Brno was once famous for its textile industry. But its subsequent decline in the late 20th century meant that the second largest city in the Czech Republic had to reinvent itself.
Twenty years ago, a new business hub was built in Brno. The JIC (the South Moravian Innovation Center) is one of the first technological incubators in the eastern part of the European Union.
Today, its success has made it a magnet for entrepreneurs and companies with an international perspective.
In the history of JIC, a hundred companies that go through our services … have a turnover of about € 700 million,” said Michal Veselý, Chief Marketing Officer of JIC.
IDEA StatiCa started at JIC 12 years ago. Experts in concrete and steel connections, they are now one of the world leaders in their sector, with more than 6500 customers.
“The JIC helps you move forward,” Juraj Sabatka, CEO of IDEA StatiCa told Euronews. “What is more valuable and comes later when you work at JIC is the advice [aspect]. I mean, talking to the community and [using the] The special services provided by JIC, means they can review your business plan, they will check your go-to-market model, they will review your operations development and help you do it .
The JIC has contributed to the creation of more than 3500 skilled jobs since 2003. Its total budget exceeds € 12.5 million, of which 72% is financed by the European Cohesion Policy.
One of the group’s mottos is ‘entrepreneurship for a better world’. JIC supports start-ups like Tierra Verde, which specializes in environmentally friendly cleaning products. They started selling organic soap. They have now sold 250 products.
The CEO of Tierra Verde, Jan Čillík told Euronews that “at the moment, JIC is helping Tierra Verde with two projects. One is focused on automatization, and the second is focused on sustainability. [the] European market for Tierra Verde.”
In a bid to encourage and increase entrepreneurial awareness, JIC now provides training sessions for future business leaders. Workshops and events are held in cooperation with Czech universities and hope to encourage young people in the region to come up with ideas that will make a positive difference in the coming years and decades.
“What kind of values can we bring to the students? I think it’s courage,” said Veronika Rejšková, a team leader of the JIC Student Development team. “It’s also a freedom like their own choice, what they do, and also creativity, that they can really bring something very new. , which had never heard of before”.
As a token of recognition of their success so far, JIC has been nominated for the 2022 REGIOSTARS Award – which celebrates the best EU-funded projects in Europe under the cohesion policy.
