Young entrepreneurial team from Versló wins JA Iceland Business Workshop with educational board game
The company Know the Country! from the Icelandic School of Commerce emerged as the winner of the Young Entrepreneurs Business Workshop – JA Iceland and was chosen as the company of the year 2026. The project consists of an educational and fun board game where players compete to recognize the locations of famous places in Iceland and learn about their country along the way.
The aim of the game is to combine entertainment and education and to arouse curiosity about the geography and culture of Iceland in a lively and accessible way. The owners and founders of Get to Know the Country! are five students at the Icelandic School of Business: Petra Björk Valdimarsdóttir, Thelma Kristbjörg Bæringsdóttir, Hera Björt Aðalsteinsdóttir, Tinna Björg Jóhannsdóttir and Hanna Falksdóttir Krüger.
Strong innovation from an Icelandic high school
Young Entrepreneurs’ Workshop – JA Iceland is a powerful entrepreneurship process for high school students where students start, run and close their own real businesses over the course of one semester. This year, around 620 students participated and founded 150 companies across the country. Of these, 40 companies from 17 high schools were selected as finalists and competed for the title of Company of the Year 2026 at a harvest festival at Arion Bank’s headquarters.
This time it was Þekktu lalandík! that stood out with a clear idea, high-quality execution, and a strong vision of how gamification can be used to increase knowledge and connections with Icelandic society and landscape.
Iceland's representatives at Europe's largest innovation competition
With the victory in the Company Workshop, Know the Country! will compete on behalf of Iceland at the European Young Entrepreneurs' Competition, GEN_E 2026, which will take place in Riga, Latvia, from 7 to 10 July. Around 400,000 students entered the competition in over 40 European countries, and only one team will be selected from each country to compete for the title of "Junior Achievement Company of the Year – GEN_E 2026".
It is extremely important for the Icelandic innovation environment that young people have the opportunity to test themselves, receive guidance and stand on stage with their ideas – both at home and internationally. The participation of Get to Know the Country! at GEN_E 2026 is a clear indication of the strength and ambition of young entrepreneurs in Iceland.
KLAK wishes you the warmest congratulations on Know the Land!
At KLAK – Icelandic Startups, we are proud to see such strong entrepreneurial activity emerging within high schools. Projects like Get to Know the Country! show what happens when creativity, entrepreneurial thinking, and good guidance come together – and how innovation can have both educational and societal value.
We sincerely congratulate Pétra Björk, Thelma Kristbjörg, Hera Björt, Tinna Björg and Hanna Falksdóttir Krüger, along with their teachers and mentors at the Icelandic School of Business, on their success. We look forward to following the journey of Know the Land! at GEN_E 2026 and the continued development of the project.
KLAK also encourages all young people with ideas – big or small – to utilize the diverse resources available in the innovation environment, gain experience, dare to try their hand and learn along the way. This is exactly how the next generation of startups will be created.
