1.1 Programme. Startup Voucher is a support tool implemented by:
(together the "Organisers") to support the promising innovative intentions of startups and small and medium-sized enterprises whose intention is in the initial phase but represents a radical innovation with the potential for rapid market penetration and rapid growth of the company.
1.2 Brief description. The programme runs as a three-round competition, where registered persons who meet the conditions for participation compete for financial and non-financial assistance for the development of their business or product. The applicant may submit any business project, plan or idea that has not yet been implemented. There are no limits on the age of the company; the competition is aimed at early-stage startups. Organisers require that the product or service be innovative and scalable and not infringe third-party intellectual property. In addition to funding from the Organisers, participants may receive coaching support from external coaches selected by the Organisers through their network of partners, and successful participants may use shared laboratories and office space for further development. This work of coaches can be paid directly from their own financial subsidy dedicated to successful candidates. The language of the competition is English; coordinators in Czechia and Slovakia are able to provide information in the national language. The list of contacts, schedule, jury, coordinators and all other relevant information is available on www.ceestartup.network.
Applications may be submitted continuously, from the announcement of the call until the deadline stated on the website. Late applications will not be included in the competition and the Organisers will not take them into account. The Organisers are not obliged to inform a candidate that her or his application was delivered after the deadline. Only applications prepared in accordance with these Terms and containing all required information or attachments will be included in the competition.
3.1 Applicant or candidate. Anyone with a scalable and innovative project of global reach may apply for a grant from the Startup Voucher programme. The applicant may be, in particular, a natural or legal person who is an entrepreneur. A natural non-entrepreneurial person or team that meets the conditions in clause 1.2 may also participate; if such an applicant becomes an awarded winner, she or he will undertake to establish a trade licence or otherwise ensure the legality of the business (e.g. by establishing a company) within the time limit specified in the subsidy agreement.
The condition for participation is the proper completion of the application and the processing of the pitch deck via the online form available at www.ceestartup.network in which the applicant explains her or his idea according to the notes and instructions provided (the "application"). If the application does not contain all the information required by the Organisers, in particular through the instructions on the Organisers' website or in these Terms, the application will not be considered for the competition unless the Organisers decide otherwise in a particular case. The Organisers are not obliged to inform a candidate who delivered an incomplete application of the missing details. The application must be delivered to the Organisers in a proper and timely manner, in a way that the applicant is able to prove at any time, in particular by e-mail to the contact e-mail address for Czech or Slovak projects or through an online communication tool.
When completing the application or verifying its delivery, the Organisers are ready to cooperate with the applicant, in particular where it is necessary to explain or otherwise specify any information. By submitting the application, the applicant accepts these Terms; the application thus delivered cannot be unilaterally revoked by the applicant. The Organisers will, however, consider an applicant's interest in revoking the application and, in justified cases, may express their consent to the termination of the applicant's participation. This always depends on the exclusive discretion of the Organisers. The preceding two sentences do not limit any non-waivable consumer rights that may apply where the applicant participates as a consumer (a natural person not acting in the course of business).
By submitting the application, the applicant declares on her or his honour that the business plan presented in the competition is her or his own and is not the subject of any dispute or ongoing legal proceedings, and that the co-authors of the business plan or idea agree to enter the competition. If the applicant's statement proves to be untrue, the applicant is responsible for any damage caused and is, in particular, obliged to return any financial benefits received in the case of success in the competition, to pay the costs of the competition where it needs to be repeated, and to compensate any damage that a third party would claim from the Organisers due to unauthorised use of the business plan.
By submitting the application, the applicant further acknowledges that participation in the competition is associated with PR and marketing activities, in particular for the purpose of promoting the competition and the Organisers. The applicant expresses her or his consent to the publication of the name, title and brief annotation of the project, the results achieved in the competition, the use of any received financial contribution and photographs. The Organisers may further disseminate these facts within the scope of their activities, in particular to promote the competition or the activities of the Organisers. This consent is given separately and explicitly at submission and may be withdrawn at any time for the future; withdrawal does not affect past lawful publication.
