The first edition of the ESA BIC Liftoff Challenge, a business competition created by the ESA BIC Czech Republic space incubator operated by CzechInvest, has its winners. First place and the main financial prize of €2500 went to the YSpace team from Brno University of Technology. The jury was impressed by their innovative CubeSat antenna design and the team’s vision for its use in satellite missions developed not only by other student teams, but also by established companies in the space industry.
The competition connected the worlds of innovation, entrepreneurship, and space technologies. Its goal was to support university teams and young professionals eager to turn their ideas into real projects using space technologies or satellite data. Participants underwent a series of workshops, mentoring sessions, and consultations with experts, learning how to build a business plan and pitch capable of standing up to investors and real-world scrutiny.
After several months of preparation, five teams reached the finals with the strongest business plans: LOCTIE, PAL-A, SATALIS, Thrusteq, and YSpace. The finalists competed for the championship title on Tuesday, 21 October, at Werich Villa on Prague’s Kampa as part of the Space2Business conference.
A jury composed of representatives from the space and technology sectors evaluated the quality of business plans, project potential, and their contribution to the development of space technologies. Second place went to LOCTIE, and third place to SATALIS.
“We are truly excited that we managed to launch a competition that has real purpose. The ESA BIC Liftoff Challenge showed that young innovators in the Czech Republic have a wealth of space-related ideas with both vision and real market potential. YSpace represents the perfect combination of technical talent, courage, and entrepreneurial spirit. It is inspiring to see an idea evolve into a project that can grow into a company with impact not only in the Czech Republic, but across the European space ecosystem,” says Adéla Boráňová, Incubation Manager of ESA BIC Czech Republic.
The three winning teams shared financial support totalling €4000, along with valuable feedback for further developing their projects.
“Taking part in the ESA BIC Liftoff Challenge was an amazing experience. The competition helped us recognize the business potential of the technologies we are developing and gave us a clearer idea of how to transform them into an actual company. We also made valuable connections and received important mentoring support. The financial award will allow us to test the antenna and prepare it for verification on the student mission KOSTKA. The competition also taught us how crucial it is to understand all parts of a project, not only the technical solution, but also the marketing and business aspects. These elements depend on each other, so we communicated constantly within the team, looked for optimal solutions, and built on our diverse knowledge. We also benefited greatly from mentoring in presentation and pitching, without it, we would have struggled to present our project properly in the final round. Winning is a big motivation for us and a confirmation that even a student project can attract experts and have genuine potential for further development,” add Eliška Ivanovová and Ondřej Voleník from the YSpace team.
In addition to the financial prize, YSpace also had the opportunity to present their project to investors, representatives of the space industry, and the international startup ecosystem at ESA BIC Launchpad at the Prague Planetarium. The event took place as part of the Tech Happy Hours international conference during this year’s Czech Space Week, the largest Czech festival dedicated to space and innovation.
source: ESA BIC Czech Republic
