Results are in for Start Your Business 2025

The award ceremony took place on Wednesday, 21 May at the KUMST creative hub, marking the end of another round of the competition, which aims to help students turn their ideas into fully developed products or services.

Seven teams made it to the final round of this year´s Start Your Business competition and presented the progress they had made on their projects, how they used their CZK 10,000 scholarships and what plans they have for the future. Based on the evaluation of the expert jury, four teams then received additional funding to continue developing their ideas.

The application form includes a video introducing the idea and a cashflow plan. For the final round, students are asked to prepare an action plan and outline their business vision for the next five years. Based on the presentations and how their projects evolved during the competition, the jury determines the final ranking.

“The most helpful part of the competition was the mentoring from the expert jury, because we had some gaps in the financial side of our project. We will also make use of the prize money we received. It will serve as part of our co-financing for a grant we are applying for,” said Jesika Konečná, who, together with Anna Kolářová, created the winning project Time to Self-Care.

Second place went to Chaffean, a project by Faculty of Science student Lenka Jurasová. Her idea focused on an eco-friendly and compostable modelling clay. The last “medal” was awarded to Nomalu, a project by Klára Zbončáková from the Faculty of Social Studies, who presented a sustainable, ultra-lightweight hiking backpack.

Fourth place went to Marko Mećava from the Faculty of Science with his project PowerGreens, which focused on an innovative protein powder. Fifth place was claimed by Matěj Brožek from the Faculty of Education and his project Termio. In sixth place was Academy CodeIT developed by Martin Gabrhel from the Faculty of Informatics. And rounding out the top seven was CLUBKA, a project by Jonáš Boroš from the Faculty of Arts.

The awards were presented by Petr Suchý, MU Vice-Rector for Internationalisation and External Relations. Faculty representatives also attended the event to support their students. This year’s Start Your Business competition was backed by partners Miloš Dendis from Dendis Capital, Matyáš Žert from Pixel Dock, Michal Daniel from NOTINO, and the South Moravian Innovation Centre.

“The courage to stand out, to come up with your own idea and push it forward – that’s why I have been supporting this competition for the past three years. What matters most is encouraging people to be brave enough to dream big, chase their goals, build castles in the air, and not be afraid to fail. In that sense, I see all the participants as heroes,” says competition partner and supporter Miloš Dendis.

“I was pleasantly surprised by the diversity and quality of the projects and the passion of the competitors. It’s great to see Masaryk University giving students this kind of opportunity,” adds Matyáš Žert from PixelDock.

The competition was launched five years ago by The Centre for Technology Transfer, which leads the Entrepreneurship at MU agenda. The sixth edition of Start Your Business will be announced this December.