A record number of 409 projects are set to compete within T-Mobile Takeoffs

• The largest number of projects are traditionally from Prague and the South Moravia region
• Prizes worth CZK 3 million in total
• Free workshops for beginning entrepreneurs will be held in nine cities from 12 April to 12 May 

Prague, 16 March 2016 – A record number of 409 projects, particularly in the areas of gastronomy, IT and clothing manufacturing, are set to compete to win the favour of experts, as well as financial and tangible prizes in the sixth edition of T-Mobile Takeoffs. The competing projects will now be evaluated by juries composed of experienced entrepreneurs and investors who will meet with the originators of the projects from the middle of April until the middle of May at regional workshops. Seminars focused on such areas as brand building, financial planning and promotion are free of charge and are open both for the participants in the competition and anybody interested in business, who can register at www.rozjezdy.cz.

A record number of 409 projects have registered in this year’s edition of T-Mobile Takeoffs, one-third more than last year (296 projects). One hundred projects are set to compete in Prague, 65 projects are from the South Moravia region and the third region in terms of the largest number of competing projects is Central Bohemia with 41 applications. One-fifth of the projects are focused on gastronomy, one-tenth on IT and roughly one-tenth on leisure activities and clothing manufacturing. “We are very pleased by the record number of applications and we are particularly happy that a number of projects are in the area of IT and services related to healthy living: sports, weight control and healthy eating,” says Eva Karasová, CSR Manager at T-Mobile, which is the organiser of Takeoffs, commenting on the results and adding: “We were surprised that this year we have several projects in the area of assistant services and, for example, several timer solutions for sporting events. But the focus of the projects is very wide, the competing projects include, for example, manufacture of natural medicines, leech farming and construction of caravans.”

Juries composed of experts, successful entrepreneurs and investors, such as Margareta Křížová and Martin Korman, will search among the projects for only innovative ideas combined with feasible business plans. Winners of the regional rounds (three winners in each region, i.e. 42 projects in total) will receive a helping hand from experts in marketing, communication and finance as well as tangible and financial support. Regional winners will receive prizes worth more than CZK 100,000 (of which financial support in cash amounting to CZK 50,000). The national winner will receive CZK 200,000 in cash from T-Mobile this year to help him or her develop the project, a draft of a regional advertising campaign by a professional agency, financial and HR consultancy and other prizes totalling approximately CZK 700,000. 

The winner of online voting within T-Mobile Takeoffs 2015 was Pavlína Štěpánková with the Blackberry Pixie Kindergarten (Mateřská škola skřítka Ostružinky) in Svojkov near Nový Bor (Liberec region); the jury prize was awarded to Lukáš Drlík for his Lavender bio farm and café in Zábřeh. To date, a total of 1,700 beginning entrepreneurs have taken part in five editions of the competition and support has been provided to 280 winners.

T-Mobile Czech Republic, a member of the international telecommunications group Deutsche Telekom, has almost 6.2 million customers, the number-one operator in the Czech market. T-Mobile is an integrated operator: in addition to telecommunications services, it offers comprehensive ICT solutions not only for companies, but also for other organizations and individuals. It provides outstanding services in the high-speed network, which was proved repeatedly by benchmark testing performed by umlaut (former P3) with Best-in-Test seal.

T-Mobile Czech Republic places emphasis on taking a responsible approach to the environment and society. It adheres to fair business practices, helps beneficial applications and services to see the light of day, supports non-profit organizations, small businesses and individuals, and lends a helping hand whenever crisis situations arise. The company’s employees serve as volunteers in many places across the entire Czech Republic.

More information about the company is available at www.t-mobile.cz, www.t-press.cz (the portal for journalists) and www.t-mobile.cz/pomahame (information on the company’s CSR activities).

Contact details of the press unit: press@t-press.cz.