Mathilde Argaud, the founder of Largowind, was yestrday evening selected as the most creative entrepreneur of the year by JCI, the Junior Chamber of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
10 candidates had been shortlisted by the jury, with this list being trimmed down to just three left on Thursday. At the CYEL Gala Dinner at the Cercle Cité, Mathilde Argaud, founder of Largowind in February 2016, and developer of the "Connected Rope ®" initiative, was announced by the jury as the 2017 winner.
The initiative is a concentration of technologies allowing the owner of a boat to manage it instantaneously and simply at a distance.
The event was moderated by Richard Russell, specialist of creativity in business. Russell, born on a volcano in Australia, drew a parallel between exploring Australia and launching a start-up. Through a beautiful story recalling the adventures of Burk and Stuart in the 19th century, Russell shared three lessons with the entrepreneurs present: resilience, prioritisation and customer obsession.
"The quality of the applications received was exceptional. Of the 10 pre-selected files, each deserved a place on the podium. Luxembourg is a real nest of innovative entrepreneurs!" enthused Olivier De Greift, Director of CYEL 2017.
On the podium, Mathilde Argaud was placed ahead of Alfonso Garcia Frey (Yotako, which automatically translates website design into code) and Jean-Pierre Schmit (Jemmic, which develops applications, portals and web platforms for banks and insurance companies).
The "Coup de Coeur" was awarded by the jury to Charles-Antoine Beyney, whose company "Etix Everywhere", markets and installs modular datacenters.
"Once again, congratulations to all the CYEL team and our sponsors without whom we could not have organised such an event and bring rewards and visibility to the candidates. This event contributes to the mission (encouraging young people to take responsibility and find solutions for the benefit of their communities) from our JCI Luxembourg association," said Frederic Sabban, President of JCI Luxembourg.
