Do business

in the Ústí Region. Stories and inspiration, support programmes, grants, coworking spaces, and networking.

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# Ústí region

A crossroads of opportunity for your business

Discover a region where entrepreneurial ambitions come to life. Located just a short distance from Prague and Dresden, the Ústí Region offers unique conditions for business development thanks to its strategic location. Innovation and expansion are further supported by a wide range of development programmes and accessible funding opportunities.

Here you’ll find commercial spaces at a fraction of the cost, coworking centres that broaden your horizons, and brownfield sites with untapped potential. The striking natural landscape all around also makes it easier to find the perfect work–life balance.

Financing options

“VirginGrip made full use of the opportunities on offer in the Ústí Region. The idea for the climbing holds was born in the heart of the Tisá Rocks. They are made from an innovative material developed in cooperation with Bavaria. The Platinn mentoring programme then increased turnover by 600 percent and turned VirginGrip into a business known around the world.” >> Podcast #New Start

Tomáš Riese / VirginGrip

Useful links

ICUK Platinn

Take your company further with the B2B Platinn programme. Make use of 40 hours of free consultations with leading experts. Gain valuable outside perspective and discuss everything that matters to you – business development, marketing, finance, or internal processes.

Some 87% of participating companies find the programme so beneficial that they continue into its next phase.

More information

DigiLab

A shared digital workshop for companies, students, and the public. Create a working prototype, learn to use new technologies, and broaden your horizons. Access to the electronics lab, 3D, VR, and the polytechnic workshop is free.

Come check it out

Venues for conferences and teambuilding

Find the ideal venue for conferences and teambuilding in the Ústí Region. The Convention Bureau website offers a clear overview with detailed filtering options.

List of venues

Coworking centres

Would you like to work among inspiring people who are on the same wavelength? Discover the atmosphere and potential of coworking centres, where you can share not only a desk and a chair but also valuable skills. There are plenty of them across the Ústí Region.

List of coworking spaces

List of brownfields

The CzechInvest Agency manages the national database of brownfields – abandoned or underused industrial sites waiting for new life. Explore locations in the Ústí Region and discover their potential.

List of brownfields

AI Academy

An intensive course that will teach you how to use artificial intelligence effectively in business. You’ll learn how to generate text, images, and videos and create professional presentations.

Academy details

Funding opportunities

Currently open:

Grant: Support for Beginning Entrepreneurs 2026
  • Who it’s for: entrepreneurs – both legal entities and self-employed individuals (companies and sole traders) who want to start or expand their business
  • Location: Ústí nad Labem Region
  • Purpose: support for business activities, innovation, and regional transformation
  • Application period: 17 March – 20 April 2026

More information, including the full call and contact details, can be found here.

Interest-Free Expansion Loan OPTAK
  • Who it’s for: sole traders and small and medium-sized enterprises
  • Purpose: financing of investment expenditures
  • Project funding:CZK 1 million – CZK 100 million
  • NRB financing: up to 50% of project expenses
  • Loan maturity: up to 15 years
  • Application period: 2 February 2026 – 2. 30 June 2029 6. 2029

More information, including the full call and contact details, can be found here.

Currently closed:

These grants are not currently open for applications, but most of them are expected to reopen in the future.

Grant: Support for Beginning Entrepreneurs 2025
  • Who it’s for: Beginning entrepreneurs (sole traders established in 2024 / 2025) with registered residence and business address in the Ústí Region
  • Location: Exclusive for Ústí nad Labem region
  • Purpose:: The grant can be used to finance costs connected with the initial phase of a business – e.g. equipment, marketing, software, consulting, and other activities. A precise definition of eligible and ineligible costs is provided in Articles XIV and XV of the grant programme.
  • Project funding:CZK 50,000 – CZK 200,000
  • Applicant contribution: minimum 30% of total eligible costs
  • Project implementation period: 1 1. January 2025 – 31 December 2027 12. 2027
  • Application period: 21 April 2025 – 4. 22 May 2025 5. 2025
  • Funding source: Budget of the Ústí Region

More information, including the full call and contact details, can be found here.

