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Youth Entrepreneurship Award

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The annual Youth Entrepreneurship Award recognises young people who have chosen to become entrepreneurs and aims to foster entrepreneurship in Europe. The AmCham EU Youth Entrepreneurship Award is supported by AmCham EU's  Executive Council  and organised in collaboration with  JA Europe . The winner receives mentorship from top European CEOs of AmCham EU member companies and a monetary prize toward their start-up.

More info: Alex Vasey AVE@amchameu.eu

2023

Other finalists:

  • Drug n Drop, Alexia Vasilaki (Greece)
  • MammoCheck, Alexandra Dimitriadou (Cyprus)

AMIRA Meditech has developed a software solution to optimise antibiotic prescriptions in hospitals. By monitoring and controlling antibiotic usage, AMIRA helps doctors save time and resources. Through one-of-a-kind prediction models and quickly adapting to guidelines, AMIRA seeks to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics and save millions of lives. 

Jurors:

  • Kelly Adams-Smith, Deputy Chief of Mission, US Mission to the EU 
  • Daniel Carrera, President, UPS Europe
  • Daniel Calleja Crespo, Director-General, Legal Services, European Commission
  • Susan Danger, CEO, AmCham EU
  • Chris Delaney, President EMEA, Goodyear Europe
  • Eva Maydell, MEP, EPP, European Parliament

Other finalists:

  • Pakkeriet Hadsund, Gry Larsen (Denmark)
  • ONE 100, Auguste Kaknevičiūt (Lithuania)

As the EU marks the European Year of Youth, the American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union in collaboration with JA Europe is pleased to recognise Energy Effective Solutions (EES). The company programs and installs energy-efficient electrical installations for companies and private individuals. Its diverse projects range from automated control systems to solar cells and electric car chargers. Ida Norström, CEO began working in the electricity industry at the age of 14 and impressed the jury with her passion for breaking industry norms. EES not only installs electrical equipment but provides customers with total control through a system that produces, stores and uses energy. With every installation the company aims to contribute to a more sustainable ecological, economic and social environment, paving the way for a more progressive electricity market.  

Jurors:

  • Kelly Adams-Smith, Deputy Chief of Mission, US Mission to the EU 
  • Daniel Carrera, President, UPS Europe
  • Chris Delaney, President EMEA, Goodyear Europe
  • Susan Danger, CEO, AmCham EU
  • Eva Maydell, MEP, EPP, European Parliament
  • Martin Jetter, Senior Vice President and Chairman, IBM Europe
  • Gilles Thiebaut, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, HPE Northern Western Europe

 

Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2021

Other finalists:

  • Edutower, Yağmur Can (Turkey)
  • FindEUjobs, Beatriz Lorenzo Blázquez (Spain)
  • Swim.me, Ourania Vlachou (Greece)
  • VR Lab, Eneya Georgieva (Bulgaria)

Ms Wathne is a 26-year-old entrepreneur, mother of two and innovation student at Kristiania College Oslo. She impressed the jury with her ambition to tackle a key issue for the aquaculture industry as well as her drive to make her start-up and team thrive. Paramate develops sensors and connected software that enable fish farmers to monitor the level of hydrogen sulfide on their land-based farms, preventing outbreaks of the toxic gas and promoting better management of resources and the environment.

Jurors:

  • Anna-Michelle Asimakopoulou, MEP, EPP, European Parliament 
  • Luciana Broggi, SVP and Global Head of Routes-to-Market, HP Inc
  • Daniel Carrera, President, UPS Europe;
  • Susan Danger, CEO, AmCham EU
  • Michael Lally, Minister Counsellor for Commercial Affairs and Senior Commercial Officer, US Mission to the EU 
  • Vitaliy Rusakov, President, Fastening Systems and Head of the European Region, Howmet Aerospace

 

Other finalists:

  • Adventures with Amara, Kirija Kandiah (United Kingdom)
  • Canaree, Sara Green Brodersen (Denmark)
  • Celuna/TimeNinja, Cecilia Mzayek (Malta)
  • WakiVaky, Dominika Podolanová (Slovakia)

Saana is made up of a team of cutting-edge researchers and experts who designed a unique personalised nutrition platform based on the latest science and a Machine Learning algorithm to enhance cancer patients' continuum of care and chances of remission. Stéphanie Roland, the founder and CEO of Saana, is passionate about the cause following the loss of her mother to cancer at a young age. Saana aims to fight back now and raise awareness around the impact of nutrition on remission. Today, up to 80% of cancer patients suffer from unaddressed and undiagnosed malnutrition, which endangers their quality of life, treatment follow-up and chances of remission. Saana aims to improve cancer patients' quality of life through actionable, tangible and personalised diet interventions.

