Eco Refill and FindIt win Junior Achievement competition

Eco Refill and FindIt will represent Spain in the European Gen-E competition to be held in Istanbul, between July 11 and 14
The Mini-companies and Startup Program are subsidized by the Madrid City Council, through Madrid Emprende
During the course, more than 9,000 secondary, high school, professional training and university students have been trained in entrepreneurship with the Junior Achievement Foundation

In this edition, a hundred entrepreneurial students from secondary school, high school, vocational training and university were selected to present 30 projects during the National Entrepreneurship Competition of the Junior Achievement Foundation, whose objective is to promote entrepreneurial skills among young people. This occasion was the first time that all the entrepreneurial talent of the Mini-companies and Startup Programs, subsidized by the Madrid City Council, through Madrid Emprende.

The objective of these two programs is to promote the entrepreneurial skills of young people such as creativity, effort or teamwork. Thanks to the mentoring of professional volunteers from different companies and the support of teachers, and through different sessions, masterclasses and practical activities, young people acquire the entrepreneurial skills that have allowed them to respond, through their project, to a need detected in their immediate environment.

During the 2022-2023 school year, more than 9,000 young people They have been trained with the entrepreneurship programs of the Junior Achievement Foundation. Of all of them, more than 600 distributed in 140 teams have presented their entrepreneurial projects to participate in this national competition.

Competition Winners

program winner Mini-companies

Eco Refill, from Highlands School (Seville), is a cleaning product dispensing machine that allows containers to be reused as many times as necessary.

The jury valued that it was “a project that addresses one of the great global challenges that requires the commitment of governments, companies and citizens. This mini-company provides a value proposition that promotes more sustainable and responsible practices for caring for the environment."

Winner of Startup Program

FindIt App, from the Francisco de Vitoria University (Madrid), is a mobile application to which all businesses can voluntarily upload their products and prices for comparison purposes, so that consumers find the product they want at the best price.

In this case, the jury valued "the differential value with respect to the competition, the viability of the business model and the proposed follow-up KPIs, experience and skills of the team."

Eco Refill and FindIt will represent Spain in the European Gen-E competition to be held in Istanbul, between July 11 and 14.

other awardees

During the awards ceremony, held in the Fundación Naturgy Auditorium, other awards were also presented:

Madrid City Council Innovative Project Award

Delivered by Fernando Herrero, General Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship of the Madrid City Council. In the category Mini-companies was awarded to Easy Cover, of the Colegio Fomento Peñamayor (Asturias) and in the category Start-up Programme, the winner was Land, from the Carlos III University (Madrid).

Viability Award

Submitted by José Zudaire, management director from SpainCap: find it app, from the Francisco de Vitoria University (Madrid).

HP Garage Award

Delivered by Miguel Ángel Turrado, General Manager of HP Solutions Creation and Development Services at HP: My Interactive Plant, from the Torre Roja Institute (Barcelona).

PMIEF Project Management Award

Delivered by Manuel Ancizu, secretary of PMI Madrid and member of the Social Welfare area: Rimmeln't, of the San Calixto School (Cáceres).

BBVA Incubation Potential Award

Submitted by Fernando Santaella, discipline leader BBVA Agile: MAAT, from the IMF Capitol Vocational Training Center (Madrid).

ManpowerGroup Ready for Work Award

Delivered by Julia Rodriguez, ManpowerGroup Human Age Institute Foundation Development Director: wtech, from the Jesús María Sant Gervasi School (Barcelona).

PwC ESG Impact Award

Delivered by Carlos Caballer, trustee of the PwC Foundation and partner of PwC: GreenUp Cities, from the Carlos III University (Madrid).

Volvo Finance Services Viability + ESG Award

Delivered by José Antonio Mannucci, managing director from Volvo Finance Services: Electric Skateboard Parking, of the CPIFP El Arenal (Seville).

EY Foundation Sustainability Award

Delivered by Carlos Arango, General Director of Fundación EY: Eco Refill, from the Highlands School (Seville).

SAP Intelligent & Sustainable Enterprise Award

Delivered by Félix Monedero, CEO of SAP: Reddu, Ramón Llull University (Barcelona).

FedEx Access Award from FedEx

Submitted by Marta Fuentes, head of HR FedEx Iberia: faranight, from the CIC Batxillerats School (Barcelona).

Naturgy Energy Sustainability Award

Delivered by Kharen Riveros, managerial talent and culture at Naturgy: GreenUp Cities, from the Carlos III University (Madrid).

Nationale-Nederlanden Social Impact Award

Submitted by Ana Porras, diversity of inclusion and sustainability specialist from Nationale-Nederlanden: PICTURE, from the CDP San Juan Bosco (Seville).

Citi Customer Focus Award

Submitted by Pedro López-Quesada, chairman banking, capital markets and advisory Citi's Iberia: wtech, from the Jesús María Sant Gervasi School (Barcelona).

Mini-companies Popular Voting Award

Awarded by StartUp Program participants: ECOCASE, from the IES Santa María de Guía (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria).

Popular Voting StartUp Program Award

Awarded by Mini-companies participants: kaiaolafrom the European University of Madrid.

Other awards for women

During the competition, the prize was also awarded Citi Women Leadership Award, an educational program that the Junior Achievement Foundation carries out together with Citi with the objective of promote and make visible female leadership. In this edition, in which 157 students have participated, the winners in the Junior category were Cecilia Rosés (Colegio Claret Barcelona) and Claudia Serna (SEK-Ciudalcampo International School). For their part, in the Senior category the winners were Ágatha Navarro (Colegio Miramadrid) and Marta Arribas (Colegio Pineda).

The winner of the Tikehau Female Talent Award, granted by Tikehau Capital. This award aims promote diversity in society, give visibility to young people, valuing their skills and contribution to the team. This year the winner, among the 73 young university students, has been Irene Ballón (University of Alcalá de Henares).