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The 14th EY Entrepreneur Of The Year contest launches in Slovakia

Apply personally, or nominate an entrepreneur you are aware of, with vision, courage and who, thanks to their hard work and determination, has built a successful company. 

EY launches its latest EY Entrepreneur Of The Year contest in Slovakia. Its winner will become part of the international community of top world entrepreneurs and represent Slovakia at the contest world finals, taking place in June 2020 in Monte Carlo. The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 contest has the patronage of the President of the Slovak Republic.

The mission of the contest is to present to the public exceptional business figures, who may act as role models for young, budding entrepreneurs and whose success stories can inspire them. Nominations are now open and should be submitted by 30 November 2019. Any entrepreneur can be nominated, assuming they are an individual owner or co-owner of a company, primarily responsible for running it and active in its management. Entrepreneur nominations can be placed or initiated by anyone, including, without limitation, colleagues, clients, employees or relatives, preferably via the nomination form which can be accessed at the contest website www.eypodnikatelroka.sk, or by email to eypodnikatelroka@sk.ey.com.

“The aim of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year contest is to appreciate successful Slovak entrepreneurs, show these positive examples to the public and inspire all those who have the appetite and courage to start doing business,” says Matej Bošňák, Country Managing Partner of EY in the Slovak Republic, adding: “We need positive entrepreneurial role models who give the right meaning to the word \'entrepreneur\'. In this respect, the contestants we have met during previous years of the contest can be regarded as examples worth following.”

Last year’s title, the EY Slovak Entrepreneur Of the Year 2018, was won by Šimon Šicko, the co-founder and CEO of Pixel Federation, the game development studio. “The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year contest has well-established and effective evaluation rules. EY leaves room for the jury, mainly composed of entrepreneurs (previous title-holders), to decide the winners. They assess not only hard numbers, but also business stories and philanthropic activities. At the same time, I would like to highlight the opportunity to meet and get to know many inspiring people and their business stories during the world finals in Monaco,” Šimon Šicko commented on the contest. The winner of the last world finals was Brad Keywell from the United States, with his company Uptake Technologies, which became the fastest growing start-up to reach a US$2b valuation.

The comprehensive judging procedure is bound by EY’s international rules, considering not only business metrics, but also factors such as the contestant’s personal profile, business story, strategy and cross-border presence. The judges thus also focus on the entrepreneurial spirit of a nominee, their integrity, ethics and social responsibility.

“As a bank, we are part of many business stories, so we can see that behind every success there are not only ideas, passion or stamina, but also a lot of effort, sleepless nights or seemingly intractable problems. Therefore, we can imagine everything going on behind a successful business and respect anybody who is willing to take the plunge. Therefore, we are honored to have long been the exclusive partner of this project which recognizes such exceptional entrepreneurs,” said Andrej Viceník, Executive Director of the Corporate Banking Division of VÚB bank.


Award categories
Competitors are awarded in the following categories: EY Slovak Entrepreneur Of The Year, EY Technology Entrepreneur Of The Year and EY Emerging Entrepreneur Of The Year. Any contestants who have been in business for at least two, and not more than five years, may compete for the title of EY Emerging Entrepreneur Of The Year. The winner of the EY Slovak Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 title, together with winners of the other categories, will be announced in March 2020.

The winner is selected by an independent panel of judges, mainly comprising the contest’s previous winners, who assess entrepreneurs according to internationally-uniform criteria. The panel is interested not just in financial data, but also in interesting entrepreneurial stories which inspire others and present role models. The evaluation process also focuses on the personality of a contestant, their integrity, strategy and social responsibility. Currently, this is the only truly global business recognition contest, held on six continents in 60 countries. The contest has been held in Slovakia since 2006.


Partners of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 contest
The contest’s exclusive partner is Všeobecná úverová banka, its general partner is Corwin and the contest’s partners are the Chivas Regal brand and Slovanet. The contest’s automobile partner is BMW. The image partner is Marco Mirelli brand. The media partners are the daily newspaper Hospodárske noviny, the weekly Trend, the monthly Forbes, as well as Rozhlas a televízia Slovenska, television TA3 and Startitup, the biggest Slovak start-up and business portal.


Members of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 judging panel
  • Šimon Šicko, Chair of the panel, Pixel Federation, s.r.o., EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2018
  • Michal Weis, IBL Software Engineering, spol. s r.o., EY Entrepreneur Of the Year 2017
  • Jozef Klein, Asseco Central Europe, a.s., EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2016
  • Patrick Hessel, c2i s.r.o, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2015
  • Eva Stejskalová, MicroStep, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2014
  • Vladimír Šrámek, DECODOM, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2013
  • Ľuboš Fellner, BUBO Travel agency, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2011
  • Tomáš Bel, EXIsport, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2010
  • Michal Štencl, Sygic, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2009
  • Peter Zálešák, NAY, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2008
  • Rudolf Sivák, Vice-Chancellor, University of Economics in Bratislava
  • Róbert Šimončič, CEO, SARIO (Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency)
  • Alexander Resch, VÚB, a.s. (the contest’s exclusive partner)
  • Marián Hlavačka, CORWIN a.s. (the contest’s general partner)

EY Podnikatel roka 2018_Simon Sicko_1.jpg   EY Podnikatel roka_porota.jpg EOY Launch_bez log.jpg


About the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year contest
EY Entrepreneur Of The Year is the world’s most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs. Its aim is to present to the general public exceptional business figures, whose success stories may inspire young, budding entrepreneurs. The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year contest was conceived as an international competition, so the judging criteria used to evaluate individual contestants are comparable in each participating country. At present, it is the only truly global business recognition contest held on six continents in 60 countries. For more information, please visit www.eypodnikatelroka.sk

About EY
EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in capital markets and economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, our clients and our communities. EY refers to the global organization and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. For more information about our organization, please visit www.ey.com/sk.
EY (Ernst & Young, s.r.o.)