Technological Incubation CzechInvest – Call 6
  • Who it’s for: Startup companies in the Czech Republic (up to five years old)
  • Location: Entire Czech Republic
  • Funding: Direct support of CZK 1,100,000–4,500,000 and indirect support worth CZK 500,000 in the form of workshops, seminars, assistance from incubation managers, consultations with business and technology experts, and up to two years of incubation.
  • Application deadline: 16 April 2025 2025

More information, including the full call and contact details, can be found here.

Entrepreneur Vouchers: Digital Voucher
  • Who it’s for: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME – defintion here)
  • Location: Exclusively for the Ústí, Karlovy Vary, and Moravian-Silesian Regions
  • Purpose: Preparation for the digital transformation of a company (acquisition of digital technologies and services)
  • Project funding:CZK 50,000 – CZK 500,000
  • Maximum reimbursement: 80% of eligible expenses
  • Call announced: January 2024
  • Funding source: Just Transition Operational Programme

 

Innovation Vouchers – Protection of Industrial Property Rights, Call III
  • Who it’s for: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME – defintion here); small mid-cap companies; research and knowledge dissemination organisations
  • Location: Entire Czech Republic (except NUTS 2 Prague)
  • Purpose: Protection of industrial property rights in the Czech Republic and abroad, including patent applications, registration of utility and industrial designs, and trademarks
  • Project funding:CZK 50,000 – CZK 500,000
  • Maximum reimbursement: SMEs 75%; research and knowledge organisations 75%
  • Call announced:: 5. 5 March 2024
  • Funding source: Operational Programme Technologies and Applications for Competitiveness (OPTAK; Ministry of Industry and Trade)

 

Film Vouchers
  • Purpose: Financial support for various types of audiovisual works, including online and television broadcasting, feature films, and documentaries
  • Who it’s for: Legal entities with a Czech company ID acting as producers or delegated producers of audiovisual works
  • Project funding: CZK 250,000 – CZK 3.5 million CZK 250,000 – CZK 3.5 million
  • Maximum reimbursement: 70–90% of eligible expenses
  • Funding source: Just Transition Fund

 

Interest-Free Loan for Social Enterprises: S-Podnik Plus (National Development Bank)
  • Who it’s for: Social enterprises employing or committing to employ more than 30% disadvantaged workers
  • Location: Entire Czech Republic
  • Purpose:
    • Investment loans – to start or develop a business
    • Operational loans – to finance everyday operating expenses
  • Loan amount:up to CZK 25 million
  • Maximum reimbursement (Northwest region): small enterprise 60%; medium enterprise 50%; small mid-cap company 40%
  • Provider: Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs via the National Development Bank

 

Transformation Loan (National Development Bank)
  • What it is: An interest-free loan supporting investment activities for businesses in coal regions
  • Who it’s for: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME – defintion here) operating in manufacturing, construction, retail, wholesale, transport, logistics, culture, entertainment, recreation, and other sectors
  • Location: Exclusively for the Ústí, Moravian-Silesian, and Karlovy Vary Regions
  • Purpose:
      • Exclusively activities that do not significantly harm the environment – for example acquisition of production lines, CNC centres, software, buildings, electric vehicles, machinery, and equipment
  • Loan amount:CZK 0.5 – 60 million in the Ústí Region
  • Maximum reimbursement: 90% of eligible project expenses
  • Financial terms: loan maturity 10 years; interest and fees 0%
  • Provider: Just Transition Fund via the National Development Bank

 

Craft Incubators
  • Purpose:
    • Expansion of facilities and modernisation of open craft workshops, including the purchase of equipment
    • Construction of new open craft incubators – workshops and facilities for traditional crafts, art and design, technology, and gastronomy
  • Who it’s for: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME – defintion here), churches and church organisations, voluntary associations of municipalities, foundations, non-profit organisations, municipalities, publicly owned companies, and organisations established by municipalities or regions
  • Location: Ústí Region
  • Required investment: minimum CZK 1 million; maximum CZK 50 million
  • Maximum reimbursement: up to 85% of eligible expenses
  • Call announced: November 2023
  • Funding source: Just Transition Fund

 

