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Innovation agency JIC is among the top 50 startup hubs in Europe

09.03. 2026
line-arrow Innovation agency JIC is among the top 50 startup hubs in Europe

The JIC Innovation Agency has been ranked among the top 50 startup hubs in Europe in Europe’s Leading Start-Up Hubs 2026, published annually by the Financial Times in collaboration with Statista and Sifted. It improved thirteen places year-on-year to become the highest ranked startup hub from the Czech Republic.

The article was taken from the JIC website .

This is not just a symbolic award for the Czech innovation environment. It is a confirmation that even outside the traditional innovation hubs like Munich, Paris or London, an infrastructure capable of producing successful technology companies can emerge.

The ranking evaluates incubators and accelerators across Europe based on the quality of their programmes, the results of their graduates, access to funding and the evaluation of the founders and investors themselves. It is traditionally dominated by German and Western European institutions, which gives the Czech ranking all the more weight.

“If the Czech Republic is to catch up with the innovation leaders, it must have centres at the level of European leaders. We want to be one of them. We support early-stage startups and make them globally successful companies, connect them with investors and invest in them ourselves through our own fund. And at the same time to significantly accelerate the creation of spin-offs from university research,” says JIC Director Petr Chládek.

In addition to the overall ranking among 180 centres from 25 European countries, the JIC also excelled in the infrastructure sub-ranking. It ranked sixth in Europe in the Top 15 Startup Hubs with the best facilities category.

The award reflects the quality of the JIC startup hub in the science and technology park on Purkyňova Street in Brno. Startups have access to offices, laboratories, shared spaces, community facilities and direct contact with mentors, investors and other founders. The JIC’s specialised centres for design and business, game development or smart manufacturing are also part of the wider ecosystem in South Moravia.

JIC is an innovation agency with a long experience in the Enterprise Europe Network, which consists of globally successful companies. In over twenty years, it has backed 1,300 startups, including stars such as Kiwi.com, Y Soft and Flowmon. In the South Moravian Region, it is helping to develop one of the most progressive entrepreneurial ecosystems in Central Europe. It brings together the largest startup community in the Czech Republic and invests in promising projects through its own fund, JIC Ventures. It is also behind projects that strengthen the innovation environment in the region, such as KUMST Brno, the INTEMAC competence centre or the Gamebaze incubator for game developers.

Strategický rozvoj inovačního prostředí

The improving position among European hubs signals that regional innovation policy can have a measurable impact if it is long-term and strategic, as in South Moravia.

In more than twenty years of existence, JIC has supported more than 1300 startups. Among them are companies like Kiwi.com, Y Soft and Flowmon. In the last five years alone, JIC-backed startups have achieved exits worth over CZK 15 billion. More than five thousand high-skilled jobs have been created in the region thanks to tech companies, and thousands more downstream positions in the local economy.

The next milestone set by JIC is no longer just about incubation and acceleration. The agency also wants to play a stronger role in the investment arena. Through the JIC Ventures fund, it plans to invest in two dozen startups and become an active lead investor. The aim is not only to strengthen the availability of venture capital outside Prague, but also to increase the overall competitiveness of Czech startups in Europe.

The strategy also includes more systematic support for spin-offs. In cooperation with universities, JIC wants to significantly increase the number of new technology companies emerging from research and development within a few years. The South Moravia region has strong prerequisites for this – it concentrates about 70,000 students and has long-established technology specialisations.

Brno is today a significant European centre of electron microscopy, where a third of the world’s high-tech equipment is produced. The region has a strong position in cybersecurity, where globally operating companies have grown, and a fast-growing space technology and aerospace sector. Game development also plays an important role, with dozens of studios with international reach.

According to Chládek, the broadly focused and long-term support of the founders is the reason why JIC can compare with most hubs in Central Europe. “Our ambition is not just to be a regional service centre. We want to build a strong all-Czech environment from which companies capable of competing globally will regularly grow. That is the real measure of success,” he adds.

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