Winners of seventh T-Mobile Takeoffs announced

The jury prize was awarded to Dagmar Dušková and her family cheese factory Dančiny Dobroty

Petr Šmíd scored highly with the public with his production of wooden cutting boards under the brand HoblHome

The winners of the seventh edition of T-Mobile Takeoffs, a competition intended for beginning entrepreneurs, have been announced. Dagmar Dušková of Červená Lhota most impressed the jury with her project “Dančiny dobroty” (“Danka’s Yummies”), while Petr Šmíd of Šaratice scored highest with the public with his production of cutting boards under the HoblHome brand. The public sent a record number of 14,749 votes, of which the winner received 2,098.

The jury prize totalling CZK 481,623 was awarded to Dagmar Dušková, mother of three and former electrical engineer from the Vysočina region with her project called Dančiny Dobroty. Her family cheese factory offers a number of dairy products, the most popular being “korbáček”, semi-hard string cheese, quark deserts and ripened cheese. These healthy and high-quality home-made products are made by traditional means without chemical substances, preservatives and colouring agents. “The jury appreciated the conscientiousness and enthusiasm with which Mrs Dušková approaches her business and her constant work to further develop it,” says Eva Karasová, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager at T-Mobile, adding: “Such an approach is the best prerequisite for the viability of doing business.”

Like every year, the public could decide on the winner of T-Mobile Takeoffs through online voting in which the top three winners from each region competed. The key decisive factor for success in the survey is the ability of the finalists to fight for votes using a well-thought campaign, as well as their activity on social networks. This year, the finalists divided a total of 14,749 votes between themselves, of which the winner received 2,098.

The winner of the prize of the public worth CZK 254,623 in total was Petr Šmíd of Šaratice in South Moravia with his project involving production of original cutting boards under the brand HoblHome. The cutting boards can be a nice present for chefs and food bloggers, as well as parents and friends. Each board is an original, handmade with love and finished with natural oil.

The jury prize worth CZK 481,623 includes a cash prize of CZK 200,000 from T-Mobile, design and implementation of an advertising campaign from the agency Made by Vaculík and Agentura Najisto, a Maxi business account with Česká spořitelna free of charge for ten years, a tablet from Samsung, and consultations from investor Martin Korman.

The prize of the public worth CZK 254,623 includes a cash prize of CZK 150,000 and a Maxi business account with Česká spořitelna free of charge for ten years, services from T-Mobile and Agentura Najisto and a tablet from Samsung.

A record number of 443 projects competed in this year’s seventh edition of T-Mobile Takeoffs; 550 persons interested in starting a business took part in nine free regional workshops.

One-fourth of registered projects originated in Prague and more than half of the registered participants (233 in total) are in the 25-34 age category. However, the younger generation is also asserting itself, as 77 projects were submitted by applicants aged 18-24. The largest number of projects by far were focused on gastronomy – production and sale of foodstuffs, cafés and restaurants. Men and women were represented among the participants roughly equally.

“It is great that after seven years of Takeoffs’ existence, the number of people who have the courage to start their own business is not declining, but is rather increasing. Our jurors stress that the quality of competing projects keeps improving,” says Eva Karasová, adding: “Although this year’s edition of Takeoffs is over, the next edition kicks off in just a few months, in January 2018. So get ready!”

About T-Mobile Takeoffs

T-Mobile Takeoffs is a programme aimed at supporting start-up businesses. It offers free regional workshops on issues relating to starting a business; another part of the programme involves a competition in which the best business ideas are selected. During the period from January to March, those who have not yet started a business or who received a business licence in the past 12 months can register in the competition at www.rozjezdy.cz. In each region, three programme participants can win financial support, advisory services from experts in different areas of business, packages of telecommunications and banking services and tangible prizes to help them launch their businesses. The overall winner, i.e. the winner of the jury prize, will receive prizes worth approximately CZK 500,000. In addition to that, online voting is held to determine the winner of the prize of the public. Free regional workshops take place in April and May every year.

The seventh edition of T-Mobile Takeoffs was held this year. The main partner of the programme was Česká spořitelna and the other partners were Agentura Najisto and Samsung. The expert partners were Lovebrand, MADE BY VACULIK and Proboston, and the regional partners were BEA Campus Olomouc, Dům Techniky Pardubice (House of Technology Pardubice), the Faculty of Social and Economic Studies of Jan Evangelista Purkyně University, Innovation Centre of the Ústí nad Labem Region, South Bohemian Science and Technology Park, Cooltour Cultural Centre, Moravian University College Olomouc, Regional Chamber of Commerce of the Plzeň Region and the VIDA! Science Centre.

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.