• Startup Debate of the Year: For the first time ever, politicians from across the spectrum presented concrete changes for a better startup environment in Czechia to startups and investors.
• Representatives from six political parties discussed concrete steps to develop the business environment, promote innovation and strengthen the capital market.
• The politicians confirmed that support for startups should be one of the priorities of the future government, while at the same time a number of measures must be taken to strengthen the startup sector.
• Topics included the upcoming startup law, changes to the conditions for pension fund investments, incentives for investors and the EU 28th regime.
• According to a Lakmoos AI poll prepared for Thursday’s debate, 77% of voters want startups, innovation and technology companies to be a priority for the government.
• The pre-election debate was organised by the Czech Startup Association, Czech Founders, CzechInvest and Startup Kitchen.

Prague, 25 July 2025 – More than 120 representatives of the startup ecosystem gathered at Prague’s business hub Opero on Thursday 24 July to discuss with representatives of six political parties how to transform the economy and make Czechia a startup superpower – and more than a thousand people watched the live stream. The event, which for the first time ever inCzechia brought a direct dialogue between politicians and startup representatives, was initiated by four key ecosystem organisations: the Czech Startup Association, the official voice of startups in dialogue with the Czech government and Parliament; Czech Founders, a non-profit organisation bringing together more than 1,000 Czech startup founders; Startup Kitchen, a Central European media and event platform; and CzechInvest, the state agency for entrepreneurship support.

The debate was attended by representatives of six political parties: deputy chairman of ANO Karel Havlíček, Transport Minister Martin Kupka (ODS), Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Štěpán Hofman (STAN), Government Commissioner for Artificial Intelligence Jan Kavalírek (TOP 09), leader of the Pirates in the South Moravian Region Michal Švagerka and leader of the People’s Party in Vysočina Benjamin Činčil. The invitation was extended to all political parties that had over 4.5 % in the polls at the time of the address.

The main topics of discussion were the creation of the Startup Act, insufficient staff capacity to implement economic strategies, incentives for investors, strengthening venture capital through pension funds and the 28th regime, which could help Czech companies to do business more easily across the EU.

The discussion also included questions on access to subsidy programmes and the possibility for start-ups to bid for public contracts. Other topics raised by politicians included strengthening the network of regional innovation centres, with the South Moravian Innovation Centre serving as a model, employing foreign workers or changing the rules on employment relationships to allow startups to recruit skilled labour more flexibly. Representatives of the political parties appreciated the joint approach in the latest revision of the rules for employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs).

According to a voter survey prepared by startup Lakmoos AI specifically for this debate, 80% of respondents believe that startups, innovation and technology companies can contribute to a better future for the country – to greater competitiveness, job creation and economic modernization. Three quarters of people (77%) would like this area to be a priority at government level. According to Lakmoos, two-thirds of voters associate one of the political parties – most often the ANO movement (29%) and STAN (13%) – with supporting startups, innovation and technology companies.

The analytical platform ROLU, which tracks the dynamics of the startup market, summarised that investments of CZK 14.6 billion went into Czech startups last year. Compared to 2023, this was an increase of more than 200%. In contrast, the number of new investments has fallen – 82 last year, which is 17% less than in 2023. AI investments are a significant trend. In 2024, one in three dollars in investments in U.S. startups went to AI firms, according to ROLU. In Czechia, it was one in five invested in the same period.

“The numbers from successful startup states speak clearly, fostering this environment pays off for everyone. It is a clear plus for the economy, society and the business environment. The Czech Republic has huge potential in this area, which makes sense to use. However, we need a number of systemic and legislative changes to achieve this. That is why it is important that politicians in the pre-election debate have clearly signed up to these changes and confirmed that support for start-ups will be one of the priorities of the next government. This is a key message, because there is still a lot of work to be done,” says Martin Jiránek, Chairman of the Czech Startup Association.

“Europe needs a true 28th regime – a single, digital legal framework that allows startups to grow across the EU without unnecessary red tape. But MEP René Repasi’s proposal has failed. Instead of real simplification, it perpetuates fragmentation, neglects the voice of the founders and focuses on the problems of the past, not the future. That is why we are glad that we can talk about these issues with Czech politicians in time – while the shape of the European legislation is still under negotiation,” emphasises Barbora Werdmölder, Director of Czech Founders.

“Startups are not just a fad, they are the key to the future of our economy. If we want innovative companies with global potential to emerge and stay in the Czech Republic, we need their systemic support. No ad hoc subsidies, but a clear legislative framework, available capital and a strategic approach by the state, just as we are trying to work with startups in the Technology Incubation project. This debate has shown that the interest is there. Now we need to translate it into concrete steps as efficiently as possible,” says Tereza Kubicová, Deputy for Technology Development at CzechInvest.

“Startups today face clear barriers, from labour law to taxes to access to capital. It is fine to say that we will support them, but we mainly need to set concrete steps to improve the environment in which they operate. This debate showed that we were able to meet politicians on this – and that’s a promising start,” concludes Tomas Cironis, Director of Startup Kitchen.

Selected quotes from the pre-election debate:

Karel Havlíček, Deputy Chairman of ANO: “We should focus on establishing startups. Let’s motivate people to invest in them and motivate young people, and not only young people, to work in them. How to start the former? We need to look at where they are doing it better. Not just the much-mentioned Spain, the Netherlands and the UK do it well too. Let’s make a proper law here that gives the company a relatively free regime in terms of bureaucracy and levies for the first up to and maybe three years to get it going.”

Martin Kupka, Minister of Transport for ODS: “What can we do to ensure that more start-ups are born in the Czech Republic and that we can compare ourselves with the best countries? Get the capital market moving to invest in what is happening. We are starting the next parliamentary term not only with ESOPs, but also with newly set deductions for science, research and innovation. This is one of the important things because it will mean more support for this area as well.”

Štěpán Hofman, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade for STAN: “For the startup environment, we have started preparing a startup law at the MIT. First of all, we need to define what a startup is, because we do not have it defined in the Czech legal system. We need to focus on reducing administrative barriers and bureaucracy, which is too overwhelming even for most normal companies. At the same time, we need to focus on human capital and financial capital in general, because getting venture investment into a startup is not an easy thing in the Czech environment.”

Jan Kavalírek, Government Commissioner for Artificial Intelligence for TOP 09: “I sincerely believe that we can make the Czech Republic a technologically advanced country not only in the CEE region, but also in the entire European Union, and in my case with an emphasis on artificial intelligence. In the Czech Republic, we have many good prerequisites on which we can build.”

Michal Švagerka, leader of the Pirates in the South Moravian Region. Instead of an assembly plant, the Czech Republic clearly needs to go the way of the brain factory. We must build a modern economy with high added value, otherwise we will remain a sub-supplier dwarf, as we are today.”

Benjamin Činčil, leader of the People’s Party in Vysočina: “ ESOPs are just the first swallow. I think that now we have to follow it up with other steps, such as the startup law. The important thing we need to discuss is how employees, and hence tradesmen, will work within the framework of startups. Last but not least is pension funds, because there is a lot of money in them that needs to start investing in a riskier environment.”

A recording of the livestream can be found here.

source: Czech Startup Association, Czech Founders, CzechInvest, Startup Kitchen