Jurors:

  • Claude Alber, Vice-President, Europe, Collins Aerospace a Raytheon Technologies company
  • Anna-Michelle Asimakopoulou, MEP, EPP, European Parliament 
  • Luciana Broggi, SVP and Global Head of Channel strategy and Global accounts, HP Inc 
  • Susan Danger, CEO, AmCham EU
  • Mark Libby, Deputy Chief of Mission, US Mission 
  • Lou Rivieccio, President, UPS Europe

Learn more about Saana

 

eAgronom

Robin Saluoks (Estonia)

eAgronom is an AgTech start-up founded by farmers, financed by farmers and developed via farmer feedback.  It was started by a JA alumnus who didn't find suitable software for his father's farm. He learned how to code and made a first version himself. Today, hundreds of farmers use eAgronom in 7 countries and trust the company with its data organisation and AI suggestions.

Edumus

Maria Rahamägi (Estonia)

Edumus helps working professionals to go back to school and teach one grade, one subject at a time. Made for working professionals, Edumus is a self-development program to learn and practice leadership and training skills. In a time of continued shortage of teachers in Europe, Edumus offers a complementary approach, which is less demanding for teachers and can become a catalyst for positive change.

Biofy

Daniel Gil-Félez (Spain)

Biofy designs and sells modular plants that turn landfill bound plastic waste into low-sulphur fuel, which can be directly used in machinery or blast furnaces or refined into more conventional fuels.
The price is lower and more stable than the one that comes directly from petrol, thanks to their local production.


Other finalists:

  • atlasGo, Thomas Querton (Belgium)
  • Entis, Iida Hokkanen (Finland)

Jurors:

  • Daniel Calleja Crespo, Director General, European Commission
  • Susan Danger, CEO, AmCham EU
  • Joanna Gill, Deputy Bureau Chief, Euronews
  • Mark Libby, Deputy Chief of Mission, United States Mission to the EU
  • Eva Maydell, MEP, EPP, European Parliament
  • Lou Rivieccio, President, UPS Europe

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bioo

Pablo Vidarte (Spain)

Bioo’s technology is based on a biological engine that obtains energy from the decomposition of organic substances naturally expelled by plants, liberating electrons and H2O in the process. No harm is made to any living organism.

GrowGreen

Irene Andreou (Cyprus)

GrowGreen is a biodegradable flower pot made from used coffee grounds, aimed to eliminate the use of plastic pots. It reduces carbon dioxide emissions and food waste at the same time.

Liight

Santiago Jimenez Cortes (Spain)

Liight is an app that motivates people to be more sustainable in daily routines. Through gamification and smart city system we encourage people to use public transport, ride bikes and recycle.                   


Other finalists:

Jurors:

  • Daniel Calleja Crespo, Director General at the European Commission
  • Susan Danger, CEO, AmCham EU
  • Benjamin Fox, Journalist, Euractiv
  • Adam Shub, Charge d’Affaires at the US Mission to the EU
  • Mark Green, President for EMEA and CIS, AES and member of AmCham EU’s Executive Council
  • Rudolf Ertl, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, EMEA, Gilead Sciences and member of AmCham EU’s Executive Council

 

The winner of the AmCham EU Youth Entrepreneurship Award 2017 (Oculus) was revealed at AmCham EU's Gala 2017. This award showcases young people who have chosen to become entrepreneurs, and aims to foster entrepreneurship in Europe. The award was given for a fifth consecutive year in 2017! 

The AmCham EU Youth Entrepreneurship Award is supported by AmCham EU's Executive Council and organised in collaboration with JA Europe. The winner receives mentorship from top European CEOs.

Learn more about Oculus

 

 

Photo: Joonas Ahola and Saku Loukonen, co-founders of MeetingPackage.com, are presented with the 2016 edition of the Youth Entrepreneurship Award on 9 November 2016; Aongus Hegarty, President EMEA, Dell EMC, and Susan Danger, CEO, AmCham EU


Mr. Hegarty also volunteered to mentor the winners, in addition to Pierre Dejoux, President, Business Strategy and Service Otis, UTC; Christian Morales, Vice President, General Manager EMEA, INTEL; and Dirk Ostijn, CEO, MetLife Europe

 

 

The 2016 edition of the Youth Entrepreneurship Award was won by MeetingPackage.com (Joonas Ahola, Finland), an online platform dedicated to the booking of meeting rooms which allows users to easily compare various meeting venues and prices. Jurors praised its potential to scale, its sustainability and the team’s marketing plan.

