On the occasion of the prize award ceremony of the Liechtenstein Rheintal Business Plan Competition, held in the evening of 26 May 2015 at the University of Liechtenstein, three exceptional projects were singled out. One of the winning business plans was from Liechtenstein, one from Switzerland and the third was the work of students of the University of Liechtenstein.
On the occasion of the prize award ceremony of the Liechtenstein Rheintal Business Plan Competition, held in the evening of 26 May 2015 at the University of Liechtenstein, three exceptional projects were singled out. One of the winning business plans was from Liechtenstein, one from Switzerland and the third was the work of students of the University of Liechtenstein.
The international Business Plan Competition is an annual event, organised jointly by the government of the Principality of Liechtenstein, the University of Liechtenstein and the Interstaatliche Hochschule für Technik in Buchs (NTB) [Buchs Interstate College of Technology]. In this eleventh year of the competition business ideas were submitted from the sectors of foodstuffs and transport safety, journalism, the media, ecology and the internet. Out of these, eight projects were nominated for the quality of the idea, execution and presentation of their business plan. The jury of six under the presidency of Christian Haberfellner, Mag., founder and partner of E²M Research & Consulting in Pettnau, Austria, then chose from the entries submitted the three projects that appeared most promising. At the prizegiving ceremony on Tuesday evening the three winners were presented with the ‘Plan it Award’, along with cash prizes ranging from CHF 5000 to CHF 12,000.
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1st prize: a Liechtenstein family business
After a welcoming speech by Klaus Näscher, Rector of the University of Liechtenstein, Deputy Prime Minister Dr Thomas Zwiefelhofer presented the first prize, endowed with a sum of CHF 12,000, to the team of ‘frooggies AG’. Patrick Elkuch, Sarah Nissl-Elkuch and Philippe Nissl founded this family business in November 2014, and since then have been marketing fruit and vegetable powders free from artificial sugars and additives. The likeable team of entrepreneurs from Vaduz made an impression on the jury of experts with a lively and authentic presentation of their purely natural products.
The winning team of ‘frooggies AG’, f.l.t.r.:
Professor Christian Marxt, Head of the Institute for Entrepreneurship (left), Patrick Elkuch, Sarah Nissl-Elkuch and Philippe Nissl with Thomas Zwiefelhofer (2nd from right) and Klaus Näscher (right)
2nd prize: a contribution to the green economy
Rector Klaus Näscher presented the second prize, which comes with a prize fund of CHF 8000, to the business team of ‘Blue Trace AG’. Daniel Haegeli, Patrick Lampert and Christoph Pichler have developed an eco-gasification solution for the thermal treatment of waste and the efficient exploitation of the energy it contains. The Swiss company’s idea convinced the jury in view of its economic impact, cost-effectiveness and contribution to the green economy.
Second prize for ‘Blue Trace AG’, f.l.t.r.:
Patrick Lampert, Christoph Pichler and Daniel Haegeli
3rd prize: growing vegetables without a garden
Four students on the University of Liechtenstein’s Entrepreneurship MA course, Fabian Meier, Vera Klien, Tim Braum and Florian Tausend, were chosen to receive third prize and CHF 5000 in cash for their ‘Project Gaia’ business plan. Their innovative idea involves a complete solution for growing vegetables in special cardboard boxes. The jury were impressed by the simplicity of this approach, as well as by the social aspect – the integration of persons with special needs in the production process. The Plan it Award was presented to the creative team by the Rector of the Buch Interstate College of Technology (NTB), Lothar Ritter.
Third prize for ‘Project Gaia’, f.l.t.r.:
Fabian Meier, Vera Klien, Tim Braum and Florian Tausend
More information about the competition may be found at www.businessplan.li.