Edición 2009

The INNOVADORS ’09 Award grants 200,000 euros to three ground-breaking business initiatives

A digital outlet, improved safety bindings and a web technology working with several translation systems at once are the three wining nominations

ADI (Andorra Desenvolupament i Inversió) has awarded  a 100,000 euro loan to the IT World Media project, and two 50,000 euro awards to the Fixacions Virtus business plan and to Andorra Best Price.

The INNOVADORS Awards is an international business plan competition awarded by the Andorra Desenvolupament i Inversió Agency, which this year celebrates its fourth edition. The main goal is to assess the best business projects, and thus to contribute to the strengthening and the diversification of the domestic economy with the creation of a new business fabric in innovative sectors.

The INNOVADORS ’09 Award jury, made up by experts from Esade Business School Barcelona and HEC Paris, has recognised the talent of the entrepreneur Roger Sindreu, founding partner of IT World Media, who created a web technology that overcomes language barriers on the Internet, thus making access to contents in different languages easier for users.

IT World Media works as a platform that offers the possibility to access web site contents in all languages, so that users can correct and modify them to improve quality. This is why ADI has awarded Sindreu’s business Project with Premi d’Ajut al Desenvolupament Empresarial (Business Development Support Award), which is a 100,000 euro interest free loan.

Due to the creativity and quality of the eight short-listed projects (total amount of projects: 13), the Jury has decided that the 100,000 euro Award to the best Business Creation project is to be shared between two initiatives that, according to the Jury, equally deserve acknowledgement of their business talent. This is why Fixacions Virtus (Tristaina S.L.) and Andorra Best Price projects, both from Andorra, have been awarded with 50,000 euros each.

The proposal of Fixacions Virtus (Tristaina S.L.), created by entrepreneurs Carles Xavier López and Alexis Puig, is to launch new safety bindings for alpine ski that combine light bindings features and safety features developed by technology. Thus, the result is a light and highly-performing equipment.    

Likewise, Andorra Best Price will finance its business project with 50,000 euros. The initiative aims at contributing to the management of the extra stock of Andorran shops. Andorra Best Price carries out its activity through a web platform that works as an outlet where Andorran retailers promote and sell their surplus. The aim is to create a product that resembles “vente privée” in France or “Privalia” in Spain. Andorra Best Price is a project by Jordi Balletbó, Martí Martínez and Miquel Armengol.

The INNOVADORS ’09 Award jury is made up by experts from Esade Business School Barcelona and HEC Paris and selects the contest finalists and winners. The INNOVADORS ’09 Award, as in previous editions, has been granted during The Future of Europe Summit.

Summaries of the finalist projects "INNOVADORS ‘09"

1. Project: Fixacions Virtus, Tristaina S.L. (Virtus Ski Bindings)
   Entrepreneur: Carles Xavier López Molina and Alexis Puig
   Description: Design, manufacture and marketing of a new mountain ski binding which combines the best of the light bindings segment with the best of the secure bindings, in a market which does not cease growing.
   
   
2. Project: Animaviva
   Entrepreneur: Ilke Angela Marechal
   Description: Animaviva is a multilingual and multimedia publishing house with an international vocation, which seeks to promote the future market for books by using the most up-to-date innovations.
   
   
3. Project: Global Free Stock Exchange
   Entrepreneur: Alex Armengol
   Description: Development of an innovative technological stock market platform which seeks to remedy the inefficiencies of current stock markets and contribute to improvements through its technological and strategic components.
   
   
4. Project: Dret online (Law online)
   Entrepreneur: Esther Domínguez
   Description: Legal advisory service online for companies and private individuals. This is a pioneering and innovative project, offering attention in all legal fields, rapid, direct and secure, while also seeking closer contact with the client.
   
   
5. Project: Decorem
   Entrepreneur: Gustavo Prodoprigora
   Description: Decorem is a solid company which seeks growth through the internationalisation of its business from a range of three products, with a highly trained and qualified human team, and with the project of supplying three geographical markets: Andorra, France and Spain.
   
   
6. Project: IT World Media
   Entrepreneur: Roger Sindreu
   Description: The purpose of IT World Media is to break down the linguistic barriers in Internet and facilitate access for the users to contents in other languages in a totally transparent way. Using innovative cutting edge technology it provides the users with the ability to access contents hitherto inaccessible and being able to review and correct the contents proposed. 
   
   
7. Project: Andorra Best Price
   Entrepreneurs: Jordi Balletbó, Martí Martinez and Miquel Armengol
   Description: Andorra Best Price is intended to be a useful and pioneering tool for commerce in the country, as it will help to manage excess stocks through an attractive "business to consumer" platform.
   
   
8. Project: Dogcand
   Entrepreneur: Anna Marquès
   Description: The purpose of the Dogcand project is to create a high level canine centre in which various activities are included. One of the aims is a dual social task involving the recovery of abandoned animals and the undertaking of therapy for disabled people.