3.2 Organisers. The Organisers ensure the proper performance of the activities related to the above, in particular from their position as supporters of startups and small and medium-sized enterprises. The Organisers shall not be liable for any damage suffered by a candidate as a result of her or his participation or non-participation in the competition, which the applicant acknowledges. The Organisers also point out that a candidate is not entitled to reimbursement of any costs incurred in connection with her or his participation in the programme or her or his interest in participating.
The Organisers will keep the business idea as a trade secret. Protection against misuse by a third party is guaranteed by the signing of a confidentiality statement; the Organisers undertake to sign such statements exclusively with the competition evaluators, mentors and the Organisers' staff who will deal with the project internally. The measures to protect confidentiality do not apply to other persons, especially those present at the public presentations of the project (for example during the third round, the in-person Finals). The Organisers undertake to handle personal data in accordance with applicable data-protection rules, as set out in Part III of this document.
The Organisers reserve the right to change these Terms and the competition schedule. In the case of a low number of applicants, the Organisers also reserve the right to move or cancel the competition. The cancellation or relocation of the competition depends solely on the decision of the Organisers.
4.1 Qualifications. A project or idea at any stage of development that is scalable, innovative and has a potential of global reach is eligible to participate in the CEE Startup Voucher programme. Only a project that meets these requirements is eligible to be considered as winning or best. The subsidy will be awarded only to applicants who meet all the conditions of the competition under these Terms and any other conditions published on the Organisers' website, in particular submission of a proper and timely application, and who are subsequently selected by an expert commission of business experts whose selection depends exclusively on the Organisers. The conclusion of the subsidy agreement, which sets out further rules for the use of the subsidy in particular, is an essential condition for obtaining a subsidy.
Evaluation Criteria.
4.2 Evaluation.
Formal evaluation. The Organisers will check that the application contains:
Applicants who meet the formal requirements will be included in the first round of the competition, where their project will be evaluated by an expert committee of business experts selected by the Organisers.
Content evaluation and progress to the 2nd round. The jury evaluation will be decisive for progression. The jury will evaluate the delivered applications individually, at its own discretion and conviction. The performed evaluation cannot be challenged or otherwise contradicted by the candidate. The jury has the power to request additional or specified information from the candidate; the candidate is then obliged to supplement the required information no later than 3 working days from the date of the request, which will be sent to the candidate's e-mail address. Failure to comply will result in the application not being taken into account, unless the expert committee decides otherwise. The Organisers will inform up to 20 successful candidates about their progress to the second round no later than the date specified on the website. Other unsuccessful candidates will be informed no later than the date specified on the website.
As a condition for entry into the second round, the following additional information must be provided:
The Organisers reserve the right to select any number of candidates for the second round, or not to select any candidate, in which case the competition will end; any possible repetition depends solely on the decision of the Organisers.
The Startup Voucher competition also includes Open Innovation Vouchers organised in cooperation with corporate partners who either choose a thematic area for an open-innovation challenge or create a general voucher. By entering the competition, the partner gets the opportunity to select the project to which it dedicates the pilot voucher and to participate in the competition itself (visibility, coordinated communication of the pilot voucher by all partners, access to projects and talents, participation in the CEE Startup Voucher Finals). The associated partner defines the objectives of the pilot voucher, its conditions and the benefits granted to the winners. Each associated partner is given the opportunity to participate in the CEE Startup Voucher competition and nominate evaluators who will have access to pitch decks. Payment of the thematic voucher depends purely on the agreement of the associated partner and the winner of the pilot voucher; the associated partner has the option not to award the thematic voucher, the decision being solely up to it.
6.1 Subsidy agreement. Each of the Organisers will enter into a subsidy agreement with the given beneficiary (according to the order of winners) in the CEE Startup Voucher programme. This subsidy agreement sets out the detailed conditions that the beneficiary must meet in order for the Organisers to reimburse the subsidy (the financial contribution received as a winner). If the beneficiary refuses to enter into the subsidy agreement, she or he loses the right to any financial contribution or other benefits that would belong to her or him as a winner. The subsidy agreement and its content will be determined unilaterally by each Organiser.
