Press Centre
A TOTAL OF 312 PROJECTS TO BE LAUNCHED WITH TAKEOFFS
Valuable services and free products will be distributed among up to 58 winners
The national winner will receive an additional CZK 150,000
Regional seminars promoting business available to the general public free of charge
Winners of last year’s edition will share their experience
Prague, 7 April 2014 – In March, T-Mobile opened the fourth edition of Takeoffs of the Year, a competition for start-up businesses. A total of 312 projects have registered in Takeoffs this year. Among the most interesting projects are, for example, an insect-breeding farm, a live lump (seeds hidden in a chunk of earth), wooden edging and a special parlour for kids. Though the competing projects are mostly focused on e-business, they also include several production activities. Interestingly, many projects are community-focused – within their businesses, the originators of the projects are attempting to deal with an issue or problem causing concern to a certain group of people. A series of regional educative seminars, which are available free of charge for the participants as well as for the general public, will now follow, starting on 15 April in the South Bohemia region. At the seminars, experts from the business sector as well as participants in the previous editions of the competition will share their advice and experience.
“As in previous years, prominent partners have teamed with us in this year’s edition of Takeoffs to help us support start-up businesses and thus increase employment in the country’s regions. Something else that makes us happy is the community that has developed around Takeoffs – the participants help each other in the regions, creating interesting links between their businesses,” says Petra Pavičová, Social Responsibility Manager at T-Mobile, adding: “Although a smaller number of projects have registered this year, they decidedly do not leg behind the previous editions of Takeoffs in terms of their quality and originality. I have been especially pleased by the improved quality of applications.
Interesting facts
- In terms of the number of projects, the South Moravia region has surpassed Central Bohemia
- Women prevailed in the fourth edition, registering 174 projects, which is 36 more than men
- Students are less active this year, having registered 42% fewer projects than last year
- The largest number of projects were registered by university graduates aged between 25 and 35 years
Projects by regions
As in past editions of Takeoffs, the largest number of projects (86) were registered in Prague, followed by South Moravia with 35 registered projects, which thus surpassed Central Bohemia with 32 projects. Twenty-nine new projects were registered in the Moravia-Silesia region. The smallest number of projects originated in the Karlovy Vary region.
| Region | General category | Student category | Total number of projects |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prague | 81 | 5 | 86 |
| South Bohemia | 11 | 7 | 18 |
| South Moravia | 27 | 8 | 35 |
| Karlovarský kraj | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Vysočina | 7 | 1 | 8 |
| Hradec Králové | 12 | 2 | 14 |
| Liberec | 18 | 1 | 19 |
| Moravia-Silesia | 24 | 5 | 29 |
| Olomouc | 9 | 4 | 13 |
| Pardubice | 8 | 6 | 14 |
| Plzeň | 10 | 3 | 13 |
| Central Bohemia | 28 | 4 | 32 |
| Ústí nad Labem | 12 | 1 | 13 |
| Zlín | 8 | 4 | 12 |
| Total | 261 | 53 | 312 |
Free seminars in the regions
The production team and jurors will now head to all 14 regions of the Czech Republic to meet the participants. The first seminar will be held on 15 April in České Budějovice, the last one on 29 May in Ostrava. The complete schedule is available at www.rozjezdyroku.cz/seminare-2014. Within the seminars, the jury composed of representatives of T-Mobile, Česká spořitelna, universities, regional chambers of commerce, the media and participants in the previous editions of Takeoffs will evaluate the competing projects and will then pick the regional winners.
Participants in the seminars can also look forward to interesting lectures in fields related to business (marketing, PR, social networks, communication and finance). Winners of the previous editions of Takeoffs of the Year will share their inspirational stories. Participants will have an opportunity to learn a lot of specific and practical information such as “what to watch out for” and “what to avoid”. The seminars will also provide an excellent opportunity to make contacts directly in the given region.
Valuable prizes – telecommunications packages completely free of charge for one year, tablets and expert advice – will be awarded to the winners of the regional rounds. The main regional winners will also receive CZK 30,000 and will advance to the final round, where the role of the jury will be taken over by the public. The winner will be selected by means of public voting on the website at www.rozjezdyroku.cz in the period from 4 to 25 June 2014.
More information is available here.
About Takeoffs
A total of 408 projects were registered in Takeoffs of the Year 2013, the third edition of the competition intended for start-up businesses. Eighty-four regional winners in two categories received prizes in the total amount of CZK 9 million. Similarly as in previous editions, the most active contestants were in Prague and Central Bohemia, with a significant number of projects originating also in Moravia. Specialist advice provided by T-Mobile employees and partners of the competition in the fields of marketing, setting-up of companies and online marketing is of considerable assistance in starting a business. In the three years of the competition’s existence, T-Mobile and its partners have provided support to 170 winners, distributing among them prizes and services in the total value of more than CZK 21.5 million.
Detailed information about the project is available here.
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.