Do business

in the Ústí nad Labem region. Stories and inspiration, support programs, grants, coworking spaces and networking.

# Ústí region

Crossroads of opportunities for you business

Discover a region where entrepreneurial dreams come to life. The Ústí nad Labem region, a stones throw from Prague and Dresden, offers unique conditions for developing your business thanks to its strategic location. Rich development programmes and more affordable subsidies will support you in innovation and expansion.

You will find commercial space at a fraction of the price, coworking centres that will expand your horizons, and brownfields with inexhaustible potential. Plus, the wildly beautiful countryside all around is ideal for finding the perfect work-life balance.

“VirginGrip has managed to make perfect use of all the opportunities that the Ústí nad Labem region offers. The idea for the climbing holds originated in the heart of the Tisza Rocks. They are made of an innovative material that was developed in cooperation with Bavaria. The Platinn mentoring programme then increased turnover by 600% and turned VirginGrip into a business that the whole world knows.” > Podcast #NewStart

Tomas Riese / VirginGrip

Useful links

ICUK Platinn

Move your business forward with Platinn’s B2B program! Take advantage of 40 hours of free consultations with leading experts. Gain valuable insight from the outside and discuss everything that interests you in the areas of business development, marketing, finance or internal processes.

87% of companies find the programme so beneficial that they continue to the next phase.

DigiLab

Shared digital workshop for companies, students and the public. Create a working prototype, learn with new technologies and expand your horizons. The electronics lab, 3D, VR and polytechnic workshops are free!

Brownfields

Czechinvest, the Agency for Enterprise and Investment Promotion, manages a national database of brownfields – abandoned or unused industrial sites waiting for new use. Explore the sites in the Ústí nad Labem region and discover their potential!

Coworking centres

Want to work surrounded by inspiring people who are on the same wavelength as you? Discover the atmosphere and potential of coworking centres! You can share not only a chair and a desk, but also valuable skills. You will find plenty of them in the Ústí nad Labem region!

Venues for conferences and teambuilding

Find the ideal place for conferences or teambuilding in the Ústí nad Labem region. The Convention Bureau website provides a clear list with detailed filtering.

AI Academy

An intensive course that teaches you how to use AI effectively in business. You will learn how to generate text, images and videos and create professional presentations.

Financing options

Currently open:

Vouchers for entrepreneurs: digital 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: Preparing for the digital transformation of the business (acquisition of digital technologies and services)
  • Amount of subsidy per project: 50 thousand – 500 thousand. CZK
  • The most they will reimburse you is: 80 % of eligible expenses
  • Date of call announcement: January 2024
  • Of what: Just Transition Operational Programme

 

Innovation vouchers - protection of industrial property rights, Call III
  • For whom: Small and medium-sized enterprises SMEs (definition here); small mid-cap companies, research and knowledge dissemination organisations
  • Location: Whole Czech Republic (outside NUTS 2 Prague)
  • To what: Providing industrial property protection in the Czech Republic and abroad, including publication of applications for inventions, registration of utility and industrial designs, trademarks
  • Amount of subsidy per project: 50 thousand – 500 thousand. CZK
  • The most they’ll reimburse you is: SME 75 %; Research and knowledge dissemination organisation 75 %
  • Date of call announcement: 5. března 2024
  • Of what: Operational Programme Technologies and Applications for Competitiveness (OP TAK; MIT)

 

Interest-free loan for social enterprises: the S-Podnik plus from the National Development Bank
  • For whom: Social enterprises that employ or commit to employ more than 30% of people disadvantaged in the labour market
  • Location: Whole Czech Republic
  • To what:
    • Investment loans: To start or grow a business.
    • Operating loans: To finance current operating expenditure.
  • Amount of credit: up to 25 mil. CZK
  • 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%
  • From whom: MoLSA through the National Development Bank

 

Transformation loan from the National Development Bank
  • What it is: An interest-free loan for entrepreneurs in coal regions that supports investment activities
  • For whom: Small and medium-sized enterprises operating in manufacturing and construction, retail, wholesale, transport, warehousing; cultural, entertainment and recreational activities, etc.
  • Location: Exclusively Ústí nad Labem, Moravian-Silesian and Karlovy Vary Region
  • To what:
      • Exclusively for activities that do not significantly damage the environment – e.g. purchase of production lines, CNC centres, purchase of software, purchase of buildings, purchase of electric trucks and vehicles, machinery and equipment, etc.
  • Amount of credit0.5 to 60 million. CZK in the Ústí nad Labem region
  • The most they’ll reimburse you is: 90 % of the eligible project costs
  • Financial terms: maturity 10 years; interest and fees 0% and 0 CZK
  • From whom: OPST (Equitable Transformation Fund) through the National Development Bank

 

Craft incubators
  • What the financial support can be used for:
    • Extension of the open craft workshop and modernisation of the premises, including the acquisition of new equipment
    • Building a new open craft incubator – space and workshop facilities for traditional crafts, art and design, technology and gastronomy
  • For whom: Small and medium-sized enterprises SMEs (definition here), churchesand religious organisations, voluntary associations of municipalities, foundations and public benefit corporations, municipalities, commercial companies wholly owned by a public body, organisations established or founded by municipalities, regions, urban districts
  • Location: Ústí nad Labem Region
  • What costs do you have to incur? Minimum 1 mil. CZK; maximum CZK 50 million CZK 50,000
  • How much will you be reimbursed: Maximum 85% of the total eligible expenditure
  • Date of call announcement: November 2023
  • Of what: Just Transformation Fund

 

Film vouchers
  • What the funding can be used for: various types of audiovisual works, whether online and on TV, feature films or documentaries
  • For whom: Legal entity with a valid registration number, which is a producer or delegated producer of AVDs
  • Amount of subsidy: 250 thousand – 3.5 million. CZK per project
  • How much will you be reimbursed: 70-90% of eligible expenses
  • Of what: Just Transformation Fund

 

Currently closed:

Although you cannot currently apply for these grants, we expect most of them to reopen.

Proof of Concept - Challenge II
  • What’s that? It is a programme that promotes innovation in companies and helps them to transfer the results of research and development into practice through 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)

 

Creative voucher
  • For whom: Small and medium-sized enterprises SMEs (definition here) that are at least 3 months old since their establishment
  • Location: Whole Czech Republic
  • To what: The voucher supports the collaboration of companies and “creatives”. It can be used e.g. for visual identity creation, marketing strategy, web design, prototyping, UX, video and photo, graphic design and branding, online marketing, copywriting, interior design, architecture, etc.
  • Amount of subsidy per project: 50 ths. – 150 ths. CZK
  • The most they will reimburse you is: 85 % of eligible expenditure
  • Date of last call for proposals: February 2024
  • From whom: Ministry of Culture

 

Want to be the first to know when the vouchers for entrepreneurs open again? Fill out a short questionnaire and we’ll let you know!