The BGL BNP Paribas hosted, at their Kirchberg headquarters, the 3rd Pitch Night and Awards Ceremony organised by the US Embassy in Luxembourg for high school students on entrepreneurship and how to create an idea for a business.

This year’s edition was exclusively targeted towards female high school students with the aim of fostering Women Entrepreneurship.

Between 22-26 February, 26 students from Ecole Privé Fieldgen and Lycée Aline Mayrisch participated in various workshops and presentations held by professional entrepreneurs and business advisers. On 27 April, the students pitched their projects and the winners were chosen by a panel of judges and professionals from the Embassy (Alison Shorter-Lawrence, Deputy Chief of Mission, and Heidi Jovanovic, Pol/Econ), Entrepreneurs (Charles-Louis Machuron (Silicon Luxembourg), Luciano (Dog Walker)) and Business Professionals and grand prize winners of last year (Abelke Wolter and Liz Ney). 

Alison Shorter-Lawrence addressed the event and stated that entrepreneurship is important in America, amd that anything is possible: "if you can dream it, you can do it". She talked about working with the students and looking for solutions to problems in new ways, about thinking outside the box, about needing to try to do new things even if that means potential failure.

Karin Schintgen, of Lux Future Lab and BGL BNP Paribas, talked about supporting entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility. The Lux Future Lab is a business incubator and currently has 26 start-ups. She mentioned the Summer School heald in the last two weeks of July for around 30 students each year, with applications open until 15 May; last year students came from 17 different schools.

In total, some 16 projects were presented on the evening, some by individuals but most in pairs, with the presentations split into two parallel sessions in different rooms, with the top two from each session making the final four. All four finalist projects were presented (in English) with confidence and precision covering the identification of the problem, the solution, production, distribution, marketing and sales, including finances.

The four finalists included:

- POCUP: Elena Fromet and Janina Blum (Lycée Mayrich): The two students focused of a project related to sustainable development and specifically the impact of paper cups. In looking for a solution they came up with the concept of POCUP, the conscious cup in your pocket. The POCUP would have a collabsible design. They researched the competition and discovered just one on the market; they also addressed marketing and distribution of the product. On the financie side, one cup would retail at €18. The concluded with the statement "If you save a cup a day for 20 years, you will save 12 trees".

- Kila: Laura Mockel and Kim Martins Ferreira (Ecole Privé Fieldgen): They looked into the issue of the homeless and being hungry and came up with an idea based on vending machines for the homeless in Luxembourg. They identified the glass atrium at Luxembourg-gare as an ideal location for the vending machine the be based, and identified Stemm vun der Strooss as the only competition. They liaises with the Ville de Luxembourg and Caritas, active in the social sector here, for advice on improving their concept, as well as a number of businesses. One unit would cost circa €12,000 to purchase and install, as well as €3,000 running costs annually (energy); these costs could be reduced by sponsorship.

- (L)earn (Learn & Earn): Isabelle Donckel & Laurie Girres (Lycée Aline Mayrich): They are interested in products and entrepreneurship, and came up with the concept of a website connecting users and providers, providing online classes. They researched other such online offerings and justified theit competitive advantages, which include conecting people, including expatriates. It would be financed by a subscription model as well as class fees.

- Smart Bin: Victoirine Kipulu Nkaandevig and Cheryl Schmitz (Ecole Privé Fieldgen): Their concept is based around intelligent waste bins which could be placed at various public locations around Luxembourg. In undertake research they met various individuals, including Luxembourg's Minister of the Environment. Each unit would have a production cost of €2,000 and they have a sales expectation of 10/month. They concluded with the slogan "Keep it green, keep it clean, with our Smart Bin".

Following the four final presentations, the judges conferred while the participants enjoyed some refreshments. The judges' decision was as follows, with the top prize of the chance to attend a one-week entrepreneurship camp in the U.S. state of California, as well as other prises comprising iPads, mini iPads and Auchan gift vouchers.

1st: Smart Bin

1st runner-up (iPad air): POCUP

2nd runner-up (iPad minis): Kila

3rd runner-up (€300 voucher): (L)earn (Learn & Earn)

Honourable Mentions: Naomy Da Graca & Lisa Villani

Photos by Geoff Thompson