The IORDEN team competed on behalf of Iceland at Gen-E, Europe's largest innovation competition for young people, which was held in Riga, Latvia this week. Anna Schalk Sóleyjardóttir, project manager of Gulleggisn, accompanied the team and also used the trip to learn about the implementation of the competition and gain inspiration for the continued development of Gulleggisn.
Gen-E annually brings together Europe's most promising young entrepreneurs, where winners of entrepreneurship competitions from over 39 countries come together to present their projects, compete on an international stage, and network with other entrepreneurs, mentors, and industry representatives from across Europe.
The program included team pitches, a showcase area where participants showcased their solutions, and a variety of networking events. Examples of solutions that participated in the competition included a golf tee made from orange peels, protein powder made from mushrooms, a drone solution for agriculture, rope made from fish skin, and a job search app specifically designed for GenZ.
IORDEN was born in the Gulleggsinn and Landsbankinn Idea Race in January and developed a solution to the JBT Marel challenge. The team later won second place in the Gulleggsinn Finals. The team also received an additional Young Entrepreneurs Award, which gave them the right to participate in Gen-E in Latvia. IORDEN designs software and hardware solutions to help smaller food manufacturers keep up with rapid technological developments and meet quality management requirements in a simpler and more cost-effective way.
The competition was extremely strong this year, with university and high school students from over 39 European countries participating. IORDEN performed brilliantly and was nominated for the FedEx Award as well as competing in the finals for Innovation of the Year-award. Finally, the Dutch team Verdiax won the award for their solution, which involves developing environmentally friendly diapers that decompose in nature.
KLAK sincerely congratulates IORDEN on their impressive success and thanks Ungur Frumkvöðlar for the excellent collaboration and the opportunity to participate in Gen-E. We look forward to continuing to follow the success of Icelandic entrepreneurs on an international level and to seeing more Gulleggs teams participate in the competition in the coming years.