Czechia

Regional Accelerators and Incubators

Will Bennis Czechia, entrepreneurship, investment, Prague, sharing economy , , , , ,
Below is a list of some of the business accelerators and incubators in the Czech Republic and in nearby countries (or else ones that actively target Czech startups). This is a work in progress, so please help me keep the list current and accurate by sending me feedback or leaving comments!
The terms accelerator and incubator are sometimes used interchangeably and sometimes used differently from how I would use them, so take these classifications with a bit of skepticism. This overlap in usage and similarity in experience has me grouping the two together for this blog post.
For me here are the basic similarities and differences:

Similarities

Both accelerators and incubators provide shared work space and mentorship to startup businesses for a limited period of time (usually 3-6 months) to help startup businesses success. Both also tend to do this on a competitive basis, providing the space and support for free to the selected winners who are deemed to have the most potential.

Differences

Incubators

Incubators tend to be non-profit entities set up by regional governments, academic institutions, or other non-profit organizations with a mission to help support the startup environment. They generally have some kind of institutional support that allows them to provide the free work space and the mentorship. As such, incubators are not as firmly tied to either the limited time period or the competitive nature of acceptance. Some of them have relatively open acceptance based on university affiliation or some other general requirements, and many will not put strict limits on how long a startup can stay. Although they do not as a rule provide capital to the startups, some do, though usually without strings attached or any ownership stake in the company being incubated. Though acceptance may be in batches on a calendar schedule, it is often on a rolling basis as well.

Accelerators

Accelerators, on the other hand, tend to be for-profit entities. They provide free work space and mentorship AND INVESTMENT in exchange for a percentage of ownership in the company. For accelerators, the competitive nature of entry and the limited time period are essential features of the program. They are gambling on getting that next great startup that will compensate for the loss on most companies they accelerate. The investments tend to be small (5-25,000 USD) as does the percentage of ownereship (5-10%). Acceptance for accelerators tends to be on a set schedule, where all of the companies being accelerated will start and finish together, as would a class of students in the same cohort. Often accelerators will have stages with benchmarks, where additional help and funding will be possible as long as these benchmarks are met.
But again, this is my usage based on what I take to be the norms. I may not have it exactly right, and certainly many of the players in these industries mix the concepts as they see fit.
The list is organized geographically relative to Prague, since that’s where Locus Workspace and our members are located.

Prague

Czech Republic outside Prague

  • Help me add to this list!

CEE Region outside the Czech Republic

  • Urban Quest (added 2018.03.29), Warsaw, Poland. PropTech accelerator (Property / real-estate / space technology), sponsored by Skanska, Microsoft, and business__link.
  • hub:raum Krakow, Poland (also locations in Berlin & Tel Aviv). Has both an accelerator and an incubator program.
  • RubixLab Bratislava, Slovakia
  • CEE LiftOff Budapest, Hungary (website not working properly, may be ending)
  • PwC CEE Startup Collider Warsaw, Poland. FinTech focus. Seeking participants from all over the Central & Eastern Europe countries.

Crowdfunding Portals on the Czech Market

Will Bennis Czechia, entrepreneurship, investment, sharing economy , , , ,

Below are a few crowdfunding portals on the Czech market. I’d like to keep the list current and have some details about each, so let me know if you know of any others or have any comments about the ones in the list. Specifically it would be nice to know their pros and cons and whether they have any particular industry focus.

  • Hithit (Czech, Slovak, English; as of 3 Oct 2015 seems to be the largest and best known)
  • startovač (Czech only)
  • kreativcisobě.cz (Czech only)
  • nakopni mě (Czech only)
  • Everfund (Czech-language only; as of 3 Oct 2015, new on the market)
  • Fundlift (still not launched as of 3 Oct 2015; claims to be first EQUITY crowdfunding platform on the Czech market)

No longer operating:

  • Fondomat.cz (no longer operating; may have been the first on the Czech market)

The Benefits of Coworking – a Personal Perspective

David Creighton coworking, happiness, Locus Workspace, members, positive psychology, Prague, productivity, profile, Writing ,

Much has been written about the psychological benefits of coworking and being with others. In my case, it has been personal experience that has convinced me of the advantages.

I moved to the Czech Republic from the UK in 2000, and started working as a freelance editor, journalist and translator in 2002. In my early days as a freelancer I worked from home and didn’t mind; in many ways there was no choice because no coworking spaces existed in Prague back then. Cafés are a favourite haunt of freelancers, but much as I love idling away the hours in Prague’s coffee houses, working in them didn’t have much appeal, because I associate them with relaxation rather than earning a living.

