At the Next Gen Fest held at Walibi amusement park in Waver, Walloon Brabant, the Flemish Young Entrepreneurs of the Year were crowned on Saturday.
Out of 22 finalists, four winners were chosen in categories including ‘Mini Company of the Year’, ‘Small Business Project of the Year’ (Innovation), ‘Small Business Project of the Year’ (Start-up), and ‘Start Academy Idea of the Year’, as reported by Vlajo, the organising association for Flemish Young Enterprises. Among the winners was a team that developed a "smartphone hotel" in response to mobile phone bans in schools.
Many participants had no entrepreneurial experience before this school year, according to a press release. Through Vlajo’s educational programmes, they learned various aspects of entrepreneurship like brainstorming, collaboration, pitching, and selling.
YouthWorks clinched the ‘Start Academy Idea of the Year’ with an online platform that allows people to outsource tasks like babysitting or tutoring to local students.
The ‘Small Business Project of the Year’ (Innovation) award went to CoolCycle, creators of a passive, reusable cooling box designed for the transport of medical products requiring constant refrigeration.
InnClass received the ‘Small Business Project of the Year’ (Start-up) award for their ‘smartphone hotel’ for schools, which automatically registers attendance. “This innovative system reduces distractions in class and simplifies administrative tasks for teachers,” the statement said.
Grind4Good was named ‘Mini Company of the Year’. They devised a method to efficiently break down polystyrene foam. “The crumbled material is then used as insulating filler in blankets made from residual materials and donated to the homeless.”
Flemish Minister-President Matthias Diependaele, who presented one of the awards, stated, “To ensure tomorrow’s prosperity, we must encourage young entrepreneurship today. Vlajo offers Flemish youth the chance to prove that with a good idea and courage, you can build your own business. They learn that entrepreneurship not only brings personal growth but also helps solve today’s and tomorrow’s challenges.”
The Flemish leader noted that the number of student entrepreneurs in Flanders is at an all-time high. Currently, 6,741 young people are balancing their studies with their own businesses—a clear signal, he remarked.
