Innovation Centre of the Olomouc Region Secures EU|BIC Certification, Strengthening Leadership in Innovation and Sustainability

The Innovation Centre of the Olomouc Region (ICOK) has been honoured with the prestigious EU|BIC label. This recognition signifies ICOK’s full adherence to the EU|BIC Quality Mark Criteria, affirming its commitment to fostering innovation and driving regional economic development.

EU|BIC Certification

The EU|BIC certification is a mark of quality, recognising organisations that meet the highest standards of business support services to ensure innovative entrepreneurs thrive. It is a highly selective status, originated from and recognised by the European Commission. To qualify, organisations must document their impact and undergo peer-review verification every five years to maintain their certification. The EU|BIC quality is issued by the European Business and innovation Centre Network (EBN).

The Innovation Centre of the Olomouc Region (ICOK) is dedicated to nurturing the innovation ecosystem in the Olomouc Region – one of 14 regions in the Czech Republic. Its current members include the Olomouc Region and Palacký University Olomouc. ICOK serves as the financial partner for the Olomouc Region Smart Accelerator project, implementing the regional RIS3 Strategy.

ICOK’s mission is to cultivate an open innovation ecosystem that attracts enterprising and creative individuals, talents, innovative companies, and investors. The centre aims to be the primary driver of innovation in the region, fostering a functional, open, and welcoming innovation environment and building trust among key regional players.

ICOK’s commitment aligns seamlessly with the core missions of EU|BIC, encompassing regional sustainable economic development, quality business support, access to finance, and scaling European innovation.

EU|BIC Innovation Centre of the Olomouc Region representation for the EBN Congress 2024

Aligning with EU|BIC Missions

Regional Sustainable Economic Development

From its inception, ICOK has worked tirelessly to build a well-connected innovation ecosystem that supports the economic development of the Olomouc Region. By fostering entrepreneurial innovations, accelerating new enterprises, promoting entrepreneurial culture, modernising industries, stimulating job creation, and partnering strategically with universities, research parks, corporations?, investors, and public authorities, ICOK forms a vast, diverse, collaborative, and connected business innovation ecosystem.

Focused on several key objectives to develop the innovation ecosystem in the Olomouc Region, ICOK supports networking, sharing, and cooperation among regional stakeholders. It actively participates in trans-regional and international projects, promoting the Olomouc Region as an attractive place to live, study, and conduct business. A network of functional regional contact points is also created and supported.

Quality Business Support

ICOK conducts its operations to deliver the highest quality innovation support services. Its quality-certified selection, ideation, acceleration, and incubation programmes are designed to support startups, scale-ups, SMEs, and innovators of all kinds. By sharing best practices with other businesses and facilitating social capital, ICOK ensures no one is left behind in the mutual pursuit of innovation.

ICOK implements an attractive pre-incubation programme and actively scouts talent across the region. It develops a pool of local mentors, incubates innovative startups, and supports polytechnic education and lifelong learning. ICOK provides expert and financial support to established innovative companies and develops a pool of investors and coaches for these companies.

ICOK offers various programmes to support startups and innovative companies at different stages of their development. These include the NašlápnuTO (Kick-Start) programme, which features motivational lectures to inspire entrepreneurship among students, and ICOK Bootcamp, a three-day event for aspiring entrepreneurs to meet successful startups and gain pre-launch insights. ICOK Accelerator offers intensive workshops on business planning, sales, marketing, and legal aspects for startups, while ICOK Startup Academy provides masterclass workshops for pre-seed and seed startups, including a startup competition. Additionally, IN-HUB Přerov is a dedicated space providing resources and support for startups in their early stages, which it offers specifically in Prerov sub-region.

ICOK ENVI Focus: Promoting Sustainability

One of ICOK’s flagship initiatives, ICOK ENVI, is built to address the transformation of access to natural resources and the legislative changes associated with it incl. social and governance aspects and policies in companies. The programme is designed for micro, small, and medium enterprises in the Olomouc Region, particularly those that are technologically or innovatively oriented.

ICOK ENVI aims to enhance the environmental responsibility of companies by providing consultancy services tailored to their specific needs. This involves mapping energy flows, identifying key areas for savings, and proposing technical solutions. The programme also includes workshops that share examples of good practices, helping companies develop sustainable business strategies.

ICOK ENVI’s services extend to calculating carbon footprints and identifying opportunities and risks in the current business state. This comprehensive approach ensures that companies can adopt strategies that benefit both the environment and their competitiveness in a changing market.

Access to Finance

ICOK provides a steady pipeline of innovative, investment-ready companies and fosters supportive investment opportunities. Through access to private investments, EU and non-EU grants, loans, and equity funds, ICOK ensures the continuity of businesses and innovations crucial to a competitive European economy. By leveraging a network of investors and various tools, ICOK embeds innovation in finance and vice versa, sharing best practices on investment processes.

Scaling European Innovation

ICOK’s focus and culture on developing a pan-European nature is a significant asset, enhancing the internationalisation potential of European startups, scale-ups, and innovative SMEs. By understanding the different needs of client entrepreneurs throughout various growth stages, ICOK plans to leverage the EBN and EU|BIC community support network, ensuring consistent quality support in the Olomouc region, targeted for expansion.

Recognition and Future Prospects

ICOK’s recent achievement of the EU|BIC certification significantly enhances its position within the regional innovation ecosystem. It provides ICOK with more opportunities to gain international experience and establish new partnerships, offering valuable feedback on their work and enabling continuous improvement.

EU|BIC certification brings us highly respected confirmation of our position in our regional innovation ecosystem as well as confirmation of the highest quality of our services. It can help us gain more international experience and establish new international partnerships. Last but not least, it provides us with very useful feedback on our work.
Tomáš Dostál, CEO of ICOK

The EU|BIC certification marks a significant milestone for the Innovation Centre of the Olomouc Region. It underscores ICOK’s dedication to fostering innovation and economic development, solidifying its role as a leader in the regional and European innovation landscape. We congratulate ICOK on this remarkable achievement and look forward to their continued success and contributions to the innovation ecosystem.