It started as an idea of four classmates. Today, the newly founded company Duncal Technologies is launching its first product. The start-up targets organisers of airsoft, paintball and laser games. The young entrepreneurs themselves designed, manufactured and, together with airsoft players, tested their console, which, thanks to high-quality wireless technology, can reach as far as a kilometre away. For gamers, modern additions are supposed to significantly improve their gaming experience.

Samuel Lipták was clear about this product from the beginning. As an avid airsoft player, he knew that the experience of the game could be improved a lot. "I've been toying with the idea of making it a business plan since my second year at University, but at first I didn't succeed: I was on my own, and I lacked both support and a good team. One day during lunch, three of my Mechatronics classmates and I said: We're smart, let's try something! And I persuaded them to get into the field of airsoft and paintball," recalls Lipták, who met his business partners at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Brno University of Technology.

That was last summer. Since then, four future engineers have managed to design, manufacture, test and fine-tune a new game console that is unparalleled in the field of airsoft. "Similar devices existed, but they were home-made things that failed to have a lot of functions. We make a device designed specifically for action sports, so we pride ourselves on making it very high-quality both in terms of function and endurance. We want our customers to associate us with quality from the very beginning," says Jindřich Šafran, a student of Biomechanics and another member of the Duncal Technologies team.

The game console is the first product with which the start-up is now entering the market. Its biggest advantage is the use of wireless technology, which makes the game clearer for both the players and the organiser and allows the teams to enjoy the whole event much more intensively. "Airsoft is not always played in the same way, there are so-called game modes. The most popular ones are "Bomb" and "Dominator", both of which meant that players did not have a real-time overview of the state of the game and teams were unable to make strategic decisions. Thanks to our wireless technology, this is now possible. Instead of writing down times on papers in the field, everyone now immediately knows how everyone is doing," Lipták explains.

Tournament organisers and operators of airsoft parks have not yet had the opportunity to officially buy these accessories. And this is where Duncal Technologies' business activities are to focus. "We will start with the lease of our equipment, and later we would like to proceed with the sale. The technology is designed in such a way that although we have produced the prototype – mainly to save money – we can already outsource commercial pieces to contracted companies that will provide us with mechanics, assembly, installation of electronics and uploading software programmed by our colleagues Ondřej Vodička and Adam Číž," says Šafran. He adds that although we are talking mainly about airsoft, where the idea came from, the device is also suitable for paintball or laser game players.

On the way to their own business, students were helped by their ferocity as well as by several projects that are designed to help bring good ideas into the world. "We took advantage of every opportunity that presented itself. Thanks to JIC, we received the Prototype and Verify grant, we entered the Come Your Business competition through BUT, and we were helped by technology transfer experts at the Rector's Office. We went to events, talked to people, presented ourselves, made contacts," says Šafran.

One of the contacts proved to be particularly useful: a meeting with Robert Zich, who heads the Department of Management at the Faculty of Business and Management of the Brno University of Technology, as well as the English study program Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development. "He met us for coffee, gave us a lot of good advice, and at the end, he said, 'Come to my class to give a presentation and my students will provide you with their feedback.'" It helped us a lot and thanks to that we expanded our team to include a business section," adds Šafran.

In summer, young entrepreneurs are planning a big airsoft event. They want to use this for further promotion and – if the development goes well – for the introduction of yet another product. The feedback they received from the first testers on the game console was said to be good. "We've never had an outright negative reaction, just occasional constructive comments on the small details we're working on. In terms of functionality, everyone praised our product," says Šafran. And the biggest problem? "They did not want to give us the device back so they could continue to play with it," Lipták concludes with a laugh.

More about the startup on duncaltech.com or Duncal Technologies' Instagram @duncal_tech