CEMS VSE Student Lukas Pivarník Wins Startup VSE Contest with his Project HIIT Soccer

We are more than proud to share with you that our student Lukas Pivarník won with his project HIIT Soccer in the Startup VSE competition organized by the Department of Entrepreneurship of FPH together with the business accelerator xPORT VŠE and the VSE Event Center.

The HIIT Soccer application (a Youth soccer development platform) targets the US market. What it does is it helps coaches and players to practise off the pitch and make team sessions more efficient. The app offers a rich volume of training video content, with players completing their workouts as assigned by their coach. The coach then evaluates the analytical information provided by HIIT Soccer.

Six teams from across the VSE were selected from applications to compete in the final round of the competition. Student teams competed for a 50,000 CZK scholarship to support innovative entrepreneurship, technology support from Lenovo ThinkPad and idea validation funds from START IT CSOB. Free legal advice is provided to the finalists by Strnad Legal.

The jury included representatives from academia and the investment community. The section of investors was represented by Martin Kešner from the venture fund J&T Ventures. Investor questions were put by Matěj Zabadal from V-Sharp Ventures, and Ondřej Homola from the fund Nation1 co-decided the winning team. The Academia was represented by Prof. Martin Lukeš, Head of the Department of Entrepreneurship and Vice-Rector for Science and Research at VSE.

The teams delivered an online presentation in a “startup pitch” format, followed by a discussion with the jury. The panel was interested in the spectrum of the problem the startup solves, the team’s ability to deliver the product to the market and the potential for dynamic growth.

“By supporting this great meeting and providing equipment for the winning team, we are enhancing our ambition to connect innovative projects with our long-term strategy. Lenovo ThinkPad has been bringing innovation in the field of IT solutions for businesses for 30 years, so startups are very close to our hearts and we want to contribute to their further development,” says Patrik Macúch from Lenovo Czech Republic marketing.

“Our programme Start it @UNI focuses on student innovative projects whose chances of success on the market we want to help support. We are delighted to be working with universities on this mission, and events like STARTUP VŠE are a great challenge for students to not only work hard and prove themselves but also an opportunity to get valuable feedbacks that can push their project further,” adds Tran Hung Duc from Start it @ČSOB.

Second place went to the Nagano team founded by Antonín Valášek and David Šimek. Team Nagano is working on an app that helps hockey clubs better connect with fans, collect marketing data and effectively support ticket sales and merchandising. Team Nagano is using the support and facilities of the xPORT VSE accelerator.

Third place went to another CEMS student, Brooke Billingsley, with her project The Village. In America, they say you need a village to raise a child. The Village app brings together the support available to expectant moms and dads and helps build local parenting communities.

A huge round of applause to the winners is in order! Congratulations!