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Press Release from 2018-10-09 / Group

KfW Entrepreneurs' Award 2018: success stories inspire new business

  • The 16 regional winners have been selected
  • Awards presented to successful entrepreneurs who have expanded their business
  • Awards ceremony held at the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy in Berlin on 11 October 2018
  • Total prize fund of EUR 35,000

The 16 regional winners in the KfW Entrepreneurs' Award 2018 have been selected and will receive their prizes at the opening event for the deGUT conference at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy on 11 October. With these awards, KfW honours successful entrepreneurs who have transformed an innovative idea into a successful business. One of the aims of the awards is to inspire more entrepreneurs in Germany.

Every regional winner (one from each of Germany's federal states) receives a prize of EUR 1,000 and an invitation to the ceremony in Berlin, including hotel accommodation, a visitors' programme and PR activities for their business. Furthermore, the 16 regional winners will be entered into the national competition, which has a prize fund of EUR 9,000 that will be awarded during the event. Attendees will also vote for the winner of the people's choice award (worth EUR 5,000). A further business will also be presented with the special Social Entrepreneurship Award, receiving a prize of EUR 5,000. The KfW Entrepreneurs' Award has a total prize fund of EUR 35,000.

Businesses from any sector can enter, provided they were founded after 2013. The winners were selected by a jury made up of representatives from KfW, promotional institutions and the worlds of business, policy and media, who assessed the business ideas according to their degree of innovation, creativity, and social responsibility. They also looked at the business' approach to the environment and their contribution to the creation and protection of jobs and apprenticeships.

This year's regional winners:

Baden-Württemberg: Visioverdis GmbH (intelligent green facades for buildings)
www.visioverdis.de

Bavaria: Social-Bee gGmbH (social integration service provider)
www.social-bee.eu

Berlin: Magnosco GmbH (non-invasive skin cancer testing)
www.magnosco.com

Brandenburg: MotionTag (smartphone ticketing for public transport)
www.motion-tag.com

Bremen: Valispace GmbH (engineering software)
www.valispace.com

Hamburg: Goldeimer gGmbH (mobile eco toilets)
www.goldeimer.de

Hesse: Schuhe24 (online sales portal for independent shoe retailers)
www.schuhe24.de

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: GWA Hygiene GmbH (hospital hygiene)
www.gwa-hygiene.de

Lower Saxony: Ankerkraut GmbH (spice mixes)
www.ankerkraut.de

North Rhine-Westphalia: Intrapore GmbH (soil and groundwater restoration)
www.intrapore.com

Rhineland-Palatinate: Die Brotpuristen (bakery)
www.diebrotpuristen.de

Saarland: LuxTek (support protection and protective plates / succession)
www.luxtek.eu

Saxony: Zellmechanik Dresden GmbH (cell measurement device)
www.zellmechanik.com

Saxony-Anhalt: neotiv GmbH (memory testing app for the early detection of Alzheimers)
www.neotiv.com

Schleswig-Holstein: Superseven GmbH (sustainable packaging)
www.superseven.eu

Thuringia: Ländliche Kaffeestuben (catering establishment)
www.laendliche-kaffeestuben.de

The special Social Entrepreneurship Award will be awarded to Ackerdemia e.V. (agricultural projects for schools) from Brandenburg
www.ackerdemia.de

Find out more about the KfW Award at www.kfw.de/award(available in German only). A second press release concerning the KfW Entrepreneurs' Award ceremony will be published on 12 October 2018.

Contact

Portrait Wolfram Schweickhardt