Winners of the 2023 Luxembourg Mini Enterprise Bëssen Wëssen scooped the Goodyear Brand Excellence award at the Gen-E conference on Friday.
Organised by Junior Achievement Europe in Istanbul, Turkey, the students from Bëssen Wëssen were among thousands aged 15 and over from 41 countries, who competed for a prize.
Bëssen Wëssen was awarded first prize at the Jonk Entrepreneuren Mini-Enterprise contest in June for their innovative card game that helps newcomers to Luxembourg learn more about the country’s culture, language, geography and history.
As part of their prize, the team of nine students from Lycée Aline Mayrisch, including Cherine Nothum, Julia Elgarrach, Emma Pardaens, Kim Lanners, Lynn Haupert, Mathieu Vercauteren, Véronique Olinger, Vicky Noben and Yanis Aboummaad, were invited to represent Luxembourg in Istanbul.
For the Gen-E festival, the young entrepreneurs created a second version, focusing on the European Union. The Brand Excellence Award recognised mini enterprises with a solid business model, growth potential, and a good understanding of customer expectations.
Team leader Kim Lanners won the Alumni Leadership Award in recognition of her leadership skills. She said: “You meet so many new people, get new ideas, get inspired to keep going and be even more motivated.”
Bright Cleaning
Bright Cleaning, winners of Luxembourg’s Young Enterprise Project, vied for the prize of JA Europe Innovation of the Year. Julian Rousset, Max Rollinger and Paul Parries, BTS students studying Connected Buildings and Cities at the Lycée des Arts et Métiers, developed an autonomous system that cleans photovoltaic panels without human intervention. The team which was supported by teacher Djamel Fellag and coach Luigi Losavio, was shortlisted for the Fedex Award.
The JA Europe Company of the Year Award (upper secondary level) level of secondary education) went to Isometricks from Greece.
The JA Europe Start-Up of the Year Award (university level)university level) went to Toteuma team from Finland.
The JA Europe Innovation of the Year Award (both levels) went to Tiaki from the UK.
The most innovative company of the year was awarded to Mindcore from the Isle of Man.
The jury awarded the Access Award to Evstinguish from Denmark.
Editor’s note: In this episode of The Elevator, Emma Pardaens, Co-founder of Bëssen Wëssen talks about the educational, inclusive and interactive Luxembourgish card game a team of 9 students from Lycée Aline Mayrisch developed.
