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TAKEOFFS 2015: Voting to pick the national winner now open

Online voting will take place between 28 May and 15 June. Every region to send its favourite project. The winner will receive CZK 150,00.

Takeoffs of the Year, a competition for start-up businesses, has reached its final destination with the completion of the regional rounds. Fourteen regional finalists are now ready to present their projects to the public. The national winner, who will receive the main prize of CZK 150,000, will be selected by the public via online voting, which starts tomorrow, 28 May, at www.rozjezdyroku.cz and will end at midnight on 15 June. 

“The decision-making process wasn’t an easy job for the juries. The high quality of the competing projects is evidenced by the fact that all prizes were awarded in all regions, and in eight regions, the juries also awarded special prizes of the jury,” says Martina Kemrová, Senior Head of External Communication at T-Mobile, adding: “Every year brings something new and unique. This year, for example, was marked by the prominence of women among those competing. They not only registered 62% of the projects but they were also by far the most successful – there are only two men among the 14 finalists.” 

Although nine finalists of this year’s edition of Takeoffs have not yet reached the age of 35, the overall professionalism, detailed preparation and formal quality of projects have been increasing every year. Half of the finalists are secondary-school graduates, and four ladies are starting their businesses while on maternity leave. 

This edition’s finalists include two photographers – Tereza Dostálová from Pardubice and Jakub Misík from Hradec Králové, two manufacturers of non-traditional toys – Kateřina Korandová from Plzeň and Ivana Vajdová from Slatina u Bílovce, a producer of dried fruit and vegetables and healthy cookies – Sylva Jelénková from Ostrožská Lhoty, and two farms – the honey farm of Andrea Novotná and Kateřina Svobodová from Úštěk and the lavender farm of Lukáš Drlík from Zábřeh. The juries were pleasantly surprised by the realistic-looking cakes made by fashion designer Jana Králová from Hostivice, original organisers by Martina Šípková from Ostrov and a fun application for roommates by the Woogies team around Alexandra Štellmachová from Brno. Several winning projects are focused on mothers and kids – for example, a comprehensive consulting service for pregnant women by Vendula Kozelková and Markéta Jáchymová from South Bohemia, original fashion for pregnant women by Klára Horáková and Ema Pospíšilová from Prague, an eco-oriented kindergarten by Pavlína Štěpánková from Svojkov near Nový Bor and a non-smoking café with a large playground for kids by Romana Dohnalová from Havlíčkův Brod. 

Profiles of all finalists can be found here.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony to be held on 25 June at 3:00 pm at Prague’s Impact HUB. 

The regional winners have already received packages of free telecommunications services for one year and financial support totalling CZK 660,000. Thanks to the main partners of Takeoffs – Česká spořitelna, Huawei, Xerox and the Najisto agency – they received tablets, handsets and other free services. Support for the project in the form of specialist advice was provided by LMC, iPodnikatel.cz, HUB and the Chamber of Commerce in Plzeň.