CEE Startup Voucher Finals. The final round will be held in Žilina (Slovakia) on 12 November 2026. Up to 10 startup projects will be evaluated by an expert evaluation committee composed of business experts, investors and other relevant stakeholders. The selection of winners from the participating candidates will be made by the evaluation committee at its own discretion and conviction; the performed evaluation cannot be challenged or otherwise contradicted by the candidate. The evaluation committee will usually select 3 winners (1st, 2nd and 3rd place). With the express consent of the Organisers, the evaluation committee may select a different number of winners. The winners will receive a financial subsidy whose exact amount will be determined according to the placement of the individual winners in the competition.
The main prize for the winning bidders will be the financial contribution, based on the concluded subsidy agreement, as follows:
All winners may also benefit from the help of mentors working with the Organisers, the shared offices and laboratories of the Organisers, contacts to experts and meetings with potential investors, all under the conditions to be further specified in the subsidy agreement.
6.2 Application for reimbursement. The subsidy will be paid in two instalments: the first instalment (pre-financing) of 80% of the total subsidy will be paid no later than 30 days after signing the subsidy agreement. The remaining part will be paid after the approval of the final report and feasibility study by each Organiser, no later than 30 days after their approval. Both documents (final report and feasibility study, including the business plan) must be submitted to the Organisers no later than 45 days after the end of the project implementation period. The project implementation period will be specified in the subsidy agreement, for a maximum period of 6 months from the date of conclusion of that agreement.
6.3 Amount and nature. The amount of the subsidy provided to individual beneficiaries will be determined according to the placement of individual beneficiaries in the competition as evaluated by the evaluation committee. The amount of subsidy is EUR 20,000. An additional financial contribution will be awarded in case the Organisers secure business partners to provide such a reward in the framework of the CEE SUV 2026 partnership until the Finals in Žilina; the Organisers aim to secure partners for such a reward up to a maximum of EUR 15,000.
6.4 Eligible costs. Recipients of the subsidy acknowledge that the financial contribution may be used only in the manner specified in these Terms; the recipient is not entitled to dispose of it arbitrarily but only to cover costs or services explicitly identified in these Terms or the subsidy agreement. If the financial contribution is used for purposes other than those specified in these Terms or the subsidy agreement, this is considered a material breach of obligations under the subsidy agreement, in which case the beneficiary is obliged to return to the Organisers all financial contribution received on the basis of the subsidy agreement.
The grant is an action grant taking the form of a lump-sum grant for the completion of a startup project. The maximum grant amount is given by the prize won by the beneficiary. To justify the lump sum, the beneficiary must provide a project description containing a set of Key Performance Indicators / Project Indicators and a detailed budget table with cost estimations before starting the project. Organisers will evaluate that the indicators are in accordance with the competition purpose and overall goal and that cost estimations are reasonable and non-excessive. They will also evaluate whether the proposed resources and the split of the lump sum allow completing the activities described.
Examples of eligible costs include:
The subsidy will not be used to cover any other ineligible expenses, in particular representation, gifts and extraordinary remuneration of the beneficiary's employees or other cooperating persons.
6.5 Control of the use of provided financial contribution. At the Organisers' request, the subsidy recipient is obliged to prove how the provided funds were used, in particular by accounting documents proving payment of funds for services or funds procured from the provided subsidy. The recipient is obliged to fulfil this obligation no later than within 5 working days from the day on which the Organisers declare the use of the subsidy funds. If the beneficiary is unable to properly prove the use of the subsidy funds at eligible costs within such period, that omission shall be considered a material breach of the subsidy agreement; the beneficiary is then obliged to return to the Organisers all financial contribution received on the basis of the subsidy agreement. The Organisers are entitled to use third parties for such control, in particular persons specialised in accounting and taxes.
The final evaluation of the project and the proper use of the funds provided by the subsidy will be carried out by a team of experts composed of persons designated by the Organisers who may, if necessary, use the services of an external expert or other suitable person. The purpose of the final evaluation is, in particular, an assessment of the fulfilment of the purpose of the recipient's subsidy project, control of the use of the provided funds and an overall evaluation of the fulfilment of the set business objectives.
