Prize money and good PR for young, innovative companies

• Businesses/successor companies established in or after 2017 can take part
• One company from each German federal state will receive an award, and there will be a nationwide winner
• A People’s Choice Award and a special prize will also be awarded
• Other special prizes: the KfW Capital Awards for Best Female Investor and Best Impact Investor
• The prize fund amounts to EUR 45,000 in total

The challenges for fledgling companies in recent years have been significant, making it all the more important for successful entrepreneurs to receive public recognition. The KfW Entrepreneurs' Award is a recognition of quality and often generates valuable media coverage for the winners. Applicants can still register until 1 July. The competition is open to all industries and successor companies established in or after 2017 that are based in Germany.

The jury, consisting of representatives from KfW, promotional banks, politics and business, will evaluate the business ideas according to their degree of innovation and creativity. Other key factors when deciding on the winners include the company's sustainability efforts and its level of social responsibility. The company’s values in terms of employee friendliness and diversity – as well as various other factors – likewise play a role in the evaluation.

Awards will be presented to one company from each German federal state. The winners from each state will be awarded EUR 1,000. They will then go on to compete for the national award, which is endowed with additional prize money of EUR 9,000. In addition, a special Social Entrepreneur prize of EUR 5,000 will be awarded, and all state winners will have the opportunity to receive a further EUR 5,000 through the People’s Choice Award.

In addition, KfW Capital, KfW’s subsidiary responsible for the equity investment business, will be awarding another special prize for the first time, the KfW Capital Award. This will be awarded for the categories of Best Female Investor and Best Impact Investor and will be worth EUR 5,000 in each case. With this award, KfW Capital aims to draw attention to the issues of diversity and impact, i.e. the effectiveness of an investment, as these are important for the ongoing development of the VC ecosystem.

The prize winners will be announced on 19 October 2022. In addition, the TV channel n-tv will report on the award winners in a special programme. The companies will also receive support from an experienced PR agency on how to market their success story.

The online application form and other details are available (in German only) at
www.kfw-awards.de

Press contact:
KfW Entrepreneurs' Award
c/o Peperoni Werbe- und PR-Agentur GmbH, Friedrichstrasse 23 A, 10969 Berlin, Germany
Jan Beznoska, tel.: 030 257717–77, email: