Startups reached an important milestone in mid-January 2025 with the formation of the new Parliamentary Subcommittee on Startups, Science, Research and Innovation, the first session of which was attended by not only the members of the subcommittee, but also representatives of the startup ecosystem and the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Science, Research and Innovation.

All key players took part in discussions during the session and Ivo Denemark, head of the Startup and Venture Investment Division at CzechInvest, and Martin Jiránek of the Czech Startup Association presented data, facts and perspectives on the current startup ecosystem. According to estimates, there are currently over 3,000 startups and more than 100 venture-capital and private-equity funds in Czechia. Approximately 100 investments are carried out annually and startups account for an estimated 5% of the country's overall GDP.

Czechia has room for improvement and must adopt changes as soon as possible. The issues faced by the country's startup environment cut across several laws and fall under the purview of multiple ministries, whether that involves startup visas, taxation, attracting talent or the establishment of companies.

“Startups don't primarily ask the state for support, but rather for competitive conditions that correspond to the situation in other European countries. Until recently, they didn't engage in lobbying, but responded by taking their business elsewhere, such as when Czech founders often establish companies abroad, where they have a more favourable environment for doing business. This state of affairs was presented to MPs together with the necessity of creating a more hospitable startup environment,” Ivo Denemark, head of CzechInvest's Startup and Venture Investment Division.

CzechInvest has been supporting startups since 2011 and is a member of the  Europe Startup Nations Alliance, which primarily monitors the state of the ecosystem and fulfilment of the eight standards contained in the Startups Nations Standard declaration signed by the member countries. These standards include, for example, rapid and affordable establishment of companies, digitalisation and communication in English, employee stock options, regulations and sandboxes in innovative sectors, and attraction and retention of talent.

In Czechia, the Czech Startup Association was established last year with the purpose of representing startups, venture-capital funds, angel investors, innovation centres and incubators in talks with the government and Parliament. The association is working on a comprehensive set of legislative and systemic measures with the aim of contributing to the improvement of conditions for startups and their development, support for investments in startups and improved functioning of the system at the government level.