[PRESSWIRE] Riga, Latvia — 13 July 2026 — JA Latvia welcomed Europe’s brightest young entrepreneurs to Riga this week, hosting GEN-E 2026, Europe’s largest celebration and competition for youth entrepreneurship.

From 7–9 July, more than 1,000 young entrepreneurs, educators, business leaders, policymakers and partners from over 40 countries gathered in the Latvian capital for three days of innovation, inspiration and international collaboration under this year’s theme, “Beyond Borders.” The festival showcased the ambitions and achievements of a community of more than 400,000 young people who take part in JA entrepreneurship programmes across Europe each year.

Hosted by JA Europe and JA Latvia, GEN-E 2026 brought together students, educators, business leaders and policymakers to watch Europe’s brightest young minds present their pioneering business ideas and compete for the prestigious titles of JA Europe Company of the Year 2026, JA Europe Start-Up of the Year 2026, and Innovation of the Year at both upper-secondary and university level.

The festival welcomed senior representatives from government, business and education, including Andris Kulbergs, Prime Minister of Latvia; Baiba Braže, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia; and Ieva Jāgere, Director of the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia.

European Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport Glenn Micallef, who opened GEN-E 2026 with a video message, encouraged participants to “be bold, think beyond borders and continue turning your ideas into real impact,” echoing this year’s festival theme.

“Failure is the way to success, because that’s the only way you learn, excel, become competitive and understand your strenghts… And that is the entrepreneurial spirit you all should always have.” Andris Kulbergs, Prime Minister of Latvia

They were joined by leaders from JA Europe and JA Worldwide, alongside senior representatives from partner organisations, recognising excellence in entrepreneurship, innovation, leadership, sustainability, artificial intelligence, project management and social impact.

GEN-E 2026 also highlighted the power of collaboration in preparing Europe’s next generation of entrepreneurs. Leading companies, foundations and institutions worked alongside JA Europe and JA Latvia not only as sponsors, but also as mentors, jury members, speakers, award partners and learning facilitators. Their support gave young entrepreneurs direct access to business expertise, international networksand real-world opportunities to grow their ventures beyond the competition.

Reflecting on the spirit of this year’s festival, Salvatore Nigro, CEO of JA Europe, said: “What will matter most tonight is the feeling you will carry with you long after this event ends: the feeling of arriving under different flags, competing with passion, and leaving united as one Europe, building one shared future. This is why we created GEN-E: to bring together a generation of Europeans who believe in the power of entrepreneurship to shape tomorrow.”

Europe’s Best Youth Businesses of 2026

Upper-Secondary Level — Company of the Year (Business Track)

LIPIGO (Slovakia) — A safe glue for children made from edible ingredients that is water-soluble, washes off easily, and is safe even if accidentally ingested.

ENALION (Greece) — A mini-company developing an innovative solution to excessive sodium consumption, combining Messolonghi fleur de sel with other natural ingredients.

HERSHIELD (Cyprus) — A discreet, elegantly designed lip-gloss-style case housing drink-testing technology, offering quiet protection and a reliable, potentially life-saving companion for women’s safety on nights out.

Upper-Secondary Level — Innovation of the Year

MOORE UB (Norway) — Technology that reduces overconsumption and costs in the maritime industry through digital rope identification, integrating a magnetic tracking stripe into rope cores so ropes and their certifications can be scanned and identified, extending rope lifetime and cutting waste.

KIRYAK (Estonia) — A sustainable writing tool that replaces traditional ink with a durable metal-alloy core, developed by a female-led STEM team, turning plastic waste into a “lifetime” writing instrument.

SAFECLIP (Lithuania) — A simple solution to improve motorcycle rider safety: one part slides under the helmet padding, the other attaches to the chin strap, creating a tactile pairing that confirms the strap is correctly fastened.

University Level — Start-Up of the Year (Business Track)

VERDIAX (Netherlands) — Developer of the Vinco, a biodegradable incontinence product for the funeral care industry, addressing the growing trend of natural burials where plastic doesn’t belong.

DONA (Bulgaria) — Bulgaria’s national winning university start-up. (Further product details to follow — see note to editor below.)

RIFF SNACKS (United Kingdom) — A snack bar brand tackling food waste by turning surplus and “wonky” fruit into high-fibre, minimally processed snack bars, using whole-fruit ingredients like banana peel and cacao husks via freeze-drying.

University Level — Innovation of the Year

LIVIA (Cyprus) — An intelligent agriculture platform combining satellite observations, autonomous drones and AI-driven analytics, integrating multispectral drone imagery with satellite time series to deliver actionable insights for farmers.

SMART4LEAK (Luxembourg) — An innovative sensor that detects water leaks in real time by analysing pipe vibrations.

VITISINO (Türkiye) — Transforms grape byproducts into functional food ingredients through controlled fermentation, giving winemaking waste a second life as food-tech.

This year’s festival showcased the creativity and drive of young entrepreneurs who emerged from a remarkable pool of more than 400,000 students and university participants engaged in the JA Company Programme and JA Start-Up Programme during the 2025–26 academic year. Hundreds of innovative youth ventures were featured through the GEN-E Virtual Expo and national competitions, with the most outstanding teams earning their place to compete on the European stage in Riga.

