Twelve teams participated in the event, focused on iOS and Android smartwatches. The competition – much like at our earlier Apple Watch hackathons in Prague and San Francisco – was fierce. But it was Ondrej Fendrych and Tomas Jelinek who took top honors. Their app, First Aider, allows users to call for help during an emergency and also measures the heart rate of accident victims. Ondrej and Tomas each won an Apple Watch Sport.
First Aider app
Second place went to GoPro Remote by Pavel Pokorny and Ondrej Benes. The app allows users to conduct remote photo shoots and recordings via their smartwatch. Meanwhile, Padluj, an app developed by Jan Pacek and Petr Chutny that helps users navigate river obstacles and find nearby pubs while white-water rafting, came in third.
Teams were judged not only on their app ideas and designs, but also on their presentations. The panel of guest judges included Damir Causevic, manager of JIC's startup accelerator StarCube; Ondrej Krajicek, CTO at Y-Soft and a member of the management board at Comprimato, and Filip Drimalka, CEO of EF1 marketing & management.
Many STRV team members – including CEO David Semerad and COO Lubo Smid – were on hand throughout the day to offer technical advice and support.
“It was our best hackathon yet!” says Lubo. “The atmosphere and people in Brno were fantastic. As we prepare to open our second development office on the Czech market early next year, it was really great to check out the city's renowned IT talent in action.”
“Everyone had a ton of fun,” Lubo adds. “People stuck around following the hackathon to network and enjoy the after-party until nearly midnight. We are already planning our next hackathon, which is going to be huge!”
STRV is planning to open an office in Brno within the first three months of 2016.
“We want to leverage the talent in this region. Opening an office in Brno makes a lot sense. It is the next logical step for us,” David says. “Our recruitment team has been flooded with interest from members of the Brno tech community over the past several months, but not everyone is willing to relocate to Prague.”
Attendees of STRV Smartwatch Hackathon in Brno
Check out the photo gallery from this hackathon on Facebook.
