From 16th January to 3rd April, registrations are open for the 6th edition of the UW Entrepreneur of the Year competition. Entrepreneurs associated with the University, who have achieved a business success, are welcome to participate. The results will be announced in late May.
The University of Warsaw Entrepreneur of the Year competition is a recurrent project aimed at promoting entrepreneurial activities. It also presents good practices and positive examples of people involved in creating and developing various organisations.
The competition is open for students, doctoral candidates, employees and graduates from the University of Warsaw.
“Our intention is to select people who represent the actual top of the business world. However, winning itself does not define the competition. We want to set an example by promoting entrepreneurship and proper practices of Polish business,” Adam Niewiński, the chairman of the competition committee, emphasises.
The awards are given in five categories:
1. Master of Business – for a successful company, which has been in the market for more than four years,
2. Community Entrepreneur – for an organisation supporting social activities,
3. Innovation/Innovator of the Year – for entrepreneurs who offer innovative products and services,
4. The UW Start-up of the Year – for start-ups, which operate for less than five years and have been proposed for the competition no later than twelve months before the announcement of the results,
5. Corporate Entrepreneur – for an employee who launched a documented implementation of an innovative product, service or solution.
“I think that this competition, filled with good business practices, shows young entrepreneurs that their academic education may lead to professional success. There are many UW graduates whose products we use in our everyday lives,” Radosław Krzywicki, the Managing Director at Assay Group and a member of the competition committee, says.
The award ceremony will take place in May.
The 6th edition of the UW Entrepreneur of the Year competition is held under the auspices of the UW Rector and the Marshall of the Masovian Voivodeship.
The winners of the previous edition
Community Entrepreneur:
- Warsaw Genomics – finalist
- Kamreno – distinction
- Whellstair – finalist
- Chemical Safety – finalist
The UW Start-up of the Year:
- inStreamly – distinction
- GeoLearning – finalist
- Yellow Wear – finalist
- Ramp Network – finalist
Innovation/Innovator of the Year:
- Creotech Instruments – grand prize
- OncoBoost sp. z o.o. – distinction
- MIM Solutions – distinction
Master of Business:
- Respect Energy – distinction
- CD Projekt – grand prize
The competition committee also awarded special distinctions to the following projects:
- Dinosaur from the Central Station or “Make Roar! Not war!” – Tomasz Grzywiński, an activist dressed as a dinosaur, was giving away sweets to Ukrainian children, who were coming to the Warsaw Central Station after the war outbreak. The action was supported by the internet users from Poland and rest of the world. The collected money was used to organise a ‘dinosaur team’ of activists, who visit children in refugee centres.
- KursyPOL– a school of Polish language, which prepares people fleeing from the war in Ukraine for their life in Poland. The motto of the school: “Polish is a key to every door”.
“The acknowledgment of my work in the UW Entrepreneur of the Year competition means a great deal to me. It is the sign that I am going in a right direction. I feel very happy and proud that I received this award. I even came up with a few new ideas after the ceremony,” Przemysław Krawczyk, the founder of GeoLearning and the finalist of the fifth edition of the competition said.