But when I started freelancing full-time again in 2011, after several years working for an employer or regularly for a company on an external basis, I found that working at home didn’t have much appeal either. I had learned to be more disciplined and less distracted over the years, but I had also become much more outgoing and sociable than I used to be. And while I have many introverted personality traits and am happy to spend time on my own, I missed the interaction with people in an office, and the structure and routine offered by such an environment.

Thankfully coworking had then become firmly established in Prague, and I spent time at a number of the city’s coworking spaces. I went through a particularly difficult period in 2012 and 2013, when work from clients dried up. The situation has turned around, but coworking was of enormous benefit psychologically during those challenging days. It was a huge boost to be with others, not sitting at home moping. I also made new friends from different backgrounds and countries. I get a buzz from meeting new people from different places, and coworking was a brilliant opportunity to do so. I also appreciated the fact that I could be with likeminded people, socialize with them and go to lunch with them – without any of the office politics that employees have to negotiate.

The positive environment around me also undoubtedly helped me raise my productivity levels and get more done during the day. I am certain that I would not have achieved as much by working at home. And I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could balance work and having time for breaks and chatting to other coworkers, and getting to know them.

David Creighton

Coworking in Prague … An Internship Experience

Community Manager Community Managers, coworking, Locus Workspace, personal, Prague , ,
When something is kitschy or badly made or just bad in general we say that it’s Czech. I guess that’s an indicator of what Slovenians think of Czech. 🙂 But using the phrase now, just makes me think of my lovely experience in Prague. Just a few weeks ago I was still an intern there. My four month internship at Locus Workspace went by in a flash and an eight hour drive to my home town of Ljubljana brought me back to reality.
 
I landed in Prague by coincidence, even more so at Locus. As it turned out Will and I have a mutual friend, who recommended us to each other.  And he is one of the people who started coworking events in Ljubljana.  For now it’s a weekly event at a cultural center. Hopefully they will establish a permanent space and give me a job. 🙂
 
Before this I didn’t know much about coworking. I understood the theory behind it, but didn’t know the real life feel of the concept. The community, networking, creating and sharing knowledge among members, forms a unique environment. It gives people a chance and motivation to work on projects, to help each other and make ideas come to life. But it doesn’t only provide a pleasant work environment; it also gives the opportunity to meet new people and to form new friendships. And I think this was also one of the wonderful things about working at Locus, meeting all the interesting people from all around the world that made the experience even better.
 
This was also my first time living abroad. Prague turned out to be a great choice. It’s a lot bigger than Ljubljana, but still easy to handle due to its great public transport.  There is a lot going on, lively atmosphere, beautiful architecture and lovely parks. I even almost enjoyed the masses of tourists and the occasionally rude Czechs who have to deal with foreigners on a daily basis and seem to be sick of them.

All in all, living in Prague and working at Locus has left me with wonderful memories of new places, new people and new experiences. And they were not at all Czech.

Coworking in Prague | Coworking v Praze

Will Bennis community, coworking, events, jelly, Locus Workspace, Prague ,

Recently Locus Workspace has teamed up with a group of other coworking spaces in Prague to see how we can work together to do things we can’t do as individual spaces.

The project was largely inspired by Coworking Seattle‘s collaboration, so we owe a big thanks to their positive example.

Central to the collaboration is a recognition from all of us that there are many ways in which we all gain by focusing on how we can collaborate as well as on how we can co-promote the idea of coworking, coming together as coworking spaces much as individual space members might come together to facilitate something greater than the collection of individuals. We all believe the potential future size of the coworking community in Prague is much larger than the capacity of our combined spaces, and that at least for now the more options out there the better for the success of coworking more genreally. For now–I think–the biggest barrier to our collective success is not one another, but the extent to which the public and media are unaware of the coworking option, and how valuable it can be.

We do things such as:

  • Co-sponsor a Jelly (free, informal coworking open to the public) that meets every two weeks and rotates across 7 different coworking spaces in Prague.
  • Participate in a “Coworking in Prague visa program” (inspired by the international Coworking Visa) that allows members of any one of 5 coworking spaces in Prague use the other spaces for free for up to 25% of one’s membership time.
  • Share a common website and Facebook page (please join it, we just started up) for promoting the idea of coworking and communicating options for coworking in Prague to the public and to the media.
  • Help organize cross-space events that can bring our members together as well as bring awareness about coworking and what it has to offer to the public.

I’m really excited about the collaboration and the support for it that has come from the other participants in the Coworking in Prague program!