Over 2,000 JA high school and university student “startups” will present their ideas at the Gen-E 2025 Virtual Expo and will compete for a place at the Athens Final.
Athens is this year’s Pan-European Center for Student and Youth Entrepreneurship, as it will host more than 800 visitors from 40 European countries in July for Gen-E 2025, organized by Junior Achievement Europe and hosted for the first time in Greece by Junior Achievement Greece.
The JA Europe Gen-E 2025, Europe’s largest festival and competition for youth entrepreneurship, under the auspices of the European Commission, kicks off with the Virtual Expo, where more than 2,000 innovative youth “companies” from across Europe will showcase their businesses. Gen-E 2025 will culminate in Athens from July 1st to 3rd, 2025, with the Final Pan-European Competition, where winners of national contests will compete to be crowned Europe’s best high school and university startups of 2025.
On Wednesday, May 21st, at 10:00 AM CEST, the official virtual opening ceremony of Gen-E 2025 will be streamed LIVE from Athens on the event’s official website www.gen-e.eu as well as on the JA Europe and JA Greece Facebook pages.
Hosted by JA Europe CEO Mr. Salvatore Nigro, the ceremony will include an introduction to Gen-E 2025, details about the competition’s processes, and acknowledgments of the event’s supporters. Speeches will be given by Mr. Emilios Kyriacou, Chair of JA Greece, Citi CEO and Banking Head Greece, Malta, and Cyprus; Mr. Argiris Tzikopoulos, CEO of JA Greece; Ms. Laurance Morvan, Chair of JA Europe and Chief of Staff to Accenture Europe, Middle East CEO; and Mr. Mark Timmermans, JA Europe Board Member and Vice President of Network Planning and Engineering at FedEx, Main Partner of Gen-E 2025.
The President of the European Parliament, Ms. Roberta Metsola, will formally inaugurate the virtual Gen-E 2025 event with her opening remarks.
Laurence Morvan, Chair of JA Europe, said: “Gen-E Festival is an iconic event, where JA showcases the best of European youth businesses. This year we have an all time record with well over 2,000 companies present in the Virtual Expo. For Europe to be competitive we need more business creation, more innovation, more adoption of new technologies. So we need you, our youth, to make Europe thrive.”
Salvatore Nigro, CEO of JA Europe, added: “The Gen-E Virtual Expo is our digital showcase, a true demonstration of the impact JA in Europe has by mobilising tens of thousands of youth in a virtual entrepreneurial experience. I invite everyone to come and discover their innovations and support their early start up phase by engaging and mentoring Europe’s youngest entrepreneurs. Remember to participate in the Online Vote of the Public Choice Award!”
Mr. Emilios Kyriacou, Chairman of the Board of JA Greece, pointed out: “The moment we have been waiting for has arrived, as the Gen-E 2025 Online Virtual Expo opens its doors to host 2,000 innovative youth ‘businesses’ from all over Europe. Congratulations to all the teams that have managed to stand out among 400,000 student ‘companies’ and participate in Europe’s largest youth entrepreneurship competition! We look forward to seeing you in person in July at the Pan-European Final Competition, which will take place in Athens—the heart of European youth entrepreneurship!”
Mr. Argiris Tzikopoulos, CEO of JA Greece, emphasized: “Gen-E 2025 is much more than just an event for us at JA Greece; it is a dream come true. With deep faith in the potential of young people, we have been working for years to provide them with space and opportunities to grow and unfold their talent. Hosting Gen-E in Athens is both a moment of pride and responsibility. I look forward to seeing the ideas of these young individuals come to life before our eyes, proving that the future of Europe is being built today—by them.”
Participants in the Pan-European Virtual Expo will compete for online awards and the Public Choice Award, determined by public voting at www.gen-e.eu. Winners will earn a trip to Greece and their own stand at Gen-E 2025 in Athens. In 2025, more than 400,000 students and university participants across Europe took part in Junior Achievement programmes such as the JA Company Programme and JA Start Up.
About JA Europe
JA Europe is the largest and leading organization in Europe dedicated to inspiring and preparing young people to succeed. For over 100 years, JA Worldwide has delivered hands-on, experiential learning in entrepreneurship, work readiness and financial health. In the last school year, the JA Europe network in over 40 countries provided nearly 7 million learning experiences for youth in online, in person and blended formats, the organization provided 95,581 teaching experiences and 86,533 volunteering and mentoring experiences. In 2025, JA Worldwide was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, the fourth nomination in four years.
About JA Greece
JA Greece, founded in November 2005, is a member of the global education and entrepreneurship non profit organization Junior Achievement Worldwide and of the European regional center JA Europe. The global JA Company Program promotes entrepreneurial thinking among teenagers and gives students the opportunity to implement innovative business ideas in practice. Two Greek student companies, Microgreens Magicgreens from the 2nd Experimental Gymnasium of Kilkis and Isometricks from the Experimental Lyceum of the University of Macedonia, won the First Pan-European Award in two consecutive years (2022 & 2023). Moreover, Isometricks, representing Europe, also won the First Global Award of Junior Achievement in 2024—the De La Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award.
