Apply for StarCube accelerator 2014. Registration open till January 12
Brno, Czech Republic, 18/ 11/ 2013
Czech based accelerator StarCube hosted by JIC in Brno is a 3 months long program offering technology startups coworking space, experienced mentors, workshops and consultations. Founded as the very first startup accelerator in the Czech Republic in 2010, StarCube now offers nearly 4 years of experience working with more than 150 people setting up 20 companies raising more than $1 million in funding.
The program is backed by the South Moravian Region, the City of Brno and four local universities. Thanks to that and the cooperation with partners like Microsoft, Nokia, PwC, Czech ICT Alliance and InnoVentures the selected startups can participate for free and no equity is taken. Those who would like to give their project a kickstart and join StarCube should apply by January 12. The programme itself starts in February and culminates in May 2014 with Demo Day StarCube Show attended by 200 people from the startup community.
For the second time, StarCube is wide open to any team from all over the world. The 2013 edition hosted foreign startups from Palestine, Jordan, Italy and the Jordan team Braci made its way to the TOP 3 startups at final StarCube Show. “We have recently set up a company in the Czech Republic and are cooperating closely with Czech Hearing Impaired Association on testing our alerting bracelet,” said Abdulah Lababidi of Braci.
“For the 2014 edition, we are looking for teams with an already market validated idea. B2C projects have to prove an interest from 20 potential customers, for B2B three interested customers will do it,” claimed Michal Hrabi, the head of StarCube accelerator and startup programme at JIC. For those who have no idea about market research so far, StarCube organizers are offering a free webinar which should teach them how to reach to the potential customers. This webinar would only be available for early birds registered by December 15.
Thanks to partnering with mechanical and electrical engineering companies, the accelerator will offer different testing premises to hardware startups.
Several startups out of those that pitched on Demo day StarCube show succeeded internationally. GINA offering a geo-tactical solution for coordination of staff in the field helped rescue teams on Haiti and in Japan and has been awarded as one of top European space-related technologies in 2012 at Galileo Masters competition. Skypicker a low cost air tickets search engine was featured among TOP 10 travel sites in New York Times and presented in Le Figaro. Videoflot a unique marketplace and creative playground for film and video creators was accepted to Startup Chile. And Reservio is now making online appointment scheduling in more than 120 countries.
StarCube accelerator welcomes technology startups from wide variety of fields, especially those based in ICT, electronic and mechanical engineering or biotech. Brno and South Moravia are particularly strong in ICT Security (40 % of the global antivirus market controlled by Avast, ESET and AVG all originated from Brno) and electron microscopy (FEI and TESCAN operations in Brno making one third of the world´s market). Due to its position in the heart of Europe, Brno offers a unique base for startups bridging East and West Europe.
JIC (South Moravian Innovation Centre)
Empowering people to create businesses that change the world. JIC aims to promote enterprise skills development and commercialisation of research in South Moravian Region. JIC brings together all higher education institutions in the region in a powerful partnership that aims to maximise the contribution of higher education to regional and national economies. JIC was awarded the 3rd Best Internationally Connecting Incubator in 2010 Best Science Based Incubator Awards by Technopolicy Network.
Media contact:
Helena Tovarkova
+420 601 377 409
tovarkova@jic.cz