JIC (South Moravian Innovation Centre) — Brno's University-Industry Technology Transfer Hub

JIC (Jihomoravské inovační centrum) is a public-interest innovation agency founded in 2003 by the South Moravian Region, the Statutory City of Brno, and four Brno universities (Masaryk University, Brno University of Technology, Mendel University, University of Veterinary Sciences), headquartered in the Czech Technology Park in Brno-Medlánky.

JIC connects researchers, students and companies through pre-incubation and mentoring, the StarCube seed accelerator (launched 2010), and, since April 2026, JIC Ventures — a CEE deep-tech venture fund offering cheques of up to €1 million to around 20 portfolio companies over four years.

JIC Ventures reached a €13 million first close toward a €16.3 million target, backed by around 40 limited partners. StarCube reported supporting 62 startups and channelling over 122 million CZK (around €5 million) of investment into them during its first five years. Portfolio companies include Kiwi.com, Y Soft, Flowmon Networks (acquired by Progress Software in 2021), Safetica, Sewio and Phonexia. JIC's own materials currently claim more than 1,300 companies supported over 22 years; earlier undated third-party listings instead cite around 300 companies with combined revenues of around 30 billion CZK and 6,500 jobs.

The discrepancy between JIC's current figure and earlier third-party listings could not be resolved — it could reflect different points in JIC's growth rather than a contradiction, but it is a reminder that most performance figures originate from the agency's own reporting rather than an independent audit. No public data on JIC's operating budget, patent counts, or formal tech-transfer deal volume was located, and no independent evaluation of the centre was found.