Other finalists:

  • BeMyEyes (Christian Erfurt, Denmark)
  • Deemly (Sara Green, Denmark)
  • Efiasto (Bernard Seys and Lou-Adrien Fabre, Belgium)
  • Rauteck (Bendix Siebbel, Germany)

Jurors:

  • Alex Barker, Chief of Brussels Bureau, Financial Times
  • Susan Danger, CEO, AmCham EU
  • Anthony L. Gardner, United States Ambassador to the European Union, U.S. Mission to the EU
  • Stefaan Hermans, Head of Cabinet to Commissioner Marianne Thyssen, European Commission
  • Eva Paunova, Member of the European Parliament (EPP, Bulgaria), European Parliament
  • Patrick Xhonneux, Vice-President, EMEA Marketing, SAS

Learn more about Meetingpackage.com

 

 

Photo: Daniel Buhl Nielsen and Hans Nicolai Schjerning Lundsgaard of COOL4SEA receive the Youth Entrepreneurship Award 2015 on 17 November 2015


The award was presented by Christian Morales, Corporate Vice President and General Manager EMEA, Intel, and Lowri Evans, Director-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, European Commission

 

The 2015 edition of the Youth Entrepreneurship Award was won by COOL4SEA (Christian Jensen, Denmark), an engineering firm working to develop thermodynamic, energy and environmental technologies for the international maritime industry. The jury commented on its commercial potential and praised its environmental considerations.

Other finalists:

  • Avenue Trading ApS (Yngvi Karlson Vatnhamar, Denmark)
  • Crowtec (Meriem El Yamri, Spain)
  • InstaJuice (Tomás da Câmara Pestana, Portugal)
  • Travelpoint (Jappe Pollentier, Belgium)

Jurors:

  • John Breidenstine, Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs and Senior Commercial Officer for Europe, U.S. Mission to the EU
  • Daniel Calleja Crespo, Director General, DG Environment, European Commission
  • Susan Danger, Managing Director, AmCham EU
  • Ryan Heath, Senior EU Correspondent, POLITICO Europe
  • Julián J. Nebreda, President, AES Europe

Learn more about COOL4SEA

 

 

Photo: David Mata Valdes, Founder of PYNK SYSTEMS is presented with the 2014 edition of the Youth Entrepreneurship Award on 12 December 2014, Eva Paunova MEP (EPP, Bulgaria) and Patrick Deconinck, Senior Vice President, West Europe, 3M

 

PYNK SYSTEMS  (David Mata Valdes, Spain), a start-up constructing ergonomic and smart office desks in the hope of boosting work productivity, was awarded the 2014 edition of the Youth Entrepreneurship Award. Jurors felt the focus on combining modern technology to aid manufacturing and engineering was highly innovative, as well as citing a well-coordinated business model in their decision.

Other finalists:

  • Aciety (Aismantas Bulanavicius, Lithuania)
  • DREEMO (Pedro Serrano, Portugal)
  • Kokouspaketit (Joonas Ahola, Finland)
  • tinytien (Francisco Ruiz, Spain)

Jurors:

  • Daniel Calleja Crespo, Director General, DG Enterprise and Industry
  • Susan Danger, Managing Director, AmCham EU
  • Christian Morales, Corporate Vice President and General Manager EMEA, Intel
  • Eva Paunova, Member of the European Parliament (EPP, Bulgaria), European Parliament
  • Eric Peeters, Vice President, Emulsions, Powders and Blends, Dow Corning
  • John F. Sammis, Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Mission to the EU
  • Peter Spiegel, Brussels Bureau Chief, Financial Times

Learn more about PINK SYSTEMS

 

 

Photo: Sébastien Deletaille and Loïc Jacobs van Merlen, co-founders of Real Impact Analytics, celebrate winning the first edition of the Youth Entrepreneurship Award at AmCham EU’s 50th Anniversary Gala on 11 July 2013.


The award was presented by Siim Kallas, Commissioner for Transport and Susan Danger, Managing Director, AmCham EU

 

The first edition of the Youth Entrepreneurship Award was awarded to Real Impact Analytics (Sébastien Deletaille and Loïc Jacobs van Merlen, Belgium). The jury recognised their ‘unique and innovative’ business model, ‘proving they can operate in a very competitive market.’

Jurors:

  • Daniel Calleja Crespo, Director General, DG Enterprise and Industry
  • Susan Danger, Managing Director, AmCham EU
  • William Kennard, United States Ambassador to the European Union, U.S. Mission to the EU
  • Paul Rübig, Member of the European Parliament (EPP, Austria), European Parliament
  • Peter Ryan, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Managing Director EMEA, HP Enterprise
  • Peter Spiegel, Brussels Bureau Chief, Financial Times

Learn more about Real Impact Analytics

 

 


More info: Alex Vasey AVE@amchameu.eu