Today, the CzechInvest agency announced another historic milestone in innovation and support for technology startups in Czechia. Under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, CzechInvest is the first state organization in the country to establish cooperation with the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN) through its CERN Venture Connect programme.
"The cooperation with CERN opens new opportunities for our startups and brings Czechia closer to cutting-edge technologies and research in the field of particle physics. This initiative supports our vision to create an innovation ecosystem that is globally competitive and at the same time brings new energy to the business environment. The CERN Ventures Connect program is not only about basic research, but in particular supports the transformation of CERN's unique know-how into concrete innovative products. CzechInvest has excellent experience in this technology transfer," said Petr Očko, Senior Director of the Department of Digitization and Innovation at the Ministry of Industry and Trade and acting CEO of CzechInvest.
The CERN Venture Connect programme aims to support startups using CERN technologies and know-how. „CERN Venture Connect is designed to empower the next generation of scientist entrepreneurs and shaping the future with technology,” says Ash Ravikumar, CERN Entrepreneurship Officer from the team within CERN’s Knowledge Transfer group. CERN Venture Connect will provide technical know-how, prototypes when applicable and connections to the deep tech venture community. Startup Kitchen and Tensor Ventures are other Czechia based partners of CERN Venture Connect.
Thanks to the newly established cooperation with CERN, CzechInvest will connect promising startups with investors and incubators and provide them with fast access to the selected cutting-edge technologies available at CERN. Startups participating in the CERN Venture Connect program will have the opportunity to present their ideas and projects to industry experts, while having access to CERN's know-how and technology.
The cooperation is also linked to the Technology Incubation project of the CzechInvest agency. This project offers startups not only financial support, but also a connection to the innovation infrastructure and access to discounted space for further development of their projects. CzechInvest and CERN will work together to create an ideal environment for the growth and innovation of young technology companies in Czechia.
Media contact:
David Hořínek
PR Manager and Spokesperson
+420 724 591 667
david.horinek@czechinvest.org