JA CYPRUS COMPANY OF THE YEAR COMPETITION 2024 FINALE & AWARDS CEREMONY
“miguard” is the “Company of the Year 2024”
The Finale and Awards Ceremony of the ” Company of the Year 2024″ programme by Junior Achievement Cyprus (JA Cyprus) was held with great success for the 11th consecutive year on Friday, April 26, 2024. The event held great significance as it marked the culmination of the final competition
In a room full of young entrepreneurial minds, ten student teams competed for the title of “Company of the Year”. The competition is the culmination of the efforts of 440 students, aged 15-18, who created their own student companies during the school year. The ten finalists – from the 44 student companies created – publicly presented their innovative business ideas to an expert jury. The jury, to whom we warmly thank for their presence, was composed of Konstantina Logotheti from PwC, Andreas Papadopoulos from the Board of Directors of JA Cyprus, Michalis Charalambides from ECOMMBX, Stratos Petrou from MetLife, Xenia Xenophontos from Digital Tree, Marilena Paraskeva from Research & Innovation Foundation, Elli Ioannidou from Bank of Cyprus and Maria Terzi from Malloc.
The winner of the title “Company of the Year” was team “miguard”, a student company from Mitsis Commercial School Lemithou who consists of, Melina Papageorgiou, Antonis Christodoulou, Christos Christodoulou, Sophia Efstathiou, Christina Kaouri, Alexandros Papageorgiou and Giorgos Demetriou. The company, with the support of their teachers Georgia Charalambous and Christos Terzis, and their mentor Styliana Panayi from PwC Cyprus, created an innovative mobile application designed to combat school bullying and violence through real-time audio monitoring and analysis. It not only acts as a preventive tool against bullying but also provides immediate response capabilities, potentially transforming the approach to safety in school environments.
“Dental Hi Jean”, from IMS Private School, won second place in the competition. The team replaced toothpaste in the form of an edible gummy bear using extravagant flavours like strawberry, cherry and vanilla, mint, orange blossom. The team consists of Evaggelia Economou, Eleni Eracleous, Eraclis Eracleous, Xuanyu (Jessy) Chen and Yana Prymak. The team was supported by their teacher Athi Demosthenous and their mentor Rafaella Petraki from PwC Cyprus.
“SilvAlert”, the student company from the Archbishop Makarios III Lyceum – Dasoupolis, took third place, an advanced solution to forest fires designed to safeguard wildlife from the imminent threat of wildfires. This cutting-edge technology combines state-of-the-art sensors and intelligent monitoring to provide unparalleled protection to our precious woodlands by informing the nearest fire station each time there is an unexpected fire outbreak, before it gets out of hand. The team members are Thea Papavarnava, Iasonas Kokkalos, Andreas Tziakouris, Ioannis Korfiatis and Michalis Platanis. The group was supported by their teacher Charalambos Charalambous and their mentor Angelis Zittis from ECOMMBX.
In addition to the main title “Company of the Year 2024” second and third place awards, student companies received other Signature Awards for their achievements in key areas of entrepreneurial activities.
The winners of the Signature Awards were:
Best Trade Fair Stand 1: ΑΨΕ SVISE from Grammar School Nicosia
Best Trade Fair Stand 2: Students To Care from Lyceum A’ Ethnarchis Makarios III Paphos
Best Logo: Dental Hi Jean from IMS Private School
Social Responsibility: Share2Care from Aspire Private British School
Best Branding and Digital Communication: ΑΨΕ SVISE from Grammar School Nicosia
Best Selling Product: Students To Care from Lyceum A’ Ethnarchis Makarios III Paphos
Best Annual Report: miguard from Mitsis Commercial School Lemithou
Phoenix Prize: Bloomarks from Senior School
Best Promotional Video: Blue Story from Lyceum Koutsofta-Panagidi Paliometocho
Most Innovative Product/Service: Dental Hi Jean from IMS Private School
Leadership Award: Alexandros Prodromou (Team ΑΨΕ SVISE)
The event was welcomed by the CEO of JA Europe, Salvatore Nigro, Christos Photiades from the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry, Elias Markatzis from the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth, Marilena Paraskeva from Research of Innovation & Foundation. Prominent figures from the business world graced the event with their presence.
Team miguard will represent Cyprus at JA’s European GEN-E 2024 to be held in July 2024 in Catania.
JA Cyprus is supported by the following:
- Strategic Sponsor: PwC Cyprus
- Partners: MetLife, ECOMMBX
- Supporters: University of Nicosia, Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry, Research and Innovation Foundation
- Institutional Partner: Ministry of Education, Sports, and Youth
- Media Sponsor: MixFM
For more information visit the JA Cyprus website at www.jacyprus.org or contact Marios Kakouris at 99203701or via email at marios.kakouris@jacyprus.org.
