Amsterdam, Brussels, Lisbon, Paris – July 25th 2014 – Euronext today announced that students from Estonia have won the title of the Best Business Model Award by Euronext during the JA-YE Europe Company of the Year Competition 2014.
Karina Kabrits from the student company Teamo, was delighted to win saying, “It was a great experience for all of us! At first we were a bit afraid that we couldn’t manage to perform in this competition but we are very happy to have received this award and be part of this event. After this competition and this award we are convinced that we want to continue with this company. Thank you for this opportunity!”
Under the guidance and support of business volunteers, the team aims to help students aged 6-11 to live a happier life by providing training to teach them how to express themselves with confidence and develop their communication and teamwork skills.
Prime Minister of Estonia Taavi Roivas who is JA-YE Europe alumnus opened the 25th Award Ceremony hosted by JA Estonia which gathered together 300 students from 38 countries, teachers, business advisors and partners to celebrate the success of their teams during the three days of competition (23-25th July).
The teams were part of JA-YE Europe flagship Company Programme, which sees students set up and run real businesses with the support of business mentors. The Company of the Year Competition is an annual celebration of the achievements of their very young entrepreneurs and their mini-companies from across Europe. 250,000 students took part this year in the Company Programme and competed at the national level for the “Best Student Company”.
According to our research, alumni students from the Company Programme are proven to be more employable (over 20% less likely to be unemployed than the control group), to have increased possibility of starting up their own business (20% compared to control group) and are more likely to have a higher average income in employment: (12% more compared than the control group).
“The Best Business Model Award by Euronext is an example of how to better prepare the younger generation for the world of work. Competitions and pitching sessions like this are well-tried tools to push students, who quickly identify their strengths and weaknesses as far as their own skills are concerned.” Caroline Jenner, CEO JA-YE Europe.
As a global Exchange, Euronext is interested in how the young entrepreneurs are able to demonstrate that they have built a model which is effective and that would drive attention from investors, making them hypothetically “IPO-worthy”. Financial literacy is one of the core values of Euronext’s corporate responsibility policy. Euronext’s signature Best Mini-Enterprise Business Model prize rewards the team that has demonstrated key learning in the building of an effective business model, thus connecting our core corporate responsibility value of financial literacy with our core business which is facilitating the financing of enterprises.
Dominique Cerutti, CEO of Euronext “We are delighted to reward Teamo with our signature Best Business Model prize. We have collaborated with JA-EY in Europe through its different local affiliates for over five years and we are very proud to be partners with an association that not only concentrates on introducing our future working forces to the concepts of entrepreneurship, but also impacts positively the local communities, offering them an opportunity to take their future into their own hands. These shared values are essential to Euronext.”