Press Releases

Startup from Malta wins European Challenge in Helsinki with INTACT, an innovative system to increase safety for motorcyclists

Helsinki, 30 June 2017

The European Enterprise challenge hosted this year by JA Finland gathered 19 Startups from 15 countries in Helsinki. University students who took part in the ‘Start Up Programme’ were competing and presenting their start-ups to a selected jury.

The main Award was presented to a student team from Saint Martin's Institute of Higher Education in Malta. They impressed the jury with their INTACT system, a technology enhancing safety for motorcyclists. Impact sensors installed in the rider’s helmet are connected to a smartphone app that automatically alerts emergency services and relatives, providing the location once a collision is detected.

“Winning the award is overwhelming, it happens once in a lifetime. From the beginning we wanted to have a positive impact on society and our focus was to improve safety for motorcyclists on the road. Participating in the JA Startup programme was a practical experience of our studies in entrepreneurship. We learned team work, how the real business works and how to present our company. We’re going to keep on working on our system for further success”, said INTACT member Katryna Briffa.

Every year, the Startup programme engages over 14,000 students from 300 centres of higher learning, giving them the opportunity to experience running a business from top to bottom. Supporting European goals of improving youth employability and the start-up ecosystem, the programme fosters key competences to ensure that students are prepared for success after university. They gain key understanding in self-employment, business creation, risk-taking and coping with adversity, all with the support of experienced business volunteers.

“It was extraordinary to see so many talented young people. I’m so grateful to JA Europe and JA Finland for inviting me as a keynote speaker and jury member in this competition. These companies not only know how to run a business, but they also want to make money, help a lot of people, and most importantly have a lot of fun”, said jury member David Meltzer, CEO & Co-Founder of Sports 1 Marketing.

The European Enterprise Challenge is supported by businesses who awarded the competing startup with signature Awards. Local partners in Finland included Microsoft, Nordea and Roschier. At European level, the NN Social Innovation Award was presented to the Spanish team who developed Light, a mobile application encouraging people to be more sustainable in their daily lives through gamification and smart city systems. The Visa Award for Connected Commerce rewarded City Check an app with a customizable family game that allows you to play various games while visiting a city.

“Visa has a long standing commitment to entrepreneurial education. Our partnership with JA Europe at this year’s European Enterprise Challenge in Helsinki has given us a fabulous opportunity to hear from the young start-ups and talented entrepreneurs from across Europe who are helping to shape a culture of innovation. We are delighted to recognise City Check with the Visa Award for Connected Commerce, and look forward to meeting the team again when they visit London for a mentoring session with our innovation experts”,said Anthony Craufurd, Director, Venture, Visa.

Jury members

•    Hans Daems, Group Public Affairs Officer, Hitachi Europe
•    Max Mickelsson, Director Government Affairs, Microsoft Finland
•    David Meltzer, Chief Executive Officer, Co-Founder, Sports 1 Marketing
•    Sari Suono, Chief People & Culture Officer, ISS Palvelut
•    Cristian Gheorghe, Managing Partner, Nexus Consulting
•    Laurent Roux, Entrepreneurship Officer, European Institute of Innovation & Technology
•    Joonas Ahola, CEO & Co-founder, Meetingpackage.com

JA Europe Enterprise Challenge Awards

•    Winner: Intact, Malta
•    1st runner-up: Agrimare Bio, Norway
•    2nd runner-up: App’ero, France
 
European Signature Awards

‘NN Social Innovation Award’ recognises the start-up that best addresses societal challenges while remaining a realistic plan for today’s marketplace. In addition to having an excellent business proposal, the start-ups will be judged on their potential to make a lasting positive impact on people and our communities.

Winner: Light, Spain

‘Visa Award for Connected Commerce’ recognises the start-up enterprise in the European Enterprise Challenge that is in the strongest position to capitalise on change by embodying the values driving Connected Commerce: innovation, globalisation and consumer control.

Winner: City Check, Portugal

Local Signature Awards

Roschier Client in Focus Award
Winner: Intact, Malta

Microsoft Innovation in Technology Award
Winner: IOBee, Belgium

Nordea Sustainability Award
Winner: LegioAgro, Spain

Alumni Leadership Award (awarded to individuals who demonstrate outstanding leadership skills which impact their team and the JA Startup)

•    Iida Hokkanen, Finland
•    Lucas Arndt, Luxembourg
•    Wissem Chouk, France
•    Henrik Krogh, Denmark
•    Elfrid Skjedal, Norway

http://eec.jaeurope.org/    #jaEEC17


About JA Europe
JA Europe is Europe’s largest provider of education programmes for entrepreneurship, work readiness and financial literacy, reaching 3.2 million students in 39 countries in 2014. JA works with the education and business communities as well as governments to provide young people from primary school to university with experiences that build the skills and competences they will need to succeed in a global economy.

About JA Finland
JA Finland’s (Junior Achievement Finland) goal is to advance entrepreneurial attitude and an active lifestyle among Finnish youths by increasing their knowledge of entrepreneurship, providing entrepreneurial experiences, enhancing readiness for working life and financial management skills.
JA aims to fulfil its goals by providing programs supporting entrepreneurship and consumer education for 7- to 25-year-olds through schools, universities, and other educational institutions. The programs are carried out as a part of the schools’ own curricula.

For more information, please contact:

   
Philippe Giot, JA Europe
philippe@jaeurope.org

Eemeli ALANNE, JA Finland
emeli.alanne@nuoriyrittajyys.fi

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