Also our flagship event, the JA Europe Company of the Year Competition turned virtual in 2020. Family, friends, and many others joined virtually, for the first time, to celebrate the best young entrepreneurs of Europe 2020!
Together with our European and national signature partners, we organised a series of thematic webinars “On the Road to COYC” in the weeks preceding the event. These were good opportunities for our business partners to engage with students and talk about their companies, the signature award criteria and judging, and also the COVID-19 context.
In the last week of July, a total of 225.000 people engaged in the Company of the Year Competition through the event website, including over 40.000 online votes for the Public Choice Award. We also organised virtual stands for both student companies and our corporate partners, connecting 882 people in a new way to present their companies and products. The live Award Ceremony on 24th July gathered the competing student teams, jury members and external guests to a true virtual celebration. The Ceremony included a special message from UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, European Commissioner for Education, Mariya Gabriel, and European Commissioner for Economy, Paolo Gentiloni among others. A total of 28.000 people viewed the live Opening and Award Ceremonies and we reached new audiences through different social media platforms and press releases.
The mini-company Bubbles from Denmark won the JA Europe Company of the Year 2020: they offer a voice server that aims at improving communication between educators and ADHD-students.
