CS Building Savings Bank Burinka (member of Erste Group) announces “Innovation Grants from Burinka for Sustainable Housing”. To support innovative material and technological solutions, it will distribute a total of CZK 2.5 million: 2 million for the main project and 500,000 for a secondary project. It will provide the teams supported not only with funds, but also with expert mentoring, involvement in project management and strong communication support. The professional guarantors and partners are INCIEN and the Partnership Foundation.

The call is part of the Innovation by Burinka platform, founded in 2019. The winner of the grant competition will be its new flagship and will join projects such as Prvok, the first 3D-printed house, and Samorost, an experimental building made of mycelium-based material.

Innovations that have a chance to work out in practice

The grant call’s aim is to support projects that provide specific material or technological solutions with a real impact on sustainable housing. “The output of the project to be supported must be a specific verifiable result, such as a functional prototype, pilot installation or technically documented testing of the solution in practice. The support is intended especially for startups, spin-offs, research teams and other entities that have the potential to actually implement their idea. I believe that we will be able to find an interesting project that offers new solutions for sustainable housing,” explained Stanislav Lukáš, a member of the board of directors of CS Building Savings Bank Burinka (member of Erste Group).

The grant call has two categories:
• The main project with a wider scope of implementation can receive support of CZK 2 million.
• A secondary project focused on a specific sub-solution, verification in practice or finalization can receive CZK 500,000.

Those interested in participating in the grant procedure can apply in the Grantys system: www.nap.grantys.cz

They register, click on “Calls” to see the Burinka grant call and can start completing it.

Winners to be announced in May

Project evaluation will take place in two rounds. First, the expert committee selects the best projects from both categories based on the rules. It then invites them to a personal presentation. Projects will be assessed against five main criteria: innovativeness of the solution, contribution to sustainable housing, realism of achieving practical output, effectiveness of the use of grant funds and potential for further development.

• The grant call is announced on 25 February 2026.
• A workshop will be held on 25 March, when interested parties will be able to present their ideas and ask questions about everything necessary.
• Receipt of applications will end on 10 April.
• The winners will be announced at a press conference on 12 May.

The call is administered by the Partnership Foundation, which has long-term experience in managing grant programmes and supporting projects with an environmental aspect. “We place emphasis on a clear and simple way of administering a call, a transparent evaluation process and clearly set rules for drawing support. We want the selected projects to go through only the necessary administration, so that their recipients can focus on actual implementation as soon as possible,” said Petr Kazda, Director of the Partnership Foundation.

It’s not just about the money

Burinka will not only support the selected projects financially, but will also be involved in project management and provide communication support regarding the media and the public.
The call includes expert mentoring focused on sustainability and circular principles. Together with Burinka, this role is held by INCIEN, Institute of Circular Economy.

Sustainability today is not just a matter of materials, but the entire lifecycle of a building (from extraction to demolition), efficient work with resources and long-term impacts. Our goal is to help projects set solutions so that their impact is truly measurable, feasible and economically sustainable in practice,” said Michaela Kloudová, CEO of INCIEN.

Innovation as a long-term commitment by Burinka

“The grant call is another step in Burinka’s long-term strategy to support experimental and pioneering projects in sustainable construction. It opens up space for other imaginative teams who want to push the boundaries of material innovation, technological processes and environmental responsibility,” said Stanislav Lukáš from Burinka.

Burinka’s pilot innovation was Prvok, the first 3D printed house made of concrete. It examined the possibilities of additive manufacturing in the construction industry, the speed of construction and material savings, and opened a debate on the future of digital construction. A 3D printed parkour playground followed, this time with the massive use of recycled concrete mixes as a demonstration of the use of this technology in everyday life.

As part of long-term cooperation on the development of mycelium-based material, mycocomposite, Burinka presented the Samorost experimental house in 2025. The mycocomposite replaces polystyrene and serves as an environmentally-friendly thermal insulator. At the same time, thanks to its beautiful design, it is used in the interior as interior panelling and as a base for the production of some furniture.