On 15 November the 6th European Enterprise Promotion Awards were presented at a ceremony during the SME Assembly in Cyprus. Bryo was among the initiatives commended in the ‘Promoting the Entrepreneurial Spirit’ category.
This year a total of 402 projects from 30 countries – the 27 EU Member States plus Croatia, Serbia and Turkey – were entered in the five categories of the European Enterprise Promotion Awards. These European ‘Oscars’ for the world of enterprise, awarded annually by the European Commission, pay tribute to governmental or public/private initatives that foster entrepreneurship at national, regional or local level. Bryo came out in the top four in the Promoting the Entrepreneurial Spirit catgegory.
“This commendation that Bryo has received today means, first and foremost, due recognition for all those people who have given their support to the initiative and for the 200 quality businesses that have arisen from the Bryo initiative. We couldn’t have achieved this without the determination of our staff, the support of the experienced businesspeople who help the startups to get going, plus the Flemish regional government and our commercial partners BNP Paribas Fortis, SD Worx and Deloitte Fiduciaire,” declared Jo Libeer, Chief Executive of the Flemish business network Voka.
“Bryo has been up and running across the whole of Flanders for just two years now. In this short period of time we have managed to turn the projects of 600 young Flemings between 18 and 36 years of age from mere ‘desire’ into real businesses. What we’re trying to do is not just help people with potential to successfully start up a small business but also to help them grow to become world-class players. We’re delighted that the European Commission has with this commendation recognised both our alumni’s desire to set up and run a business and our approach of encouraging their potential to grow to the maximum.”
Bryo – a composite of Bright and Young – is an initiative by Voka to support pre-startups. It aims to recruit some 240 startup candidates each year and help to start up 50 companies annually from among them. In addition it seeks to build a positive image for entrepreneurship.
As an active partner of the Bryo project, BNP Paribas Fortis helps young people with the desire to get into business by providing advice, networking assistance and practical support.
The Dutch phrase (see thumbnail): 'Hoe groot is jouw goesting om te ondernemen?' could be rendered as 'How strong is your entrepreneurial drive?'
Articles on the same topic (in Dutch): BNP Paribas Fortis ondersteunt Vlaamse startup-scene in samenwerking met Bryo – Jong ondernemerstalent duurzaam promoten – Bryo genomineerd voor Europese award
More info (in Dutch): www.bryo.be – Tool to help measure people's entrepreneurial potential: www.goestingmeter.be