Nearly twenty Czech firms took part in the world-renowned technology event
In connection with the second call of the CzechDemo project, twelve Czech start-ups took part in TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco, California, at the end of September. The event was also attended by firms supported by the ICT Alliance and the economic diplomacy project of the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Los Angeles. For the first time in the event’s history, nearly twenty Czech start-ups exhibited at TechCrunch at the same time.
“The objective of CzechDemo is to enable firms to present their products abroad and thus increase their media presence, number of customers and established partnerships, while also gaining experience in the international environment. I am pleased that we have managed to fulfil the event’s potential and that we could also help other firms outside of CzechDemo to participate in the busy accompanying programme. Participation in the project does not involve only exhibiting at the given event, but also a number of other services in the form of mentoring, the possibility to rehearse presentations in the Czech Republic and subsequently at the venue and to engage with experienced entrepreneurs, and so on,” said Markéta Havlová, head of CzechInvest’s Start-Up Department.
CzechDemo is a CzechInvest project aimed at supporting the internationalisation of small and medium-sized enterprises. It enables start-ups to participate in globally known technology conferences such as CES, Slush and TechCrunch Disrupt. The Czech companies that exhibited in San Francisco this year are presented below:
AquaQube is an innovative device for household water purification. The product makes naturally pure drinking water and enables people to take control over the quality of their drinking water.
BattSwap offers a system for immediate electric-vehicle charging using battery-exchange technology. The product is ideal for fleet operators that are acquiring zero-emission mobility for a lower price.
The Reactant project is a software framework for the iOS mobile platform that has the purpose of substantially shortening the development cycle of iOS applications and their introduction into production. Furthermore, it is intended to restrict long compilation times of the Swift language and bring clean architecture to applications with emphasis on restriction of the error rate.
Dataddo automates data processes. It is focused on providing software for automation of data processes, analysis and visualisation of data in the form of SaaS.
An analytical tool for venture investors and accelerators. The idea is to use Blockchain technology and artificial intelligence for gathering, monitoring, analysing and displaying investment data.
Incomaker is an innovative marketing platform with artificial intelligence. The platform collects data, converts that data into information, information into marketing and marketing into money.
ViaGoood is the first Be-Good platform intended for everyone who wants to live in a better world. It is based on a mobile application that offers interesting and motivating online content. By means of the Be-good platform, users can help people in emergency situations and protect the environment and animals easily and effectively.
A revolutionary digital comics reader running on the company’s own NANITS ENGINE technology. User-friendly application, very easy control, supported by fascinating visual, text and music content.
Actijoy products (smart leash, bowl and app) monitor the activity, food intake and rest levels of dogs and cats. The application evaluates the collected data.
StatusDroid is focused primarily on providing services in the area of IT. At present, the company possesses a beta version of IS and is developing an SaaS (software as a service) application that will enable users to enhance the functionality of their websites, e-shops and blogs.
Revolutionary software solution for operation of dental clinics that not only offers common CRM functionalities but also serves for a complete organisation of clinics, including appointment scheduling, patient reminders, filing, health documentation, dental records, insurance reports and simple accounting.
The Xevos Clouder product is a hardware-software infrastructure solution that has the aim of replacing desktop computers as we know them today.
Leadspicker develops software that helps accelerators, event organisers and innovative companies to find, approach and register appropriate start-ups.
Videjo explains what you do in 60 seconds by producing one-minute animated videos for a fixed price with a firm delivery deadline.
Proprietary educational curriculum composed of eight key areas of development, on which all products are based. In addition to digital content, supported features include the interaction of parents and children through thematic activities, ideas for experiments, riddles, exercises, tips for parents, original stories and much more. All products are available in 18 languages including English for beginners and take special educational needs into account. Lipa Learning has had its own international preschool in Prague since 2012.
A smart online dream-fulfilment platform that brings together students, secondary schools and universities. The goal is to help students find and undertake a successful path in both their personal and professional life.
Methodological optimisation and robotization for refurbishing roads.
XTND focuses on development and production of products that run on electricity, such as electric longboards. Featuring a replaceable battery, the boards have a range of 20 kilometres, charge in 60 minutes, can carry a person up a 20-degree slope and have a maximum speed of 45 km/h. A whole board weighs only 3 kg and looks like an ordinary longboard; there are no protrusions, as everything is integrated into the board.
