Solaris Vita, a startup created by students at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), has won second place in the “Innovation of the Year” category at Gen-E 2024, the largest European youth entrepreneurship competition, organized by Junior Achievement Europe. This is the first time that a Spanish university team has won this award.
Solaris Vita, a startup created by students at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), has won second place in the “Innovation of the Year” category at Gen-E 2024, the largest European youth entrepreneurship competition, organized by Junior Achievement Europe. This is the first time that a Spanish university team has won this award.
The promoters of Solaris Vita, Miguel Iglesias (Industrial Engineering graduate from UC3M) and Yann Guichard (Economics student at the University), competed alongside 1,000 other young people from more than 40 European countries who presented their projects at Gen-E, the largest youth entrepreneurship fair, held this year in Catania (Sicily) between July 2 and 5. During the 2023-2024 academic year, almost 400,000 European students created their company and competed to represent their country at this event.
Solaris Vita proposes an agrovoltaic solution that combines thin flexible solar films with greenhouses and can generate electricity while maintaining agricultural activity. The organic photovoltaics (OPV) used by this startup is an emerging technology that uses thin films of organic semiconductors to convert sunlight into electricity.
This idea arises with a clear social objective: the donation of solar factories to the neediest countries. In addition, this company aims to revolutionize the Spanish energy sector by implementing cutting-edge technology in unconventional spaces.
As Miguel Iglesias explained, “it has been a long road that began in October 2023 and ended just last week” The founder of Solaris Vita highlighted “the enormous reception that the project has had and the great interest shown in what we are building. This victory helps us to drive our vision forward and reaffirms the importance of implementing innovative solutions in the agricultural and photovoltaic sector”.
Spanish finalist
Solaris Vita has reached Gen-E after winning the National Entrepreneurship Competition, organized by Junior Achievement Spain. This meeting is part of the Startup Programme, which aims to foster entrepreneurial skills in young people such as creativity, effort and teamwork. For David Hernández Cela, from UC3M’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Support Service, “the work that Junior Achievement Spain does with the Startup Programme and the other initiatives is vital to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit in young people, and at UC3M we are committed to and support these initiatives. In addition, I have been able to live the GEN-E experience in Catania and enjoy the hundreds of young entrepreneurs who have shown their innovations with social impact. Congratulations to all the participants and especially to Solaris Vita, UC3M’s representative from Spain, who has achieved a well-deserved second place”.
Thanks to the mentoring of professional volunteers from different companies and the support of the teachers, the young people acquired the skills that have enabled them to design their own entrepreneurial projects. Miguel Iglesias has only words of thanks for them: “We can only thank all the people who have supported Solaris Vita and are involved in the project. None of this would be possible if it were not for them”.
During the 2023-2024 academic year, 449 young university and vocational training students have developed their projects within the framework of this program, which is subsidized by the Madrid City Council, through Madrid Emprende, and sponsored by Naturgy, Tikehau Capital, Fundación PwC, SAP, BNY Mellon and SpainCap.
The Junior Achievement Foundation is one of the world’s largest international non-profit organizations in entrepreneurship education, financial education and career guidance. It develops programs in more than 120 countries and in 30 languages, benefiting more than 10.5 million young people each year. Junior Achievement has been working in Spain since 2001 to empower the talents of young people and equip them with the skills they need to make a successful transition to employability.
Solaris Vita is a UC3M student project that has had direct support for more than 2 years from the Center for Innovation in Entrepreneurship and Artificial Intelligence (C3N-IA) of the UC3M Science Park, with personalized mentoring, training, workshops and participation in the Explorer and Startup Program.
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