KfW Entrepreneurs' Award 2017: Success stories are encouraging entrepreneurial initiative

• 16 regional winners have been announced
• Award to successful entrepreneurs for implementing their business idea
• Award ceremony on 12 October 2017 at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy in Berlin
• The competition is endowed with a total of EUR 35,000 in prize money

The 16 regional winners of this year's 2017 KfW Entrepreneurs' Award competition by KfW Group were selected and will be presented with awards at a festive gala on 12 October at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy in Berlin. KfW offers the award as a prize to entrepreneurs who successfully implemented their business idea and created a promising start-up company. The award serves as a quality label for young enterprises. In awarding this prize, KfW wishes to honour successful entrepreneurs and also to foster public recognition of business founders who venture into self-employment.

The KfW Entrepreneurs’ Award is endowed with a total of 35,000 in prize money. Each regional winner shall receive EUR 1,000, an invitation to Berlin for the award ceremony, including hotel accommodation and a programme of visits, as well as the support of a PR agency. At the same time, the 16 regional winners also qualify to be crowned as the national winner, who will be granted an award of a further EUR 9,000 and will be presented during the gala. A "people's choice" award of EUR 5,000 shall also be granted by the audience. A further company will receive this year's special Social Entrepreneurship Award, which is endowed with EUR 5,000 in prize money.

Companies from all industries that were founded from 2012 onwards were eligible for participation. The award winners were selected by a jury of experienced representatives from KfW, promotional institutions, and the world of business, politics and media, who evaluated the business ideas according to their degree of innovation, creativity, and how they assume social responsibility. They also took into account how environmentally-friendly the implementation was and whether trainee positions and jobs were created or maintained.

Here is an overview of this year's regional winners:

Baden-Württemberg:
Krimmers Backstub’ (bakery, succession) www.krimmers-backstub.de

Bavaria:

Toposens GmbH (3D ultrasound sensor systems) www.toposens.com

Berlin:
Greta & Starks Apps (cinema app for people with disabilities) www.gretaundstarks.de

Brandenburg:
WP Systems GmbH (rotor blade maintenance systems) www.windpowersystems.de

Bremen:
Papa Türk GmbH (soft drinks) www.papatuerk.de

Hamburg:
eBlocker GmbH (anonymous surfing and Internet protection for minors) www.eblocker.com

Hessen:
Zentrales Fundbüro/Have it back (online lost and found) www.haveitback.com

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania:
Lunch Vegaz GmbH (organic vegan food) www.lunchvegaz.de

Lower Saxony:
TKT Kunststoff-Technik GmbH (injection moulding, succession) www.tkt-plastics.com

North Rhine-Westphalia:
Creapaper GmbH (paper made from grass) www.creapaper.de

Rhineland-Palatinate:
Ambibox GmbH (software for battery storage) www.ambibox.de

Saarland:
FlairLux GmbH (customised lighting) www.creative-cables.de

Saxony:
watttron GmbH (heating system for plastic moulding) www.watttron.de

Saxony-Anhalt:
Räubersachen (environmentally-friendly children's clothing for rent) www.raeubersachen.de

Schleswig-Holstein:
Auris Hörakustik Brömel & Fromm (auditory acoustics, succession) www.auris-hoerakustik.de

Thuringia:
AXSOL GmbH (portable solar charger) www.axsol.de

The special prize for Social Entrepreneurship goes to the Institute for Inclusive Education in Schleswig-Holstein, www.inklusive-bildung.org

Note: you can find further information about the KfW Award at www.kfw.de/award (only in german language). We will dispatch another press release with further award winners on the morning of 13 October 2017.