Edición 2007

INNOVADORS 2007: Andsoft won the Diversification Prize
and House.ad won the Creation Prize

The Bureau for Business Innovation of the Government of Andorra awarded the prizes on the 29th of November, confirming the winners of Innovadors 2007, which is helping to contribute to the transformation of sectors and businesses through enterprise and dynamism. Andsoft’s business project, led by Esteve Berteil, won the Diversification Prize, and House.ad, led by Alexis Sirkia won the business Creation Prize.

The INNOVADORS 2007 prizes, an event of international scope with awards totalling
€330,000, was presented at the Future of Europe Summit II. “There is no science without
innovation”, said Albert Pintat, head of the government of Andorra, who presided over the
award ceremony. “As Edmund Phelps (winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2006)
reminded us in his speech today, we need risk, because it drives the business world. We need to have a cooperative attitude in order to achieve this.”

Awards are given to business projects that create businesses in Andorra or that help existing businesses to grow. The OIE launched the INNOVADORS awards in 2006, with the goal of diversifying the Andorran economy and improving the business environment.

The four main prizes were given to:

• Diversification Prize (€115,000):
  Andsoft, Esteve Berteil, for the creation of a computer system to control and administer goods for transportation businesses.
  
  
• Creation Prize (€115,000):
  House.ad, by Alexis Sirkia, Josep Rodríguez, Rita Zachari, Ion Dumici and Nicolas Yamin, for the construction of a search engine that compiles and classifies advertisements from real estate web pages.
  
  
• Return Prize (€50,000):
  Imand, by Susanna Ferran and Marc Colomines, for a digital image archives for sale in Andorra and elsewhere.
  
  
• Special Jury Prize (€50,000):
  Andorra Esport Accessible, by Xavier Morales, a business dedicated to the organisation of athletic activities adapted for rehabilitation.

“These awards ensure that the old Europe is becoming more modern. This is an example for the rest of Europe,” said Jacques Attali, author and president of the French firm
Attali & Associates. Attali continued, referring to economic development “If you have innovative people, you have everything you need to make it to these cross-roads.”

The finalist projects for the INNOVADORS'07 awards were:

1. Kids&us.
   Ferran Costa, Natàlia Perarnau, Joaquim Serracanta: for the creation of a
   service provider for language training, which is exported to different areas using a
   franchise, and an innovative method to teach languages directed at children starting
   from one year of age.
   
   
2. Teleassistència Andorra.
   Roman Fraile and Xavier Buyse: for providing assistance
   to dependent people using new technologies such as mobile phones, internet and TDT.
   
   
3. Marti3, SL.
   Marc Schwaller-Martí: for the development of a research laboratory in
   Andorra which is searching for innovative methods to commercialise foodstuffs and
   cosmetic products.
   
   
4. Estructuració i distribució alternativa.
   Xavier Deu: for helping asset managers who
   deal with non-traditional assets to structure and commercialise their financial products.
   
   
5. Arts+.
   Jean-Louis Pech: for the creation of furniture art.