Evaluation criteria:
The beneficiary acknowledges that if a team of experts evaluates the above criteria or only some of them as unsatisfactory, in particular due to the fault of the beneficiary, non-compliance is considered a material breach of the subsidy agreement; the beneficiary is then obliged to return to the Organisers all financial contribution received on the basis of the subsidy agreement.
Information about the project as well as the ongoing competition will be available on the Organisers' website www.ceestartup.network, where the applicant will find related documents, especially the application for the competition.
8.1 Accounts. To submit an application you must create an account on www.ceestartup.network using a valid e-mail address and a password of at least eight characters. You are responsible for the accuracy of the information you provide, for keeping your credentials confidential and for activity that occurs under your account. You must confirm your e-mail address by clicking the link in the confirmation message before you can complete an application. One natural person or legal entity may hold only one account; multiple accounts created to circumvent the rules of the competition may be deactivated by the Organisers without notice.
8.2 Acceptable use. You agree not to: (a) submit content that infringes third-party rights, that is unlawful, defamatory, deceptive or contains malware; (b) attempt to gain unauthorised access to the platform, other accounts or underlying infrastructure; (c) use automated means to scrape, crawl or extract data from the platform except as expressly permitted; (d) interfere with the operation of the platform; or (e) impersonate any person or entity. The Organisers may suspend or terminate an account that breaches these rules or that is reasonably suspected of fraud or abuse.
8.3 Intellectual property. You retain all intellectual-property rights in the content you submit (the application form data and any attachments). You grant the Organisers a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, store, display and process that content for the purposes of operating the platform, running and evaluating the competition, and the PR and marketing activities described in clause 3.1. This licence ends when the content is deleted, save for backups retained for the retention periods stated in Part III.
8.4 Service availability and disclaimer. The platform is provided "as is" and "as available". The Organisers use reasonable efforts to keep it operational but do not warrant that it will be uninterrupted, error-free or that any defects will be corrected within a specific time. The Organisers may modify, suspend or discontinue any feature of the platform, including the application form, with reasonable notice where practicable.
8.5 Liability. Nothing in this document limits or excludes any liability that cannot lawfully be limited or excluded, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud and for any other liability that cannot be limited under applicable law (in particular non-waivable consumer rights). Subject to the foregoing, the Organisers shall not be liable for any indirect or consequential loss, loss of profit, loss of business opportunity or loss of goodwill arising from your participation or non-participation in the competition or from your use of the platform.
8.6 Changes to these Terms. The Organisers may amend these Terms. If a change is material we will notify registered users by e-mail and display a notice in the platform; the change becomes effective on the date stated in the notice and applies to all ongoing use of the platform from that date. If you do not accept a material change you may stop using the platform and request deletion of your account in accordance with clause 9.7. For accountability we store every version of these Terms and each user's acceptance with a timestamp.
8.7 Governing law and disputes. These Terms are governed by the law of the Slovak Republic, with the exception of its conflict-of-laws rules and provisions that would refer to another jurisdiction. The courts of the Slovak Republic have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising under these Terms. Where you participate as a consumer, this choice does not deprive you of the protection of mandatory provisions of the law of your country of habitual residence, and you may also bring proceedings in the courts of that country.
This Part III is the privacy notice required by Articles 13 and 26 of the EU General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 ("GDPR"). It explains who controls your personal data, why and how we use it, who we share it with, how long we keep it and what your rights are.
INOVIA and MSIC jointly determine the purposes and means of processing personal data collected through the CEE Startup Voucher programme and the application platform and are therefore joint controllers within the meaning of Article 26 GDPR.
