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Transferwise, Nextome and Clue rewarded as European Web Entrepreneurs of The Year

The European Commission today announced the winners of the 2015 Europioneers Awards. This year’s winners are: Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo Käärmann (Estonia), Domenico Colucci(Italy), Ida Tin (Germany).

photo of the winners of the competition

European Commission

photo of the winners of the competition

The European Commission today have rewarded the winners of the 2015 Web Entrepreneur of The Year Awards - Europioneers.

This year’s winners are:

  • Web Entrepreneur of the Year: Taavet Hinrikus, Kristo Käärmann - Transferwise (Estonia)
  • Young Web Entrepreneur of the Year: Domenico Colucci - Nextome (Italy)
  • Female Web Entrepreneur of the Year:  Ida Tin - Clue (Germany)

The Vice President of the European Commission, Jyrki Katainen and the President of the European Committee of the Regions, Markku Markkula presented the awards. The winners were announced during Slush Conference in Helsinki where the European web entrepreneur community was represented by 15000 participants, including 1700 startups, 800 investors, and 650 media representatives.

Europioneers is an excellent way to put the spotlight on all this successful entrepreneurs and innovators starting and scaling up in Europe. We need to celebrate their success and make them role models for future generations. The digital economy has a huge growth potential in the EU and this is why we are helping startups and entrepreneurs access risk financing with our Investment Plan for Europe, declared Jyrki Katainen, European Commission Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness.

Europe needs a whole new mindset change towards innovation, experimenting and rapid prototyping. With this we can give the economy the fresh start it needs to boost jobs and growth. We must foster and encourage the entrepreneurial spirit of discovery that has always been the recipe for European success. The Digital Single Market is one of the key tools for bridging the distances in Europe and a bottom up movement is needed to secure its operation. It is through insightful entrepreneurs, like the ones we have awarded today and before, that we can showcase the added value and encourage others to join, stated Markku Markkula, President of the European Committee of the Regions.

About the winners

Web Entrepreneur of the Year - Kristo Käärmann and Taavet Hinrikus are the founders of TransferWise, an Estonian developed and UK-based peer-to-peer money transfer service with headquarters in London and offices in Tallinn and New York. More than £3 billion has been transferred through TransferWise.

Young Web Entrepreneur of the Year - Domenico Colucci founded Nextome, the most innovative indoor positioning and navigation system. Thanks to Nextome it will be finally possible to locate your own position in enclosed spaces in real time. 

Female Web Entrepreneur of the Year - Ida Tin developed Clue, a digital fertility tool that lets women and their partners track the menstrual cycle by entering data about her period, mood, and the pain she may be experiencing. The more input the application receives, the more accurate Clue becomes in predicting your cycle.

The selection of the winners depended on the public voting and jury input. The 2015 jury includes Carlos Espinal from Seedcamp, Carlos Silva from Seedrs & Beta-I, Jan Reichelt from Mendeley‎, Simone Brummelhuis from The Next Women and Robin Wauters from Tech.eu.

About Europioneers

Europioneers is organized by the European Commission as part of the Startup Europe initiative, in partnership with Deloitte, LEWIS PR and the European Young Innovators Forum. The objective of the competition is to identify and recognise successful European web initiatives, to promote the role web entrepreneurs play in European society, and to encourage and inspire potential entrepreneurs. The award were given for the third consecutive year. In 2014 over 300 nominations were received, voted on by over 2000 members of start-up communities. For more information, see www.europionieers.eu.

To contact the project team please email contact@europioneers.eu