Money tree wins JA-YE young entrepreneurship award
Money does not usually grow on trees. But for a group of young entrepreneurs from the Netherlands, it does. The students were the happy recipients of the first prize in this year's JA-YE European graduate competition for their entrepreneurial and eco-friendly idea of growing trees out of coins. The winners were chosen from 2,000 students participating in the Junior Achievement Young Enterprise graduate programme, and the prizes were presented during a ceremony in Oslo, Norway. First prize went to Money Tree, a Dutch company, which was selected because of its business plan, market analysis and innovative product. Maikel van Heugten, president of the company, explained that the idea is to make money grow on trees: 'We want to achieve this by producing a coin from which a plant can grow. The golden coin can be planted directly into the ground. When it comes in contact with water it will gradually dissolve, after which your own money tree will start to grow. After a few weeks you will have your own Money Tree growing in your backyard.' Picking up second prize was the Belgian group YBO, for its Snatch product. This is a small plastic loop that can be attached to a user's clothing by two little magnets. The loop can be used to carry glasses and other items, and is designed to reduce the risk of these items being broken or damaged. Third prize went to the Romanian entry E-Wear, for the design of a vinyl cover with an adhesive surface underneath that should both protect and individualise laptops. An award to the company with the most international potential was also presented during the ceremony, this year going to Sky5 from Switzerland. The company has an idea for increasing the advertising potential of events, particularly sporting events, by projecting various advertisements via an airship. Speaking at the ceremony, Crown Prince Haakon of Norway emphasised the potential benefits of instilling entrepreneurship in younger generations. 'If young people are able to see the multitude of opportunities that are available to them, they will re-invent the future and be able to contribute actively in promoting sustainable development. This is a necessity if we want to create a world that we'll be proud to hand over to our children. And this is ultimately innovation's main contributions to society,' he said.