Software for racing cars, sustainable fashion made from clothing that would otherwise turn into waste, and non-flammable insulation material made from waste raw materials. The 12th edition of the Start-up TUL competition showed that student ideas are increasingly moving close to real business, bringing interesting technologies and addressing themes of social responsibility.
This year’s winner is the RaceQ team, which is developing software for automotive motorsport. Second place went to Renesanc, a project focused on upcycling clothing, while third place was awarded to SF-IZO, an innovative non-flammable insulation material for construction and industry.
Software that finds speed in data
Behind the winning RaceQ project are Patrik Skýpala, Florián Klein, Magdalena Jirsová and Michelle Jandová, students from three faculties of the Technical University of Liberec. Their solution works with telemetry data from racing cars and turns it into specific recommendations for improving the performance of both the car and the driver.
“Every racing car has up to 300 sensors measuring speed, acceleration or steering wheel angle. Standard systems only display this data. We realized that this was not enough,” explains Patrik Skýpala from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at TUL. According to him, the application not only analyses the data, but also simulates different scenarios and recommends whether to change the driving style or the car setup.
Simulation is the project’s key advantage. Drivers do not need to test several different setups repeatedly on the track. They complete one lap, and the software calculates which setup may work best. This saves teams both time and money. “Twenty minutes of testing on a racetrack costs around two thousand euros, which is roughly the price of our software for an entire year,” says Patrik Skýpala.
The authors of the project draw on their experience with building and tuning the university’s student formula car. Their software is currently in beta version and is expected to be launched within two months. They plan to use the 50,000 CZK prize mainly for legal matters, licensing and contract setup. Thanks to Lipo.ink, the Liberec Region’s business incubator, they also received 10 hours of expert mentoring, coworking passes and a wild card for the Výkop programme.
A new life for unused clothing
Second place went to Renesanc, a project by Štěpán Dittrt, Viktória Maďarová and Anastázie Havrdová. The team responds to textile overproduction and to the fact that large amounts of still usable clothing remain without further use.
“While at the turn of the millennium, 50 billion pieces of clothing were produced worldwide each year, in 2024 it was already 150 billion pieces, with 100 million tonnes ending up as waste,” points out Štěpán Dittrt, a student of the Faculty of Textile Engineering and the Faculty of Art and Architecture at TUL.
In second-hand shops and among a community of donors, Renesanc looks for clothing made from natural materials that still has value. Selected pieces are cleaned, printed with water-based inks and transformed into original fashion at an affordable price. The imperfections of the printing process also play an important role — small variations ensure that every piece is unique.
The authors of the project thus combine sustainability, affordability and distinctive style. “Over the course of one year, we sold more than a thousand original pieces of clothing in a brick-and-mortar shop, at local events and festivals. Because these pieces did not have to be newly produced, almost two million litres of water were saved,” calculates Štěpán Dittrt. The team received 30,000 CZK for second place.
Non-flammable insulation from waste raw materials
Third place belongs to the SF-IZO project by Dan Havran from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at TUL. He is developing a non-flammable ecological insulation material made from waste raw materials, which is intended to offer high strength, good insulation properties and potential use in construction, fire protection of buildings and industry.
He has been working on the technology for two years with external mentor Associate Professor Hájková from the Department of Materials at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at TUL, and plans to protect it with a European patent. He is now discussing testing with the first customers and, in the future, aims for licensed production. He will invest the 20,000 CZK prize back into the project.
The award for the greatest social impact went to Budka z hor, a project focused on waste left behind by visitors in protected mountain areas. The Audience Favourite award was shared by the projects Kogor and Kamzikuj.
Start-up TUL supports entrepreneurship among students across faculties and helps them move their ideas from an initial concept to a validated project. This year, 34 teams from six faculties applied, and the jury selected 12 finalists. Over three months, they worked on business plans, product validation, customer outreach, cybersecurity and presentation skills.
According to the organisers, the key to the further development of student start-ups is not only financial support, but above all connection with mentors, entrepreneurs and potential partners. The total value of this year’s prizes exceeded 200,000 CZK.
