JA Europe Company of the Year

Upper-secondary

About the award

The JA Europe Company of the Year Award recognises the mini-companies and young people who best demonstrated their business acumen and spirit of entrepreneurship, following their participation to the JA Company Programme. The jury will nominate 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in the JA Company of the Year 2025 Award.

Criteria

Innovation and Value Creation 15%:

1. How well is the business problem and opportunity clearly defined?

2. How does the solution fulfill a customer need, has resonance and desirability?

3. How impactful is the proposed solution on society & human lives (social, ethical and environmental issues)?

Market and Competition 15%:

4. Did the team clearly identify the target market and the market potential of their product/service?

5. Did the team show an understanding of their competition and their product/service differentiation in relation to them?

Finances 30%:

6. How compelling is the business model (realistic and viable)? Were objectives reviewed and updated regularly?

6.1 To what extent has the company a good financial performance and financial controls in place?

Management & Team 30%:

7. Does the team exhibit the experience and skills required for operation? Has the team managed to recruit advisors when needed?

7.1 To what extent has the company operated effectively and has an effective system to manage and record its operation?

Ability to Demonstrate Achievements in Learning 10%:

8. To what extent are team members able to reflect on competence development (creativity, self-efficacy, taking initiative, teamwork, resourcefulness, perseverance, taking responsibility)?

Judges

Aleksander Sarapuli

CO-CEO of the Albanian American Development Foundation

Bogusława Kus

Head of Client Service Transaction Processing, Euroclear Bank

Branislav Chrappan

Director, Network Engineering Network Solutions COE, AT&T Global Network Services

Emilios Kyriacou

Chair of JA Greece and CITI CEO and Banking Head Greece, Cyprus & Malta

Kari Kivinen

Education Outreach Expert European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights, European Union Intellectual Property Office, EUIPO

María Comín

Preuniversity Education Director, Microsoft

Mark Van Giel

Head of Priority Banking Animation, BNP Paribas Fortis

Martinš Bicevskis

CEO of MB Family Trust and a member of the Supervisory Board of DelfinGroup, Delfin Group/MB Family Trust

Winner(s)