The jury of the second edition of the Red emprendeverde Awards met today to select the winners of this contest promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment (MAGRAMA), through the Biodiversity Foundation. The jury of the second edition of the Red emprendeverde Awards met today to select the winners of this contest promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment (MAGRAMA), through the Biodiversity Foundation, in order to recognize and support those green entrepreneurs who stand out for their contribution to the economy. helping them to create and consolidate their company and recognizing their ideas and initiatives.
 
During the meeting, the entrepreneurs of the 16 finalist candidatures presented their projects to the jury, made up of prestigious personalities in the environmental, business, investment, financing and entrepreneurship fields.
 
Among its members are representatives of the National Innovation Company, the Spanish Association of Business Angels, the ICO Foundation, the José Manuel Entrecanales Foundation, the IESE Private Investors Network, the ESADE Institute for Entrepreneurship, Keiretsu Forum Spain, Ashoka Spain and Portugal. On behalf of the MAGRAMA, the Director General of Environmental Quality and Assessment and the Natural Environment, Guillermina Yanguas, and the director of the Biodiversity Foundation, Sonia Castañeda, as president of the jury, participated.
 
After deliberation, the jury has selected the five winners of the contest’s economic awards from among the 16 finalist candidates. In this edition, the endowment amounts to €24,000. Each of the two competition categories, “Emprende en verde” and “Crece y consolídate en verde”, has two prizes endowed with €6,000 and €3,000. In addition, a second prize of €6,000 is awarded to the initiative that stands out for its protection of biodiversity.
 
The jury has also selected seven special mentions for young green entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs and candidacies that have stood out for their eco-innovation and international projection. In addition to this recognition, there will be a mention “Red emprendeverde Community“, whose winner will be chosen by the Twitter users of the Red emprendeverde through a voting system that will open in the coming days.
 
The winning nominations and special mentions will be announced at the awards ceremony to be held in Madrid during the last quarter of 2014.
 
In addition to offering support to the selected entrepreneurs through training, advice and financial prizes, the call for the contest contributes to developing a network of contacts between entrepreneurs and investors and gives dissemination and visibility to their initiatives.
 
These awards are part of the Emprendeverde Network, promoted by the Biodiversity Foundation, and co-financed by the European Social Fund through the Operational Programme for Adaptability and Employment 2007-2013. In this second edition, 265 candidacies have been submitted, which represents an increase of 40% compared to the previous edition.