CLEO Finance’s new www.cleo.one tool enables users to create business algorithms in English without coding. Furthermore, the company offers optimisation of users’ algorithms through machine learning. Testing and detailed analysis are included in the price of the solution.
Silicon Valley is about networking
In the course of the five-day programme, the above-mentioned companies took part not only in the conference but also in an extensive accompanying programme that was prepared for them by CzechInvest’s foreign representative in San Francisco and the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Los Angeles.
TechCrunch Disrupt is not an end in itself and it is thus very important to take part in accompanying networking events. For this reason, an extensive accompanying programme was prepared for the attending firms. The programme included a series of networking opportunities and meetings with people who have already found success in Silicon Valley. The newcomers thus had a unique chance to speak with seasoned entrepreneurs and dispel all illusions.
Prior to the event, on Sunday an informal meet-up was held with TechCrunch Disrupt participants and Czech and Slovak representatives of the business community in Silicon Valley. In addition to offering Czech beer and excellent food, the meet-up also served as a networking platform, where more than eighty representatives of start-ups, investors and employees of technology firms came together and shared their experience.
On the second day of their stay in California, the Czech start-ups attended the first exhibition day of TechCrunch Disrupt and an evening panel discussion featuring speakers with personal experience from Silicon Valley such as David Semerád of STRV, Radek Janků of BattSwap, Mirek Peřina of XTND, Michal Zálešák of the Czech ICT Alliance and Míra Tenkl of CzechInvest’s foreign office in San Francisco. The discussion was moderated by Ondřej Homola, who has been working on his Lifeliqe project in California for quite some time.
“The panel discussion was focused on ways to succeed in the United States, where to find contacts and potential partners/investors and how the Czech community can directly assist newcomers. At the same time, representatives of successful firms pointed out the difficulty of living in San Francisco, which is among the world’s most expensive cities with competition at the level of the ‘Olympic Games of business’, which is offset by the tremendous opportunities and ecosystem of Silicon Valley – firms, investors and universities that attract the best minds from around the world,” said Marino Radačič, economic diplomat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the United States, commenting on the importance of networking.
Central Europe conquers Silicon Valley
On the third day, the Czech Republic, Austria, Poland and Hungary held the Central European Pitch Night event, at which each country was represented by two companies. The Czech Republic’s representatives were AquaQube and BattSwap which had to present themselves and their respective projects in the form of a brief pitch. The winner of the evening event was the Austrian start-up Usernap, which assists with gathering user experience and monitoring errors on websites.
The fourth day proved to be the most demanding for the Czech start-ups, as it was the main exhibition day, during which companies presented their products to the TechCrunch community as well as to geeks, the media and representatives of global firms, investors, start-up entrepreneurs and a number of consultants. All of the start-ups based themselves in the Czech pavilion, which was one of the biggest pavilions at the exhibition site.
The last day included a visit to the “former” Czech start-up GoodData, in which the company’s CEO, Roman Staněk, also participated. The tour of the company’s headquarters involved a discussion on the complexity and pitfalls of doing business in Silicon Valley. The visitors posed numerous questions about the difficulty of starting a business in a highly competitive environment. The meeting offered unique insight into how a Czech firm must transform itself if it wants to successfully operate at the global level and how to capably integrate employees from a number of continents into a successful network that supports innovative trends within the company.
“The Czech Republic indisputably sent the largest delegation of start-ups to TechCrunch. Besides the size of the group, the Czechs also drew interest thanks primarily to their quality. For example, in the week after the event, an article about Brightify s.r.o. appeared on the TechCrunch homepage, which is something that not many Czech start-ups had previously achieved,” said Míra Tenkl of CzechInvest’s foreign office for the West Coast of the United States, commenting on the Czech start-ups’ performance at the conference.
We think the Czech start-ups’ journey to TechCrunch Disrupt turned out well overall. You will soon learn more about what the participating start-ups thought about their performance in a series of interviews that we are preparing for you. But right now, we would like to invite you to read an interview with Michal Valta, founder of the start-up Largos Media.
Written by Zdeněk Havel