As Laurence Morvan, Chair of the JA Europe Board, Chief of Staff to EMEA CEO at Accenture noted: “In a world where AI can generate answers in seconds, your greatest advantage will be your ability to see opportunities others miss. At Gen-E, we celebrate a generation of young entrepreneurs who don’t just use technology, they use their judgement, creativity, and passion to solve real problems.”

European Signature Awards

In addition to the four Main Awards, national winners from across Europe competed for a range of European and National Signature Awards.

Upper-Secondary Level

Alumni Leadership Award, supported by Johnson & Johnson: Modestas Raila (Lithuania), Loore Lee Allmaa (Estonia), Natalija Kundacina (Serbia), Papavasileiou Vasileios (Greece), Peter Dzupka (Slovakia), Anastasia Molashkhia (Georgia)

FedEx Access Award: MOORE UB (Norway) — see profile above

Delta Air Lines Sustainable Innovation Award: RE-VITALIZE (Isle of Man) — a sustainable business idea with strong scale-up potential.

The huManpower Award, by ManpowerGroup: FITBOXD (Czech Republic) — an app that turns a physical wardrobe into a digital closet, helping users plan outfits sustainably.

PMIEF Best Application of Project Management Award: ENALION (Greece) — see profile above

The UniCredit Foundation “Re-Power Your Future” Award: MONETA WORKS (Serbia) — a family board game teaching money management while reconnecting parents and children away from screens.

The Jørgen M. & Anette Clausen AI Award: VOICELENS (Romania) — smart glasses helping the 10+ million young Europeans with dyslexia read and understand text more easily.

University Level

Alumni Leadership Award, supported by Johnson & Johnson: Izaak Scicluna (Malta), Tim Bottinga (Netherlands), Daniel Francisco Silva (Luxembo urg), Maria Valente (Portugal), Louis Gerard (Belgium FR), Carlos Fraguas (Spain)

FedEx Access Award: LIVIA (Cyprus) — see profile above

EY AI Innovators Award: SIEMAS (Denmark) — recognised for the responsible use of AI to build a purposeful, real-world solution.

National Signature Awards

Investment and Development Agency of Latvia — Best Stage Presentation Award: MONETA WORKS (Serbia)

Riga City Council — Best Stand Award: SAFECLIP (Lithuania)

Public Choice Awards

Upper-Secondary level, supported by MikroTik: BIOCEL (Albania) — home-compostable packaging made from upcycled wheat straw, replacing single-use plastics.

University level, supported by Bata: ALGEBO.AI (Romania) — an AI tutoring platform helping students prepare for the Baccalaureate maths exam.

Special Awards

GEN-E Viral Reel Competition: BERED (Portugal)

Get in the Ring, by Unknown Group: INTERDORM (Czech Republic) — also an earlier NN Social Innovation Award winner for its concept addressing student housing and community.

De La Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award Nominee: LIPIGO (Slovakia) — see profile above

Beyond the competition, GEN-E 2026 served as a platform connecting young innovators with educators, policymakers, investors and business leaders. Participants took part in workshops, networking activities, stage presentations, the GEN-E Expo, Get in the Ring competitions and mentoring sessions designed to strengthen Europe’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and inspire future generations of innovators.

“Tonight I want every single one of you to remember, the fact that you are here in Riga means that you have achieved already something really extraordinary from 400.000 students that started the programme last september, you are the only ones who made it here to Gen-E… For all of us at Junior Achievement Latvia, our biggest mission was to make these few days a real celebration of entrepreneurship for youth.”

Janis Krievans, CEO of JA Latvia

We congratulate all winners and participants of GEN-E 2026 and invite everyone to discover their ventures through the GEN-E website, the GEN-E Virtual Expo , and social media channels. https://expo.gen-e.eu/

“For Latvia hosting this event is once in a lifetime opportunity… There is no doubt that you will achieve great things in your lives, when that happens my only wish is that you never forget where you started. Come back to Junior Achievement as partners and mentors, support education and help build the entrepreneurial confidence of the next generation.”

Aigars Rostovskis, Chair of JA Latvia Board, President of the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Vice President of Eurochambres.

About GEN-E

GEN-E is Europe’s largest entrepreneurship festival for young people and the annual European championship of Junior Achievement Europe. It brings together top student businesses, university start-ups, educators, policymakers and business leaders to celebrate innovation and support the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Programme is funded from the ERDF project “Development of Innovative Entrepreneurship of SMEs”.

Learn more at https://gen-e.eu/

About JA Europe

JA Europe is the largest and leading organisation in Europe dedicated to inspiring and preparing young people to succeed. For over 100 years, JA Worldwide has delivered hands-on, experiential learning in entrepreneurship, work readiness and financial health.

Learn more at https://jaeurope.org/

Media Contact:

Irina Ilieva - Head of Communications, Marketing and Policy, JA Europe - irina@jaeurope.org

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