Company OOG, developing a smart water meter in a bottle for optimal body hydration H2O-Pal, is the winner of this year’s competition Start:up of the year 2014. The recognition for the best written business plan was awarded to the company Enolyse, which is developing a comprehensive system of wine fermentation control EnoMeter.
Company OOG, developing a smart water meter in a bottle for optimal body hydration H2O-Pal, is the winner of this year’s competition Start:up of the year 2014. At the gala closing ceremony, which took place as part of the international business conference PODIM in Hotel Habakuk in Maribor, the CEO of the company OOG, Igor Marjanovič, received the winning crystal statue and the flattering title “Slovenian start-up of the year 2014” from the hands of the Minister of Finance. The winner also received the educational programme CEED Slovenia of their own choice.
The company OOG is developing technological patents focused on improving health and quality of life. One of their innovations is a smart liquid meter in a bottle H2Opal, which uses a Bluetooth to connect with a smartphone app and then show as well as note the quantity of consumed water. The meter is an innovation with big value added and with an important use value for people who try to live healthily, but mostly for patients who have to control their daily liquid intake (diabetics, patients with liver damage and similar).
The company sparked a lot of interest abroad with their product H2O-Pal, as they have already made contact with partners, such as Philips and Panasonic, who will use the company’s patent in their own products. At the consumer electronics fair in Las Vegas, the consortium Bluetooth Special Interest Group ranked the meter H2O-Pal amongst the four most innovative prototypes of the year, while the newspaper Finance placed the company amongst the candidates for the best business idea in the year 2013. As the winners of Start:up of the Year 2014, the company received the business training of their own choice at the CEED Slovenia centre and a crystal statue that was made in Steklarna Rogaška in collaboration with the Slovenian fashion designer Maja Ferme.
Company Enolyse is developing a comprehensive system of wine fermentation control – EnoMeter, which allows the winemaker to follow the fermentation process with an application on their smart device. According to the opinion of the expert committee, the company wrote the best business plan – one that is clear and objective, as well as concisely explains the company’s solution and potential for successful business.
The winner of this year’s competition was chosen by a main, 17-membered competition committee consisting of esteemed entrepreneurs, investors and representatives of the support environment. From amongst the 10 semi-finalists, who also presented their ideas and business plans personally on April 24th, the committee chose 5 finalists, namely companies OOG, Enolyse, ADORA-MED, Geatronik and Sunesis.
At the announcement, prof. dr. Miroslav Rebernik said that “the quality of received business plans improves from year to year, and there are less applications that are completely out of focus of the competition. This year’s selection is distinguished by an improved level of development of products for which the business plans had been written. The majority was already in the prototype development phase, which of course also means that start-up teams are at least partially formed and therefore more credible.” 126 companies and their business plans applied to the competition, which is taking place for the 7th year in a row. For the third year in a row, the competition is linked with the tender P2 of the Slovene Enterprise Fund, on the initiative of the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology. Thus the participants of the competition can use a good ranking to obtain up to 25 points of the 100 possible within the tender P2.
A record number of people attended the gala announcement of the winner this year as well. This is proof that the conference is indeed one of the largest entrepreneurship events in Slovenia and the climax of events of the first day of the PODIM conference. Young start-up companies carry more weight in the structure of the Slovenian economy from year to year, as they actively contribute to the creation of new jobs, to economic dynamics and economic growth. The PODIM conference and the competition Start:up of the Year are thus positioned as central national programmes and already traditionally contribute to encouraging entrepreneurship activity in Slovenia.
The main organiser of the competition is the Initiative Start:up Slovenia, which connects the subjects of innovative environment, while co-organisers are the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology and the Slovene Enterprise Fund, and the promotional partner is the Public Agency SPIRIT Slovenia. Many other partners of the start-up ecosystem also participate in the organisation of the competition and the events. More information about the competition can be found at the official website of the competition www.startup.si.
