Francesc Julià, second generation and CEO of Kave Home, has won the Young Entrepreneur Award organized annually by AIJEC, the Association of Young Entrepreneurs of Catalonia, which recognizes him as the best young Catalan entrepreneur of the year. Julià won over Diliara Lupenko, from Impress, and Jordi Romero, from Factorial.
With this award, the AIJEC wanted to highlight the work of Francesc Julià at the head of Kave Home, the furniture design and manufacturing brand founded by his father. The jury assessed the accelerated business evolution that Julià has achieved in the seven years he has been managing Kave Home and how he has turned the family business into a globally recognized brand with a physical presence in 27 countries and online in 31. With a business vision based on values, design and sustainability, and from his headquarters in Sils (Girona), Francesc Julià has managed to form a team of more than 500 workers, grow by 400% in the last 5 years, and position itself as one of the leaders in the sector. In this edition, the winner of the Young Entrepreneur Award has the sponsorship of Fira de Barcelona.
The Smart Lollipop, Best Business Initiative Award
This edition’s Best Business Initiative Award went to The Smart Lollipop. The business project co-founded by Diana Ballart in 2020 has created a smart candy that allows children to detect and diagnose diseases such as hypercholesterolemia or celiac disease through a saliva sample. In this way, the blood tests are replaced by the intake of a candy that, in 10 minutes, offers the results in digital form on an online platform. The Award for the Best Business Initiative is supported by the Consorci de Zona Franca de Barcelona.
The Smart Lollipop has won Opground, the first AI-based platform where IT professionals are interviewed by hundreds of companies at the same time through a single conversation with their AI, and THEKER, a robotics development startup , artificial intelligence and computer vision that has developed the world’s most advanced microelectronic soldering and desoldering technology.
30 years rewarding companies that change the world
The Young Entrepreneur Award ceremony brought together around 300 people this Thursday at the IMO Grup Miranza Convention Center and served to celebrate the 30 years of awards that want to recognize courage, talent, commitment and ‘effort of the young entrepreneurs of the territory. The organization wanted to have a very special memory for the 174 prize winners, the 340 finalists and the more than 3,000 candidates from previous editions.
AIJEC recognizes the career of Anna Bosch de Noel Alimentaria
During the event, the Best Business Trajectory Award was also presented, which this year went to the general director of Noel, Anna Bosch. AIJEC wanted to recognize Bosch’s professional career and his commitment to the dynamism of the economy and the development of people and society.
The other recognitions of the night
The Recognition for Social Entrepreneurship, an award supported by CaixaBank, was won by Cuideo, the care and home care company for the elderly. The award was collected by the CEO and co-founder of Cuideo, Adrià Buzón. The goal that Cuideo pursues is that elderly people are accompanied and have help in their day-to-day tasks so that they can stay at home as long as possible, and prevent them from feeling alone. Through its online platform, families can hire and manage home care for their relatives in an easy, flexible and safe way.
The Recognition of Business Linguistic Quality in this Young Entrepreneur Award went to FentPaís, a company that is dedicated to selecting and selling packages of cultural, gastronomic and tourist activities throughout Catalonia. The project is now 10 years old, having created a network of companies and consumers with which to disseminate a form of responsible and sustainable consumption within the Catalan territory and in Catalan.
The Future Entrepreneur Award, an award that rewards the best entrepreneurial project developed by under 18s, and which is supported by the Fundació Princesa de Girona (FPdGI), has gone to the My Interactive Plant project of the high school students of IES Torre Roja in Viladecans. The project, winner of the Junior Achievement competition in Catalonia, has created an app that uses artificial intelligence to monitor and share the real-time state of the plants. AIJEC wanted to recognize the entrepreneurial spirit of this group of boys and girls, who were the winners of the Junior Achievement competition in Catalonia.
“The importance of actively participating in the business ecosystem to make the most of its benefits”
The president of AIJEC, Ruben Sans Solsona, wanted to highlight the role that companies play today in the prosperity of societies. In addition, it has influenced the importance of the community as one of the pillars of the success of any entrepreneur. “This valuable business ecosystem that surrounds us”, remarked Sans Solsona.
During his speech, the president of the Association of Young Entrepreneurs of Catalonia also appealed to entrepreneurs who, through internationalization, are turning their organizations into examples of how global collaboration leads to success local “Your stories inspire us to look beyond our borders and build bridges instead of walls.”
Finally, Ruben Sans Solsona wanted to encourage the young business community to continue entrepreneurship and creating companies. “Businessmen, entrepreneurs, and others who dream of being one, you have the opportunity right in front of your eyes and you just have to go out and look for it. Don’t let anyone take that away from you. Believe in yourselves” asked the president of AIJEC.