In July, the heart of European student and youth entrepreneurship will beat in Athens as Junior Achievement Greece will host for the first time the largest Festival & Competition of Youth Entrepreneurship in Europe, JA Europe/Gen-E 2025.
From July 1 to 3, 2025, Athens will host more than 1,000 visitors from 40 European countries, with students “startuppers” taking center stage in the impressive events of JA Europe/Gen-E 2025. The Gen-E 2025 Festival, which is under the auspices of the European Commission, will also be attended by European and Greek officials, educators, and top business executives. Visit the official site at: Gen-E.
It is worth noting that the selection of our country for the organization of the European final is not accidental. On the contrary, it follows the great successes achieved by Greek student teams in previous years, winning the 1st Pan-European Award for two consecutive years (2022 & 2023) and the 2024 World 1st Prize of Junior Achievement. During the Festival, JA Greece will celebrate the top distinctions of Greek teams, as well as the 20th anniversary of the founding of Junior Achievement in Greece.
The Gen-E 2025 Festival and the “Oscars” of Youth Entrepreneurship
During the Gen-E 2025 Festival, the winning teams of students from the national competitions JA Company Programme” (for students aged 15 to 21) & “JA Start Up” (for university students) will have the opportunity:
• To present their innovative “businesses” and smart products in Athens
• To compete for the first prize “Best Student/University Start Up in Europe 2025” as well as signature awards from top companies/supporters of Junior Achievement.
The enthusiastic participation of young people from all over Europe, the presence of high-ranking officials, and the formality of the European Youth Entrepreneurship Awards ceremony of JA Europe, have made the awards ceremony a life time experience for the students competing and the guests, reminiscent of the Oscars.
The Chairman of the Board of JA Greece, Emilios Kyriakou, stated: “The European Entrepreneurship Festival Gen-E of JA Europe is a three-day celebration of youth entrepreneurship that aims to bring new ideas to light, showing at the same time how these ideas can become real businesses. Therefore, it is an excellent example of the entrepreneurial potential that European youth has today. It is a great honor for us that this year, after the excellent progress of JA Greece, Greece was chosen as the country to host the European final. Both JA Greece and our partners are feverishly preparing for the organization of the awards ceremony in Athens, and we are confident that it will be unforgettable for everyone.”
Gen-E Athens 2025: “Trace your path forward”
“Trace your path forward” is the message of this year’s Gen-E Festival, with Greece inviting the new generation of Europe to be inspired by the past, from the wisdom of the Ancient Greeks, with an eye on the future. The acronym Gen-E refers to the generation of Europeans who believe in the 3 Es: Entrepreneurship, Education, Employment. The Gen-E 2025 Festival has already started online, and anyone who wishes can follow all the developments at www.gen-e.eu. In May, the digital, student, and university Trade Fair (Virtual Expo) will open its doors, where hundreds of pioneering business ideas from students and university students from all over Europe will be presented, while the events will culminate with the in-person, three-day festival and the awards ceremony in Athens.
“Greece is a source of inspiration and a reference point for great achievements. With the motto “Trace your Path Forward” and inspiration from the past, we aim for the same for Gen-E 2025. We aspire for this year’s Pan-European Competition to be a milestone experience, as well as the “seed” for every next competition,” said Argiris Tzikopoulos, CEO of Junior Achievement Greece.
Salvatore Nigro, CEO of JA Europe, pointed out: “At JA Europe we are excited to bring our flagship annual event Gen-E European Entrepreneurship Festival to Greece, building on our history to design the future. JA Greece is inspiring our whole European network with its impressive reach and impact among the local youth and broader entrepreneurship education ecosystem. We look forward to Gen-E 2025 empowering Europe’s brightest young entrepreneurs to trace their path forward in entrepreneurship, work readiness and financial literacy. Together with our institutional and business partners, JA Europe and JA Greece will design Gen-E 2025 to be a life-changing experience to the next generation of Europeans.”
Participation of 390,000 students in 40 European countries
The Pan-European Competition JA Europe Gen-E 2025 is the culmination of Junior Achievement events within the framework of the JA Company Program and JA Start Up programs/competitions during the school/academic year, in which more than 390,000 students and university students across Europe participate.
As part of the two programs, students create their own “start-ups” from their school/university desks. In February/March, Student Trade Fairs are organized, followed by National Final Competitions, and the winning teams represent their country in the Pan-European Final JA Europe/Gen-E. The atmosphere at the European Competition is reminiscent of Eurovision, as the enthusiasm is great, and the teams hold the flags of the countries they represent at the events and the awards ceremony.
Historic wins for Greece in Junior Achievement
In the past two years, Greece made history by winning the 1st European Award of JA Europe/Gen-E for two consecutive years: In 2022, Microgreens Magicgreens from the 2nd Experimental High School of Kilkis won, and in 2023, Isometricks from the Experimental High School of the University of Macedonia won the first prize again for Greece. It is worth noting that Isometricks, representing Europe, managed to win the Worldwide Award of Junior Achievement “JA Worldwide De La Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award” and the prize of $15,000 for the development of its business idea.
About JA Europe
JA Europe is the largest and leading organisation in Europe dedicated to inspiring and preparing young people to succeed. For over 100 years, JA Worldwide has delivered hands-on, experiential learning in entrepreneurship, work readiness and financial health. In the last school year, the JA Europe network in over 40 countries provided 6 million learning experiences for youth in online, in person and blended formats with the support of nearly 110,000 teachers and almost 90,000 business volunteers. In 2024, JA Worldwide was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, the third nomination in three years.
Press and media contact at JA Europe:
Minna Melleri, Chief of Advocacy and Growth, minna@jaeurope.org