More information: www.startup.si, Stanislava Vabšek, communication and PR of the PODIM conference
e-mail: stanislava.vabsek@startup.si; mobile +386 31 707 204
Company OOG, developing a smart water meter in a bottle for optimal body hydration H2O-Pal, is the winner of this year’s competition Start:up of the year 2014. At the gala closing ceremony, which took place as part of the international business conference PODIM in Hotel Habakuk in Maribor, the CEO of the company OOG, Igor Marjanovič, received the winning crystal statue and the flattering title “Slovenian start-up of the year 2014” from the hands of the Minister of Finance. The winner also received the educational programme CEED Slovenia of their own choice.
The company OOG is developing technological patents focused on improving health and quality of life. One of their innovations is a smart liquid meter in a bottle H2Opal, which uses a Bluetooth to connect with a smartphone app and then show as well as note the quantity of consumed water. The meter is an innovation with big value added and with an important use value for people who try to live healthily, but mostly for patients who have to control their daily liquid intake (diabetics, patients with liver damage and similar).
The company sparked a lot of interest abroad with their product H2O-Pal, as they have already made contact with partners, such as Philips and Panasonic, who will use the company’s patent in their own products. At the consumer electronics fair in Las Vegas, the consortium Bluetooth Special Interest Group ranked the meter H2O-Pal amongst the four most innovative prototypes of the year, while the newspaper Finance placed the company amongst the candidates for the best business idea in the year 2013. As the winners of Start:up of the Year 2014, the company received the business training of their own choice at the CEED Slovenia centre and a crystal statue that was made in Steklarna Rogaška in collaboration with the Slovenian fashion designer Maja Ferme.
Company Enolyse is developing a comprehensive system of wine fermentation control – EnoMeter, which allows the winemaker to follow the fermentation process with an application on their smart device. According to the opinion of the expert committee, the company wrote the best business plan – one that is clear and objective, as well as concisely explains the company’s solution and potential for successful business.
The winner of this year’s competition was chosen by a main, 17-membered competition committee consisting of esteemed entrepreneurs, investors and representatives of the support environment. From amongst the 10 semi-finalists, who also presented their ideas and business plans personally on April 24th, the committee chose 5 finalists, namely companies OOG, Enolyse, ADORA-MED, Geatronik and Sunesis.
At the announcement, prof. dr. Miroslav Rebernik said that “the quality of received business plans improves from year to year, and there are less applications that are completely out of focus of the competition. This year’s selection is distinguished by an improved level of development of products for which the business plans had been written. The majority was already in the prototype development phase, which of course also means that start-up teams are at least partially formed and therefore more credible.” 126 companies and their business plans applied to the competition, which is taking place for the 7th year in a row. For the third year in a row, the competition is linked with the tender P2 of the Slovene Enterprise Fund, on the initiative of the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology. Thus the participants of the competition can use a good ranking to obtain up to 25 points of the 100 possible within the tender P2.
A record number of people attended the gala announcement of the winner this year as well. This is proof that the conference is indeed one of the largest entrepreneurship events in Slovenia and the climax of events of the first day of the PODIM conference. Young start-up companies carry more weight in the structure of the Slovenian economy from year to year, as they actively contribute to the creation of new jobs, to economic dynamics and economic growth. The PODIM conference and the competition Start:up of the Year are thus positioned as central national programmes and already traditionally contribute to encouraging entrepreneurship activity in Slovenia.
The main organiser of the competition is the Initiative Start:up Slovenia, which connects the subjects of innovative environment, while co-organisers are the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology and the Slovene Enterprise Fund, and the promotional partner is the Public Agency SPIRIT Slovenia. Many other partners of the start-up ecosystem also participate in the organisation of the competition and the events. More information about the competition can be found at the official website of the competition www.startup.si.
More information: www.startup.si, Stanislava Vabšek, communication and PR of the PODIM conference
e-mail: stanislava.vabsek@startup.si; mobile +386 31 707 204
