Answers to frequently asked questions about the Technology Incubation project

Yes, this is required when you apply. However, it is possible to go through pre-incubation as an individual and a company can only be established just before the application is submitted.

De minimis is deducted each year, so you need to check your current balance and can draw accordingly. Therefore, the amount drawn in the Technology Incubation must also be set according to the remaining de minimis limit. There is no minimum threshold for applications for Technology Incubation.

No, the age of the company is the key condition. This is about supporting startups, not established companies.

We expect that in the future, yes, but for the administrative procedure, the applicant will need to provide an official translation of at least the basic documents. However, all application documentation will exist in English and incubation in English is certainly not a problem. The main language for the third challenge will continue to be Czech.

We don’t deal with citizenship at all, only the registration number. It must be a Czech company – Czech company registration number and registered office in the Czech Republic.

No, this option was only available in the First Call of the project. Since the Call 1/2023, this variation has been abolished in the framework of comparability of submitted incubation plans and acceleration of the evaluation process.

No, the date doesn’t matter. Of course, the allocation of this particular call may be exhausted, but certainly not the total allocation of the Technology Incubation. Further calls will be launched.

It is counted on the date the company submits its official application to the program. The applicant company must not be older than 3 years at the date of submission of the grant application, or. 5 years if justified by specific technological needs and the nature of the project.

TRL4 is not a fixed barrier (i.e., it is not below TRL4 in any case), it is an indicative level. The main point is that the applicant must have a sufficiently detailed and well-founded product and related business plan to be able to withstand the evaluation process.

He can’t. According to the call for proposals, eligible are Business Corporations under Act 90/2012 Coll., on Business Companies and Cooperatives, established for the purpose of doing business, which are start-up small and medium-sized enterprises.

The product must be innovative at least at the level of the Czech Republic, but the essence of the scalability of the business plan is the ability to compete on foreign markets, which the applicant should be able to prove by market research.

In general, innovation means the novelty of a solution for a given area/domain from the perspective of the domestic and European market. The output of the project is a new product, process or process or a significantly improved product, process or process, at least at national level in the target market segment. The applicant is able to substantiate his/her arguments regarding the innovativeness/uniqueness of the project output with a market analysis or a form of intellectual property protection.

It is not possible to submit more than one project per ID number in one call.

Yes, we support technology in education. EdTech can be classified in the Creative Sector (see the description of the TI sector – Creative BIC). Provided that the product can be applied in another sector (e.g. educational applications for mobility), it can also be classified in another, corresponding sector.

Yes, he can.

Yes, it can, provided it meets the SME conditions. Care should be taken with de minimis, which in this case adds up. The committee will also assess whether the applicant company has the characteristics of an independent start-up.

No, it can’t, because an important criterion for selecting a startup is the scalability of the product. At the same time, the rights to the application must remain with the company that develops it.

In general, there will be an effort to have representation of people on the evaluation committee with the expectation of evaluating all projects that go before the committee. Anyway, if a startup is in front of a committee sitting for an AI incubator, it will be judged mostly in terms of the innovativeness of the AI technology, etc.

If the connected company owns more than 50%, the applicant (startup) is therefore considered a single enterprise for the purposes of de minimis calculation and registration – more here.

Applicants that are university spin-offs must also meet the condition of being an SME. According to Commission Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in accordance with Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty (GBER), an undertaking cannot be considered small or medium-sized if 25 % or more of the share capital or voting rights are directly or indirectly controlled, jointly or individually, by one or more public bodies, with universities generally being considered a public body. Control means participation in the share capital or voting rights of the spin-off. However, the University could theoretically control the spin-off up to 50%, provided that it acts as an investor and does not have and exercise influence as defined in Article 3(3)(a). 3 Annexes no. 1 GBER.

In the matter of eligibility of university spin-offs, the CzechInvest Agency bases its opinion on the opinion of the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection (ÚOHS).

Yes, this is a basic division. Direct support = money that the company receives in an account, the recipient can use it to pay for anything related to the incubation and can be billed as a service. The eligibility of expenses will be consulted with the incubation manager on an ongoing basis. Indirect support = incubation package with a fixed value of CZK 500 000. The package includes incubation support – the work of incubation managers, business experts and experts in specific technologies, these people will work with startups for up to two years. In addition, specific workshops, basic legal advice, etc. are included in the indirect support. The incubation package is set up individually for each startup at the start of incubation.

Yes, incubation can take 12, 18 or 24 months.

Yes, it is stated in the invitation. It will also be detailed in the Grant Award Decision (GAD) if the startup passes the evaluation.

We plan to monitor for 5 years after the end of incubation, with responsibilities specified in the ROPD. Generally, this will involve filling out a detailed spreadsheet once a year and some minor interactions throughout the year.

As part of indirect support, a number of workshops, matchmaking events, pitch presentations for investors or speed dating will be organized. The incubation package will be tailored to the needs of the applicant and they will be invited to events that will benefit them accordingly. No one will force the company to participate in these events, but it will be deducted from the de minimis (it will be part of the lump sum of CZK 500,000).

It will be a conflict of interest.

Yes, it’s possible. As part of the incubation services, the company will be able to consult the investor’s input. However, it should not be the case that a change in ownership structure during incubation makes a firm an ineligible applicant, leading to termination of incubation. The ROPD imposes a notification obligation on the company.

Indirect support consists of 3 components: mentoring from CI staff, administrative and incubation support from CI staff, and workshops. Services of incubation centres within the so-called. Whitelist can only be covered by direct aid.

The beneficiary must immediately inform the provider of this change through official channels.

Yes, he can. However, the Acceleration project is still in preparation.

The first payment after the ROPD is issued is an advance payment, the second payment after the approval of the interim report in the middle of the incubation period (in the case of Incubation Plus, 2 interim reports are submitted and therefore there is one more payment), the last payment at the end, after the approval of the final report. Yes, we will want to document invoices, but since this is an incubation and not a subsidy, invoices will be able to be checked every month. The company will then have a very good overview of the deductible costs and in terms of checking the reports, it should be a formality and the process will be very quick. If the company does not cooperate and give a small monthly report, the process will be longer. It all depends on how the company will cooperate with the incubation team.

It is again about communication, if the company does not communicate properly with its incubation manager and solve these things with him, it will definitely be a problem that the company will feel – at least it will not get the whole part of the subsidy. If he communicates, a lot of things can be resolved, adjusted, set differently and maybe milestones can be adjusted. Indirect support is not set up to be refundable, it can only be unrefundable.

If such advertising is related to the development of an innovative product, for example to test it in the market, yes. Marketing activities purely to promote the company or its finished products are not eligible.

Yes, if it is a service related to the development of an innovative product.

No, all costs must be in line with the subject matter of the Call.

Yes, but the costs of each activity for each programme must be separated and there must be no double funding. We recommend that you consult these cases before submitting your application. The company is obliged to inform about its participation in other incubation and support programmes.

Costs are eligible as of the issuance of the ROPD.

It is possible, but in any case it will be assessed individually. It is accepted if the contract research forms a partial part of the incubation, provided that the company justifies why the research is necessary. Everything needs to be justified in the business and incubation plan.

Only development-related services are eligible, i.e. what can be accounted for under category 518 and can be justified by the development needs of the incubation. Participation in the fair is not prohibited, but should in any case be in accordance with the incubation plan.

In this case, no.

If it’s booked as a service, yes.

Within 30 days of the issuance of the ROPD.

Eligible expenditure includes only services booked in accounting class 518.