The Junior Chamber International (JCI Luxembourg) held its annual Gala on December 1st, 2021, at the Chamber of Commerce for the 15th edition of the CYEL (Creative Young Entrepreneur Luxembourg) award. Winner of this year’s competition is Tahereh Pazouki (Magrid).
The goal of the CYEL is to promote young entrepreneurs aged between 18 and 40 and to reward their business creativity and innovative ideas.
The 2021 CYEL awards were presented by Pedro Castilho, founder of Verbalius, and the keynote speaker for this 15th edition was Ilana Devillers, founder and CEO of F4A, who received the Coup de Coeur award in 2018.
The 10 finalists of the CYEL award 2021, which had been selected out of the 30 applicants, had pitched their ideas the independent jury at the BIL HQ on November 12th. The top three finalists chosen by the jury were Mattia Raffaelli (RoomMate), Tahereh Pazouki (Magrid) and Quentin de Madre (Kidola).
“This year was one of the most competitive years, with a very high quality of entrepreneurs. The fact that the CYEL reaches its 15th edition shows the importance of this competition for Luxembourg’s (start-up) ecosystem” says Namir Yeroham, board member and past president of JCI Luxembourg.
A new feature of this 2021’s edition, Tahereh Pazouki and Magrid will compete against other ‘national champions’ in a second round, organised on a European level.
Find out the results of the 2021 CYEL awards below:
1st place: Tahereh Pazouki (Magrid)
Tahereh has developed an early math learning solution called Magrid. Magrid is a visual based pedagogical programme, 100% scientifically tested, to improve early childhood development in math, visual space, cognitive abilities. This learning solution is language-free and thus removes the language barrier in learning math education and provides equal educational opportunities to all learners.
Find out more → Magrid
2nd place: Quentin de Madre (Kidola)
Along Jonathan Kindermans and Simon Lelorran, Quentin de Madre founded Kidola, an application which provides an efficient monitoring of children: activities with pictures, naps, meals, without forgetting hygiene. Kidola ensures that what happens at the nursery doesn’t stay at the nursery.
Find out more → Kidola
3rd place: Mattia Raffaelli (RoomMate)
Mattia is the CEO and Co-Founder of RoomMate, and steers the company’s vision to be the proptech that automates the processes for mid-to long-term rental management, with an app for tenants and a SAAS platform for landlords.
Find out more → RoomMate
For this year’s edition, the jury decided to offer two “Coup de Coeur” prizes, one based on the sustainability of the product, and the other based on the resilience of the entrepreneur during the difficult period of Covid.
Sustainability Award: Filip Westerlund (OUR CHOICE)
OUR CHOICE sells the “world’s first circular sneakers” to a global audience online. The sneakers are all made from natural and certified raw materials The idea behind OUR CHOICE is to create a circular business model utilizing sustainable and circular raw materials that are less resource intensive.
Find out more → OUR CHOICE
Resilience Award: Elfy Pins (Supermiro)
Well known in Luxembourg as entrepreneur and leader, Elfy proved to be resilient and unique during the pandemic, when she had to completely change Supermiro’s business model to survive. Supermiro is an app and website which helps you find the best events and places in your local area.
Find out more → Supermiro
The Jury was composed of JCI members working in the startup sector, business angels and service providers.
Jury members:
– BIL – Daniel Haag, Global Head of Corporate Department
– Bonn Steichen & Partners – Carolina Vasselli, Senior Associate, and Elodie Vincent, Counsel
– KPMG – Patrick Weis, Partner
– LALUX – Jerome Wiwinius, Head of Corporate Sales.
– Microsoft – Candi Carrera, Country Manager
– Luxinnovation – Stefan Berendt, Head of Start Up
– Luxembourg-City Incubator – Bastien Berg, CEO
– LBAN – Romain Hoffman, Board Director
– Le Village by Credit Agricole – Amélie Madinier, Director
As the winner’s award, the JCI offered free consultation from JCI’s partners, a cash award, access to its international network, free press release and media exposure.
All the pictures of the 2021 JCI Gala and CYEL awards can be found the CYEL Facebook page.
