Six new start-ups and spin-offs from BUT – university innovations are being put into practice

Another six projects focused on innovative technologies received trademark protection on 10 December for official business entities of Brno University of Technology. Three take the form of BUT Start-ups and will operate in the areas of data processing, digitalisation of the water supply and district heating sectors, or the development of tools for effective education in electrical engineering. Three BUT Spin-offs will focus on the commercialisation of intellectual property originating from university research, namely in the areas of software development for railway design, 3D printing of metal materials, and the development of dampers for bicycles and motorcycles.

For BUT, knowledge transfer originating not only from research but also from teaching that inspires entrepreneurship is a strategic priority. In the last two years alone, this approach has led to the establishment of twelve entities designated as BUT Start-ups or BUT Spin-offs (seven of them in 2025).

“I consider the search for innovative solutions and the development of unique ideas to be the very essence of technically oriented universities such as BUT. The implementation of these ideas and their application in practice through start-ups and spin-offs is a goal we seek to support at BUT by appropriately setting up processes and providing entrepreneurship support. We have managed to significantly simplify and liberalise business approval processes that are part of knowledge transfer at the university. We have developed the ContriBUTe system, within which we provide education and mentoring for entrepreneurial initiatives of students and employees. Students and researchers with a business idea can rely on legal or marketing advice, and we also assist, within our possibilities, with finding premises and supporting incubation in the initial phase of business development, for example in cooperation with the JIC innovation agency or the Technology Park . Recently, in cooperation with JIC, we have also supported the establishment of a financial fund to ensure initial financing,” said BUT Rector Ladislav Janíček at the signing of the new agreements.

“Within the ContriBUTe system, we have opened the course Business Idea Development and Realization for students, which we have made available to students of our university as well as other Brno universities. A key role in creating conditions for entrepreneurship is played especially by faculties, as holders and sources of transferred results. I would like to thank them for their efforts, as it is they who manage the intellectual property that is created on their premises and constitutes the wealth of the university,” added the BUT Rector.

Sportera Team – digitalising sports activities in the Czech Republic

The idea for an application for enthusiastic athletes was conceived by students of the bachelor’s programme Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development at the Faculty of Business and Management, BUT. The project arose from their desire to stay active even after moving to Brno to study. “We were new here and didn’t know where to play basketball or football or where to find teammates,” explained the initial motivation Dan Doupovec, one of the three founders of the start-up. These practical reasons eventually led the students to develop the Sportera application, which connects people with a sporting hobby and, via an interactive map, directs them to suitable sports facilities nearby.

“Through digitalisation, we want to contribute not only to the development of sports in the Czech Republic, but also to help cities and municipalities optimise the development and use of sports facilities,” added another member of the start-up, Adam Sypták. The project, which has already attracted several thousand users, is developing dynamically, among other things in cooperation with Decathlon, and is heading towards expansion across the Czech Republic and abroad. It is also collecting successes in student entrepreneurship competitions.

ELEDU didactic – educational tools for enjoying electrical engineering

The goal of the project led by a development team from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication, BUT (FEEC BUT) is to contribute to higher-quality teaching of electrical engineering subjects at secondary schools and universities. This is to be achieved through Elabrix tools for practical electrical engineering education. “We designed modern educational kits to help pupils and students discover electrical engineering with their own hands, not just observe it passively. We wanted them to feel curiosity, joy and understanding with every connection – exactly the feeling that once drew us to technology,” said Matěj Kadlíček, CEO of the new BUT Start-up. The development of the commercial product was also supported by testing within laboratory teaching at FEEC BUT. In addition to modernising education in the Czech Republic and elsewhere in Europe, the start-up aims to support the international STEM initiative to attract children and young people to technical fields.

LR SmartWater – modernising Czech water and district heating through digitalisation

The cooperation of Jaroslav Raclavský and Jakub Lžičař from the Faculty of Civil Engineering, BUT (FCE BUT) began with projects focusing on the digitalisation of water supply and sewer networks within the faculty research centre AdMaS. Later, in response to interest from companies operating district heating systems, they expanded their portfolio to include digital twins (models of real networks – editor’s note) of heating pipelines and hot-water mains. “It turns out that district heating and water utilities in the Czech Republic are largely unexplored in terms of digitalisation. We would like to contribute to their modernisation and are convinced that digital twins are the right solution to help our clients optimise operations and plan investments,” explained Jaroslav Raclavský from LR SmartWater. The start-up is currently launching a partnership with the German Fraunhofer Institute. This mutually beneficial cooperation is expected to provide both parties with insights that will help develop their products.

