370 000 young entrepreneurs compete for European Awards on UN Worlds Skills Day

LONDON, July 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Swim.me and Scribo have been named winners of JA Europe's two annual student company competitions, after battling it out with Europe's best young entrepreneurs in Gen-E 2021, the largest entrepreneurship festival across Europe.

Organised by JA Europe and hosted this year by JA Lithuania, the Gen-E festival combines two annual awards.

Winners of the European Enterprise Challenge:

• 1^st - Swim.me (Greece) who created a smart wearable device that preserves the orientation of blind swimmers in the pool. The system consists of an eco-friendly swimming cap and goggles and is intended for use in training conditions.
• 2^nd - Mute (Portugal), a sound absorption module, able to eliminate echo/reverb and unwanted frequencies in a room by using fabric residues.
• 3^rd - Hjárni (Norway), whose goal is to become the world's most preferred supplier of eco-friendly tanning agents for sustainable leather production.

Winners of the Company of the Year Competition:

• 1^st – Scribo (Slovakia), a solution to dry-erase markers that are not being recycled and produce a waste of 35 billion plastic markers every year.
• 2^nd – FlowOn (Greece), an innovative adapter which converts outdoor taps into "smart taps" regulating the flow of water, reducing water consumption by up to 80% and reducing exposure to viruses and germs by more than 98%.
• 3^rd – Lazy Bowl (Austria), are an all-female company specializing in freeze-dried fruit 'smoothiebowls' which are free from both colourings and preservatives.

The Gen-E Festival also saw the announcement of a "JA Europe Teacher of the Year Award". Sedipeh Wägner, a teacher from Sweden, won the prize. Ms Wägner is an experienced JA teacher at the Introduction Program, dedicated to migrants and vulnerable students to prepare for the national programme.

Salvatore Nigro, CEO of JA Europe said: "Our intention is to help boost career ambitions and improve employability, entrepreneurial skills and attitudes. Young entrepreneurs have much to offer our society, and every year we see a new wave of enthusiasm towards solving societal problems through entrepreneurship. It's reflected in the winners again this year, that young entrepreneurs not only see business as a means to a financial end, but as a platform by which to improve society and help people around them."

Sponsors for this year include Citi Foundation, FedEx, ManpowerGroup, BNY Mellon. AmCham EU, Bloomberg as well as technology partner Avanade.