011-2014 project supports promising Czech small and medium-sized enterprises in the commercialisation of their products abroad. The pilot phase of the project was realised at the Plug & Play Tech Center in Silicon Valley, which hosts more than 250 start-up firms particularly in the areas of the internet, mobile and wireless technologies and social networks. The world’s most important IT firms, such as Google, Sun Microsystems, Oracle and Microsoft have their headquarters or key development centres in the Silicon Valley area. To register in CzechAccelerator, it suffices to complete a simple registration form which is available for download at www.czechaccelerator.cz.