| Controller | Identity and contact |
|---|---|
| Innovation Centre INOVIA | Inovačné centrum INOVIA, Komenského 2622/48, 011 09 Žilina,
Slovak Republic. Company ID (IČO): 54264405. Tax ID (DIČ): 2121615188. VAT ID (IČ DPH): SK2121615188. E-mail for data-protection matters: info@inovia.sk. |
| Moravian-Silesian Innovation Center, joint stock company (MSIC) | Moravskoslezské inovační centrum Ostrava, a.s., Technologická 375/3,
708 00 Ostrava–Pustkovec, Czech Republic. Registered with the Regional Court in
Ostrava, Section B, File 1686. Company ID (IČ): 25379631. Tax ID (DIČ): CZ25379631. E-mail for data-protection matters: info@ceestartup.network. |
Essence of the joint-controller arrangement (Article 26(2) GDPR). INOVIA and MSIC have agreed in writing on their respective responsibilities for compliance with the GDPR. In summary: (i) each Organiser is responsible for processing it carries out in its own systems; (ii) INOVIA acts as the primary contact point for data-subject requests made through the platform; (iii) requests received by either Organiser are forwarded to the other where necessary and answered jointly within the deadlines set by Article 12 GDPR; and (iv) each Organiser bears responsibility for breach-notification obligations under Articles 33 and 34 GDPR with respect to incidents arising from its own acts or omissions. You may exercise your rights against either Organiser, regardless of this internal allocation (Article 26(3) GDPR). A summary of the joint-controller arrangement is available on request from the contacts above.
Neither Organiser has appointed a Data Protection Officer (Article 37 GDPR) as the processing does not fall within the categories that require one. Privacy queries are handled by the contacts listed above.
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Identification and contact data | name, surname, e-mail address, phone (if provided), preferred language |
| Account credentials | password (stored as a salted hash, never in plain text), session tokens, e-mail confirmation status |
| Business data | company or trading name, identification numbers (IČO/DIČ), legal form, address, role of the applicant (founder, team member) |
| Application content | project description, stage of development, requested investment amount, business plan information and any other answers entered in the application form; in later phases also pitch deck and pitch video (out of scope for the first version) |
| Cap-table and due-diligence data (second round only) | ownership stakes, liquidation status, balanced-obligations confirmations, criminal-record confirmations listed in clause 4.2 |
| Evaluation data | scores and comments produced by evaluators in the course of jury evaluation |
| Consent records | which version of this document you accepted, the timestamp, the IP address from which acceptance was sent, and the user-agent string of your browser, kept for accountability under Article 5(2) GDPR |
| Technical and operational data | IP address, browser and device data, timestamps, application status history, server logs, error reports |
| Communication data | content of e-mails and messages exchanged with the Organisers |
We do not collect special categories of personal data within the meaning of Article 9 GDPR. Please do not include sensitive personal data (e.g. data revealing health, religious beliefs or political opinions) in your application.
| Purpose | Legal basis (GDPR) |
|---|---|
| Creating and operating your account, accepting and managing your application, evaluating it and administering the competition | Article 6(1)(b): performance of a contract to which the data subject is a party (these Terms); Article 6(1)(f): legitimate interest of the Organisers in running the competition |
| Transactional e-mails: account confirmation, password reset, application status, deadline notices and other service messages | Article 6(1)(b): performance of contract |
| Concluding and performing the subsidy agreement with winners, including verification of due-diligence data in clause 4.2 | Article 6(1)(b): performance of contract; Article 6(1)(c): compliance with a legal obligation (in particular accounting, tax and grant-control rules) |
| Publication of name, project title, brief annotation, results, use of received financial contribution and photographs for PR and marketing of the competition and the Organisers | Article 6(1)(a): consent given separately at submission (clause 3.1) |
| News and information about other CEE Startup Network events | Article 6(1)(a): consent given separately at registration or in account settings |
| Keeping consent records to demonstrate accountability | Article 6(1)(c): compliance with a legal obligation (Article 5(2) GDPR) |
| Security, fraud prevention, abuse detection, logging | Article 6(1)(f): legitimate interest of the Organisers in protecting the platform and its users |
| Accounting, tax and statutory archiving relating to awarded subsidies | Article 6(1)(c): compliance with a legal obligation |
| Defence of legal claims | Article 6(1)(f): legitimate interest of the Organisers |
Where processing is based on consent (Article 6(1)(a)), you may withdraw your consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal. Withdrawal is as easy as giving consent (Article 7(3) GDPR): use the unsubscribe link in any marketing e-mail or the contact in clause 9.11.
We share personal data only with the recipients listed below and only to the extent necessary for the purpose described.
