CzechDemo helps Czech start-ups attend foreign trade fairs

At the beginning of November, five Czech start-ups attended the biggest European trade-fair for start-ups, Web Summit 2017, which was held in Lisbon, Portugal. How did the participants like the event and what did they get from it? That is the focus of today’s article.

The quintet of participants were able to attend the trade fair thanks to the CzechDemo programme, which enables start-ups to participate in prestigious events abroad, such as TechCrunch Disrupt, CES Las Vegas and, among others, Web Summit in Lisbon. All programme participants receive financial assistance in the form of payment of up to 75% of trade-fair stand fees, 100% of the costs of translating promotional materials and 50% of the cost of round-trip airline tickets for two persons.

This year’s Web Summit lasted three days and was attended by more than 60,000 visitors, 2,600 journalists and 1,200 speakers from more than 170 countries. Individual start-ups exhibited in succession on different day according to their focus. The trade fair was supplemented with a number of auxiliary events such as special lectures and competitions.

Web Summit through the eyes of Czech participants

Let’s have a look at who attended this year’s edition of Web Summit. We will first introduce Dativery, a start-up with its own web integration platform that enables connection of various applications at the user-interface level.

“Web Summit is a great conference. CzechInvest helped us a lot and we might not have gone there without it. So, thanks to everyone at CzechInvest and to our mentor, Jaroslav Trojan,” said Petr Ferschmann, CEO of Dativery.

Another representative of the Czech start-up scene was Decissio, which is building an analytical tool for venture investors and accelerators. The tool uses not only artificial intelligence, but also Blockchain technology for analysing investment data.

“CzechInvest made it possible for our early-stage start-up, Decissio, to experience global technology conferences. Through our partnership with the agency, we have managed to meet with people who have given us invaluable feedback, including potential clients, advisors, mentors and investors. I would heartily recommend everyone to try CzechInvest’s programmes. I think they do great work that helps the competitiveness of Czech start-ups in the world,” said Dite Gashi, manager of Decissio.

The third participant in the summit was Incomaker. This Central Bohemian start-up is developing a unique platform that works with artificial intelligence, which helps to collect data, which is then converted into important information that can bring profit to the platform’s users.

“Web Summit is undoubtedly today’s number-one global technology event, so it is important for Incomaker that we attended for the second time. Last year, the European Commission supported us among the most innovative firms; this year, we have to thank CzechInvest. And, of course, our colleagues from the Portuguese part of the firm, thanks to whom everything went smoothly. We again proved in an international arena that with our system for intelligent marketing automation, we can stand up to the competition without problems,” said Tomáš Šalamon, CEO of Incomaker.

Representatives of the South Moravian start-up Mentem brought a very interesting project to Lisbon. The aim of their project is to spread knowledge of the possibilities of improving human brain function to the general public. The company’s portal at Mentem.cz offers alternative education and development of brain functions.

“The conference opened up new opportunities for promoting our project. We gained a lot of valuable contacts and met with investors. Just being at the event was a great inspiration for us,” said Tereza Váňová, manager of the Mentem.cz project.

The last Czech start-up that attended the event is Webscope, a Brno-based firm involved in the development of SPA and mobile applications. Representatives of the company presented the GoodEvent platform, which assists users with organisation and promotion of events.

“From our company’s perspective, Web Summit was a positive surprise. We had the opportunity to verify our product in practice and we gained not only self-confidence, but also relevant business contacts. The whole event was very well organised and focused on networking and meetings with investors – exactly what a young start-up needs. Because our product is focused on the conference environment, it was an ideal opportunity to uncover any problems that may bother our customers in practice and the extent to which our product can help with organising such a large event,” said Marek Štěpita, representative of Webscope.

What is CzechInvest preparing for start-ups?

More information about CzechInvest’s support for start-ups, including the CzechDemo programme, is available on the website at www.podporastartupu.cz. From 23 to 30 November, you can also apply for a place in the CzechAccelerator programme, thanks to which you can spend a few months in a prestigious foreign incubator in Silicon Valley, New York or Singapore. More information about CzechAccelerator, including the registration form, is available at http://www.podporastartupu.cz/projekty/czechaccelerator/.