Creative Voucher
  • For whom: Small and medium-sized enterprises SMEs (definition here) that are at least 3 months old since their establishment
  • Location: Entire Czech Republic
  • Purpose:Supports cooperation between companies and creative professionals. It can be used for visual identity creation, marketing strategy, web design, prototyping, UX, video and photography, graphic design and branding, online marketing, copywriting, interior design, architecture, and more.
  • Project funding:CZK 50,000 – CZK 150,000
  • Maximum reimbursement: 80% of eligible expenses
  • Call announced: March 2025
  • Provider: Ministry of Culture

 

Proof of Concept - Challenge II
  • What it is: A programme supporting innovation in companies and helping transfer research and development results into practical commercial products, technologies, and services
  • For whom: Small and medium-sized enterprises SMEs (definition here), including startups that want to test and develop new technologies with the potential for commercial success. The call is also open to research organisations.
  • Location: The whole Czech Republic outside NUTS2 Prague
  • To what:
    • Preparation of a feasibility study: Financing activities related to the verification of the technical feasibility and commercial potential of a new product, technology or service. This includes technical studies, market analysis, and the first steps towards intellectual property protection.
    • Completion of research and development: The support is aimed at testing, performance validation and final adjustments to the product or technology prior to market launch.
  • What costs do you have to incur? Minimum 1 mil. CZK; the maximum depends on the type of activity
  • How much will you be reimbursed: Depends on the specific activity, type of cost and size of the business; range is 25% – 85%
  • Date of call announcement: April 2024
  • Of what: Operational Programme Technologies and Applications for Competitiveness (OP TAK; MIT)

 

Subsidies: support for start-ups 2024
  • For whom: Start-up entrepreneurs (FO with establishment in 2023 / 2024) based and residing in the Ústí nad Labem region
  • Location: Exclusive for Ústí nad Labem region
  • To whatA: The subsidy can cover both investment and non-investment eligible costs of the project and can be used e.g. for the acquisition of machinery, equipment and technology, equipment, tools, instruments, but also for the creation of websites, catalogues, promotional materials or for the payment of overhead and administrative costs up to a maximum of 20% of the total eligible costs. Conversely, the subsidy cannot be used for e.g. wages, leasing, purchase of land, buildings or means of transport
  • Amount of subsidy per project: 50 ths. – 200 ths. CZK
  • The most they will reimburse you is: 70 % of eligible expenses
  • Of what: Budget of the Ústí nad Labem Region

 

Vouchers for entrepreneurs: for business development
  • For whom: Small and medium-sized enterprises SMEs (definition here), natural person not in business
  • Location: Exclusively for Ústí nad Labem, Karlovy Vary and Moravia-Silesia regions
  • To what: Starting a business, new production or service, expanding production or service, streamlining a business
  • Amount of subsidy per project: 50 thousand – 500 thousand. CZK
  • The most they will reimburse you is: 80 % of eligible expenses
  • Date of last call for proposals: January 2024
  • Of what: Just Transition Operational Programme

 

Vouchers for entrepreneurs: innovation voucher
  • For whom: Small and medium-sized enterprises SMEs (definition here)
  • Location: Exclusively for Ústí nad Labem, Karlovy Vary and Moravia-Silesia regions
  • To what: Developing and creating new products and services, testing them, creating innovation jobs
  • Amount of subsidy per project: 50 thousand – 1 million. CZK
  • The most they will reimburse you is: 80 % of eligible expenses
  • Date of last call for proposals: January 2024
  • Of what: Just Transition Operational Programme

 

Innovation - Challenge II
  • For whom: Small and medium-sized enterprises SMEs (definition here); small and mid-caps
  • Location: The whole Czech Republic, preferential conditions for the North-West region
  • To whatA: Support for product and process innovations resulting from “Science and Research” activities – i.e. cooperation with the academic and research sector. The grant can be used e.g. for technology, software and data, product certification, rights to use intellectual property.
  • Amount of subsidy per project: 3 million – 100 million. CZK 100,000
  • You will be reimbursed up to a maximum (specifically for the North West region)Small business: 60%; medium-sized business: 50%; small mid-market company: 40%
  • Date of call announcement: April 2024
  • Of what: Operational Programme Technologies and Applications for Competitiveness (OP TAK; MIT)

 

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