The platform itself is operated using the following processors under written data-processing agreements as required by Article 28 GDPR:
| Processor | Function | Hosting region |
|---|---|---|
| Supabase, Inc. | Database, authentication, file storage | European Union (Frankfurt) |
| Vercel, Inc. | Application hosting and content delivery | Primarily European Union; some edge functions globally |
| Seznam.cz, a.s. (emailprofi service) | SMTP delivery of transactional and marketing e-mail | European Union (Czech Republic) |
An up-to-date list of processors is available on request from the contacts in clause 9.1.
Our goal is to process personal data only within the European Economic Area (EEA). Certain processors listed in clause 9.4 are established outside the EEA (in the United States); where personal data is transferred to such a processor or to one of its sub-processors outside the EEA, the transfer is protected by appropriate safeguards under Chapter V GDPR, in particular the Standard Contractual Clauses adopted by the European Commission (Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/914) and, where relevant, supplementary technical and organisational measures. A copy of the safeguards in place for a specific transfer is available on request from the contacts in clause 9.1.
| Category | Retention period |
|---|---|
| Account and application data of applicants who did not win the competition | For the duration of the competition and 24 months thereafter, then deleted or anonymised; you may request earlier deletion in accordance with clause 9.7 |
| Account and application data of winners | For the duration of the subsidy agreement and 10 years thereafter, to comply with accounting, tax and grant-control rules |
| Cap-table and due-diligence data submitted in the second round | Up to 5 years after the end of the competition; for winners, the longer retention for winners applies |
| Consent records | For the duration of the related processing and 4 years thereafter, to defend potential claims |
| Server logs, security and audit logs | Up to 12 months, save where a longer period is necessary to investigate a security incident or to comply with a legal obligation |
| Marketing contacts | Until you withdraw your consent and for a short technical period thereafter to ensure the withdrawal is honoured |
| Communication data (e-mails, messages) | Up to 4 years from the last communication |
Subject to the conditions set by the GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:
To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in clause 9.1. We will respond without undue delay and at the latest within one month of receipt, with the possibility of a two-month extension for complex or numerous requests, in which case we will inform you of the extension and the reasons.
The platform uses only cookies that are strictly necessary to deliver the service you request, namely a session cookie set by our authentication provider to keep you signed in, and a small number of security and load-balancing cookies set by our hosting provider. Strictly necessary cookies do not require consent under Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive. We do not use analytics, advertising or social-media tracking cookies in the first version of the platform. If we introduce non-essential cookies in the future, we will show a cookie banner that allows you to accept or refuse them before they are set.
We use automated checks at certain stages of the application process, for example to verify that an application is complete, was submitted before the deadline and meets the formal eligibility conditions described in clauses 3 and 4. These checks may result in an application being marked as ineligible for the next stage of the competition. The legal basis for these checks is Article 6(1)(b) GDPR (performance of these Terms) and, where applicable, Article 22(2)(a) GDPR (the decision is necessary for entering into or performing the contract represented by these Terms).
Where an automated check would have a significant effect on you, you have the right to obtain human intervention on the part of the Organisers, to express your point of view and to contest the result of the check (Article 22(3) GDPR). To do so, contact us using the details in clause 9.1; we will arrange for a qualified person who was not the original decision-maker to review the matter.
The substantive evaluation of applications, namely the jury, committee and final-output assessments described in clauses 4.2, 5 and 7, is in any case carried out by human evaluators and is not based solely on automated processing. We do not carry out profiling for any purpose other than the formal eligibility checks described above.
Providing the personal data needed to create an account and complete the application (identification, contact, account credentials, application content and, in the second round, cap-table and due-diligence data) is a contractual requirement under these Terms. Without it we cannot register you, process your application or include you in the competition. Provision of marketing consent and of the PR consent in clause 3.1 is voluntary; refusing it has no effect on your participation in the competition.
Without prejudice to any other administrative or judicial remedy, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular in the Member State of your habitual residence, place of work or place of the alleged infringement (Article 77 GDPR). The competent supervisory authorities for the Organisers are:
We would, of course, appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns before you approach a supervisory authority. Please contact us first using the details in clause 9.1.
We may update this notice. If a change is material, we will notify registered users by e-mail and display a notice on the platform. The new version and effective date will be shown at the top of this document. Previous versions and their effective dates are kept on record and are available on request.