Supporting student entrepreneurship at BUT The successful start-up and spin-off track record at BUT is also linked to support for student entrepreneurship. An example is the five editions of the BUT Student Entrepreneurship Award, organised by the university in cooperation with the JIC innovation agency. Around one hundred students have taken part so far, gaining valuable experience in developing and implementing business ideas. Two ideas led to the establishment of BUT Start-ups (Wattee and MaNoSens). Entrepreneurial ideas are also supported by a similarly designed competition Booster Challenge@FIT. Numerous opportunities for support and financing of promising ideas are also offered by the JIC innovation agency, including competitions such as Prototype and Validate or the ESA BIC Liftoff Challenge, connecting the worlds of innovation, business and space technologies, which was won this year by the BUT student team YSpace. Support for entrepreneurship at BUT is also provided by the Czech Semiconductor Centre (CSC), which contributed to mentoring during the establishment of the ELEDU Didactic start-up and, in cooperation with JIC, runs entrepreneurship courses “Applied! From Research to Business!”.

RailCAD – an intuitive software extension for railway designers

The RailCAD project, led by Erik Dušek and a team of collaborators from FCE BUT, focuses on the development of specialised software functioning as an extension for the well-known AutoCAD platform. The tool is intended for designers of railway and road structures and is based on a solution developed at the faculty since the 1990s, originally for teaching students and lecturers. As graduates gradually entered professional practice, demand arose for a professional and commercially usable solution, whose development was significantly supported by Otto Plášek, Head of the Institute of Railway Structures and Buildings at FCE BUT. In recent years, development has been taken over by Erik Dušek and his team. “We are establishing a spin-off company with the aim of building on the product’s strengths – intuitiveness and adaptation to railway conditions in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. At the same time, we want to move the originally ‘garage’ project towards a fully fledged 21st-century tool with ambitions to transition to BIM (Building Information Modeling) and 3D design,” added Erik Dušek.

BeamShape – electron microscope technology that prints metal

The new BUT spin-off, founded by graduates Petr Mareš (Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, BUT – FME BUT) and Hynek Štětina (FEEC BUT), is developing a unique metal 3D printing technology using an electron beam instead of a conventional laser. Their printing platform under the BeamShape brand is technologically similar to an electron microscope but offers enormous power. Thanks to its proprietary electron optics, it has the potential to achieve unique printing parameters while retaining the main advantages of the EBM (Electron Beam Melting) method, such as high production speed, stress-free printing and exceptional material freedom.

“The technology enables efficient processing of materials that are difficult to print with lasers – for example copper, high-temperature steels, tungsten or molybdenum. The resulting parts often also exhibit better mechanical properties than laser prints or traditional castings,” explains Petr Mareš. Thanks to its properties, the technology is ideal for academic workplaces focused on research into new metal alloys, but it finds critical application primarily in aerospace, defence and energy. The development of BeamShape was significantly supported by a Technology Agency of the Czech Republic project, which enabled the team to fully focus on development in close cooperation with the Institute of Physical Engineering at FME BUT.

Grixi – breakthrough damping system for safer cycling and motorcycling

The project, led by Zbyněk Strecker from the Institute of Machine Design, FME BUT, focuses on the development of electronically controlled damping system for bicycles and motorcycles, where damping quality has a crucial impact on speed and handling. The key product is a rear shock absorber with magnetorheological fluid, whose characteristics can be changed by electronics extremely quickly – in the order of one millisecond – continuously during a single pass over an obstacle. Compared to competing solutions that adjust dampers settings over seconds depending on track type, the Grixi system ensures significantly better wheel contact with the surface, reduced vibration transfer to the saddle, and the potential for faster times, especially in enduro and downhill (electric) bikes. The technology was developed over more than ten years as part of research supported by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic, was also verified in demanding railway applications in cooperation with Strojírny Oslavany and the Research Institute of Rail Vehicles, where tests demonstrated vibration reduction of more than 30%, and is now heading towards application in sports bicycles and motorcycles.

BUT Knowledge Transfer Office supports the establishment and development of start-up and spin-off companies based on university research results and know-how, connects the academic environment with the application sphere, and functions as a one-stop shop. For employees and students, it offers individual consultations, expert review of ideas, methodological guidance throughout the entire process, advice on intellectual property and commercialisation, as well as practical assistance in establishing start-up and spin-off companies.

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Author	Mgr. Petr Kubíček
Published	2025-12-22 18:12
Link	https://www.vut.cz/en/but/f19528/d313995