Brno’s virtual skater coach wows the JIC STARCUBE Show – winning both jury and audience prize.
IoT solution for skateboards Fosh was chosen by the audience, media and the international jury as the best project presented on the 7 December at the JIC STARCUBE Show 2016. Czech team has created a device that monitors tricks performed by skaters, giving them a clear idea of the progress they’re making. Finishing second was the Serbian startup Smart Toybox, while the smart capsa team from the Czech Republic took third place.
“When they accepted us, the only thing we had was an idea we wanted to test. Now, after three months, we’ve emerged with a clear business plan and a road map for the year ahead. This win has given us a fantastic boost, even more so because we were picked not only by the jury, but backed by the media and the audience, too. It also places us under an obligation to continue the project and show some results as soon as possible,” commented Martin Horák, leader of the 5-member team from Brno University of Technology, on their triple success. Fosh is described as a virtual partner, ready 24/7 to help teach skaters perform tricks on the board to the best of their ability. It’s linked up with the legendary video games Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Runtastic and PokemonGO and connects individuals with the skateboard community worldwide. For groups of friends who all have the device fitted to their boards, these links enable skaters to wind each other up and spur one another on.
“When you have a startup, it’s not hard to come up with a strategy. But to execute and operate it well, you really need to be very experienced in both areas. The only other route to success is to really love what you’re doing. And the boys from Fosh are a compelling example of entrepreneurs driven by a passion for their project,” says the Director of Berlin’s Corporate Startup Lab Darius Moeini, explaining the jury’s decision, also adding that Fosh focused on an attractive market segment that he reckons has sufficient size and turnover. Besides Moeini, the international jury comprised the Israeli founder of the startup Eco-Nautical, Ayelet Hashachar Baram, head of the FGSD project, Patrick Blunsdon and founder of the Viennese coworking space Sektor5 and the 5starts incubator, Yves Schulz.
Second place belongs to Serbian team Smart Toybox that solves the problem most parents have – toys all over the floor all over the house. It creates a fun game around toys clean-up and teaches children healthy tidiness habits early in life. It is Wi-Fi connected educational toy fully customizable using mobile device. Third waraded team, smart capsa, creates chatBot that builds customer’s loyalty and increase customer’s satisfaction with mobile messenger. Chatbots, based on artificial intelligence, allow customers to enter requests in natural language and order services like a pizza delivery, train ticket or hotel reservation.
For the first time in the accelerator’s history, this year’s final show boasted more startups from abroad than homegrown projects. Manager of the JIC STARCUBE, Hana Šudáková, summed up the event saying, “more European projects made the final line-up than has previously been the case. This is the direction in which we want go in future. It has also been a joy to see the intensive and successful links forged with technology partners. These have worked closely with the teams, consulting with them over business plans and sales strategies, and getting their experts involved in the process.” This year’s partners were AVG, Honeywell, Konica Minolta, Microsoft and Y Soft. The programme was also supported by the Enterprise Europe Network.
Projects that were also presented during JIC STARCUBE Show 2016:
CTI Software service alerts people on their mobile phones or other smart devices when small wireless sensors in the environment find an important change which it is advisable to react on. Therefore DAVOS saves time, properties or even lives. It can be used in water management, forestry and agriculture areas, parcel services, protective clothing and many others.
FreeWiFi helps companies build the database with real clients connected to their Wi-Fi. All collected information help marketing managers to better understand clients' behavior and send them advertising campaigns using demographics, behavior ad digitized presence filters.
Loyagram is a cloud based, real-time customer experience management & analytics platform which help businesses to capture actionable customer feedback across different touch-points through offline, online and social channels, proactively reducing churn to increase retention & revenue. At Loyagram we are inspired to build the easiest and fastest way to gather insightful customer feedback, everyday, everywhere!
Wavie is touchless by many hand gesture controlled light switch and dimmer, which is like iPhone between light switches. Next generation of Wavie will be touchless controller for SMART bulbs and other house devices controlled via mobile apps like temperature control or blinds. Everybody can change its old light switch.
Further information on the accelerator and can be found on its website.
Media contact: Martina Pouchlá, 602 476 863 , pouchla@jic.cz
JIC STARCUBE accelerator www.starcube.cz
JIC STARCUBE is the longest running Czech accelerator. Since 2010 more than 72 start-ups have entered it. Teams experience three months loaded with knowledge, workshops, meetings with mentors and connecting to global technology companies. They gain benefits and financial support for testing and prototyping, legal and tax services, marketing, travel reimbursement and accommodation. Successful companies which have gone through the accelerator include, for example, GINA, Reservio and currently one of the fastest growing start-ups Kiwi (formerly Skypicker).
JIC (South Moravian Innovation Centre) www.jic.cz
JIC (South Moravian Innovation Centre) supports people in creating and developing companies which change the world. Every year its services are used by more than one hundred companies, from aspiring entrepreneurs with innovative ideas to rapidly growing start-ups and established technology firms. Start-up companies which have gone through JIC programmes have created more than 1,400 new jobs and hundreds more in follow-on services. Over the 13 years of its existence, the JIC has initiated almost 360 instances of cooperation between researchers and companies. Through these and other activities the JIC helps to improve the competitiveness of South Moravia, making it one of the most innovative regions in Europe.