25,000 a month to get your business off the ground! JIC offers Founder Scholarships

The JIC Innovation Agency has launched another round of Founder Scholarships. This popular program offers recent college graduates everything they need to launch a career in startups. For those with a business idea or technological know-how, the program offers a scholarship of up to 150,000 CZK, mentoring, access to the startup community, and a coworking space to support further growth. Applications are open until August 16, 2026.

The program is designed for graduates who:

• have completed their university studies or graduated within the last two years,
• have their own business idea, an initial prototype, or a startup in development,
• want to devote themselves fully to their business, appreciate financial stability during the first few months, and also value the opportunity to focus on bringing their project from concept to reality as soon as possible.

Selected participants can receive:

• up to 150,000 CZK (25,000 CZK per month for 3 or 6 months),
• mentoring from professionals,
• further education,
• coworking space,
• access to the startup community.

Program Phases

During the first phase of the program (August–October), JIC plans to select the six best ideas with business potential, a high degree of innovation, and motivated founders

In the next phase of the program (November–January), out of these six ideas, a maximum of three projects will remain—those that have come the farthest and validated their place in the market.

The company cyrcID also participated in last year’s inaugural edition of the program: “Money isn’t the most important thing. The most important thing is the moment when you can afford to take your idea really seriously. For me, the Founder Scholarship gave me the most important thing: time. Time to test my idea, find my first customers, and finally get the startup off the ground,” explained Jakub Jamný, CEO of cyrcID, a BUT startup, which this year won the BUT Student Entrepreneurship Award.

Talent needs motivation, but also the right conditions. Visit the JIC website for more information on the schedule or selection criteria.

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Author	Mgr. Petr Kubíček
Published	2026-07-31 15:49
Link	https://www.vut.cz/en/but/f19528/d352285