The pre-election debate Praha Inovační, organized by the Czech Startup Association, brought together 130 representatives of startups, investors, technology companies, universities and other players from the innovation ecosystem. The candidates presented their views on how Prague should support innovation, technology companies and high-value entrepreneurship over the next four to eight years.
The debate featured Tomáš Portlík representing SPOLU pro Prahu (ODS & TOP 09), Jan Hušbauer representing ANO, Jaromír Beránek representing the Pirates, Adam Scheinherr representing Praha sobě, Petr Hlaváček representing STAN, Milan Urban representing SPD, and Adam Paclt representing Motoristé sobě. Representatives of all major Prague political parties were invited based on a June poll conducted by NMS.
All of the politicians agreed that Prague needs to significantly step up its support for startups and innovation and make the issue a clear priority. Proposals included strengthening innovation infrastructure, involving startups more actively in public procurement and city-owned companies, closer cooperation with universities and the Central Bohemian Region, and accelerating the adoption of digital technologies and artificial intelligence across city operations.
Thanks to its concentration of founders, investors, universities and talent, Prague is undoubtedly the center of the Czech startup and technology ecosystem. This makes the contrast between the capital’s potential and its lack of dedicated municipal innovation infrastructure all the more striking. While the South Moravian Region, together with its innovation agency JIC, ranked 50th in the Financial Times’ prestigious Europe’s Leading Start-Up Hubs ranking, and the Central Bohemian Region has also made progress through its innovation center SIC, Prague itself is absent from international comparisons of publicly supported innovation hubs.
The debate therefore focused primarily on how Prague can make better use of its existing strengths and build a more systematic environment for the creation and growth of innovative companies. One of the central topics was the potential creation of a strong innovation center serving both Prague and the Central Bohemian Region. Participants also discussed cooperation between the city and the private sector, universities, investors and other key players in the innovation ecosystem.
“Prague is home to more Czech startups than any other city, and these companies make up a significant part of the city's economy. What is missing, however, is systematic support from the city and a strong innovation center, something we see in most European capitals. As an Association, we want to change that, which is why we invited the leaders of the seven strongest parties to debate the issue with representatives of the innovation sector. I am pleased that candidates across the political spectrum agreed on several concrete forms of support that the startup sector is asking for. If I were to name three: closer cooperation with universities, a flagship technology event, and a strong innovation center.”
The opening remarks were delivered by Martin Jiránek, the Ministry of Industry and Trade‘s representative for startups. He outlined several concrete changes currently being prepared by the government in cooperation with the Czech Startup Association and other key partners.
“We are working intensively on upgrading the startup environment in the Czech Republic. We are finalizing the Startup Act, preparing an amendment to the ESOP framework, and completing preparations for a fund-of-funds aimed at strengthening access to capital. We are also working on expanding the network of regional innovation centers. What is important is that startups, investors, innovation centers, business associations and other organizations are working with the government on these changes. I would therefore very much like Prague, as the country's capital, to become one of the strong and active partners in developing the startup ecosystem as soon as possible.”
The newly established state agency CzechBusiness was then introduced by its CEO Rudolf Klepáček. CzechBusiness began operations on August 1, 2026, bringing together the existing competencies of CzechTrade and CzechInvest. Its goal is to provide companies with a single partner for their development — from innovation and startup support to investment and international expansion. One of the agency’s key pillars is support for startups and innovation.
The Voice of the Startup and Innovation Sector
The political debate was preceded by a discussion featuring representatives of Prague’s innovation ecosystem itself. Jan Čurn from Apify represented the perspective of startup founders, while Petr Šmíd from Rockaway Ventures presented the investors’ perspective. Tomáš Ditrych from law firm Ambit and Jakub Nešetřil, CTU Vice-Rector for Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer, discussed the challenges and opportunities involved in commercializing scientific research. Pavel Jovanovič, CEO of the Central Bohemian Innovation Centre (SIC), added experience from developing a regional innovation ecosystem. The discussion was co-moderated by Dana Vaníčková, CEO of the Czech Innovation Platform.
Representatives of the sector laid out a number of concrete demands for Prague’s future leadership. Startup founders called for less bureaucracy, a clear one-stop shop for entrepreneurs, and city-owned spaces that could be used for coworking hubs and accelerators.
Investors emphasized the need to build a global innovation brand for Prague, establish one strong international flagship event, and create a physical startup hub. University representatives argued that the key lies in shared infrastructure for technology transfer and a stronger focus on entrepreneurship within science and research. The Central Bohemian Innovation Centre highlighted the importance of long-term, politically independent consensus and clearly defined, measurable KPIs.
What Did the Politicians Promise?
At the end of the panel, all candidates were asked the same question: “What three concrete measures would you push through during the next term to bring Prague closer to the vision of “Prague Innovation 2034” that you outlined at the beginning of the debate?”
“One of Prague's major advantages is its quality of life and safety, which are rated very highly compared with other global cities. Another major asset is our strong conference infrastructure, which I believe Prague is not yet making sufficient use of — whether for cultural events or scientific conferences. We also have a concentration of intellectual talent and a strong geographical position. By 2034, we should therefore catch up with what we are currently missing. Politicians should not try to manage this directly; they should focus on creating the platform and conditions that allow this chemistry to work. Prague has what it takes.”
“What I am taking away most from today's discussion is how important communication is, and that someone at the Prague level needs to take real responsibility for innovation. If I become mayor, I will take responsibility for innovation myself. It will have a clear owner, dedicated space, responsibility and professional management.”
“If we get the opportunity to lead Prague, we want to complete the science and technology park project as a physical space where people from different fields can meet and where new ideas can emerge. My second priority is strengthening cooperation across the Czech Republic. One flagship event could help with that, but we need to start investing in it so that it attracts international attention as well. My third priority is bringing more innovation into transportation. One of my biggest ambitions is also to connect Prague to Europe through high-speed rail.”
“I believe we need to open city-owned companies to startups, identify a location for a science and technology park, and establish a platform for cooperation with universities, scientific and research institutions, and the Central Bohemian Region.”
“I want to use the Metropolitan Plan as a platform for coordinating transport, housing and education — all of which are essential parts of the environment startups need. Together with colleagues in the future coalition, I would like to select three projects — one short-term, one medium-term and one long-term — and devote our full attention to delivering them.”
“I would like Prague to become a startup destination. That means creating a new innovation center in Prague together with the Central Bohemian Region, connecting academia, investors and business. At the same time, we need to set up public procurement rules so that startups can win reference projects in Prague that they can then use when expanding abroad. The goal should be a model that gradually becomes self-financing and one that investors and funds will continue to return to.”
“As a party, we have one main priority: building the city's ring roads and supporting as much construction as possible within Prague. Since we have the ministries of the environment and culture, we can help remove a number of obstacles that are currently blocking construction. Personally, I would like to focus on the digitalization of the city, the integration of artificial intelligence and process automation. I would devote the other half of my time to developing the relationship between the city and startups.”
