All Awards

Main Awards

JA Europe Company of the Year

Upper Secondary

About the award

The JA Europe Company of the Year Award recognises the mini-companies and young people who best demonstrated their business acumen and spirit of entrepreneurship, following their participation to the JA Company Programme. The jury will nominate 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in the JA Company of the Year 2026 Award.

How winners are chosen

Judging criteria

Innovation and Value Creation 15%:

  1. How well is the business problem and opportunity clearly defined?

  2. How does the solution fulfill a customer need, has resonance and desirability?

  3. How impactful is the proposed solution on society & human lives (social, ethical and environmental issues)?

Market and Competition 15%:

  1. Did the team clearly identify the target market and the market potential of their product/service?

  2. Did the team show an understanding of their competition and their product/service differentiation in relation to them?

Finances 30%:

  1. How compelling is the business model (realistic and viable)? Were objectives reviewed and updated regularly?

6.1 To what extent has the company a good financial performance and financial controls in place?

Management & Team 30%:

  1. Does the team exhibit the experience and skills required for operation? Has the team managed to recruit advisors when needed?

7.1 To what extent has the company operated effectively and has an effective system to manage and record its operation?

Ability to Demonstrate Achievements in Learning 10%:

  1. To what extent are team members able to reflect on competence development (creativity, self-efficacy, taking initiative, teamwork, resourcefulness, perseverance, taking responsibility)?

Meet the jury

Judges

Andrzej Truszczynski

CEO, Schick Architekci

Caroline Cassar Reynaud

People & Purpose leader, Deloitte in Malta

Christian Joos

Strategic Project Manager to the Supervisory Board

Dalibor Mladenka

DG Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, Education and Skills for Innovation, EIT Strategy and Impact, European Commission

Maria Jose Subiela Alvarez

Director of Grants & Programmes, Euroclear Foundation

Nick Collins

Board Member, JA Isle of Man and Solution Architect, PDMS

Shanga Aziz

CEO, Locker Room Talk

Vita Balode-Andrews

Director of the Export and Innovation Services Department at the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia

Kambis Kohansal Vajargah

Head of Startup-Services and Deputy Head of Founder-Services, Austrian Chamber of Commerce (WKO)

Olga Marchuk

Internal Communication Manager Zone, Nestlé

Tomislav Mihajlovic

Chief People and Operations Officer, Nordeus

2026 Winner Spotlight

1 Place

Lipigo

Slovakia

Lipigo is an edible glue for children designed with safety & convenience in mind. Unlike traditional adhesives, it comes in powder form and is mixed with water only when needed, preventing drying out…

Meet the team
2 Place

Enalion

Greece

Excessive sodium intake is one of the most critical dietary risk factors worldwide, directly linked to hypertension and cardiovascular disease. At Enalion, we reimagine salt using Greek seaweed and…

Meet the team
3 Place

HerShield

Cyprus

Her Shield is a company built to protect young women when in need of help. We protect young women by creating a bio non-toxic lipgloss which has a hidden compartment containing test strips for drugs…

Meet the team