OREANDA-NEWS. The application period has started for this year's KfW Entrepreneurs' Award (“Gr?nderChampions”) with prizes totalling EUR 30,000. In this prestigious competition, the KfW Group awards a prize to one company from each federal German state that has been set up or taken over as a result of business succession since 2010. One national winner is chosen from the 16 regional finalists. Finally, on the evening of the award ceremony, the audience votes for an overall winner. Start-ups and young entrepreneurs can apply online until 1 August 2015 at http://www.degut.de/. 

The award ceremony will be held at the Deutsche Gr?nder- und Un-ternehmertage (deGUT) in Berlin on 8 October 2015. The 16 regional win-ners will each receive EUR 1,000, and the national winner selected from this group an additional prize of EUR 9,000. This prize will be awarded to a company that is particularly outstanding - either for a particularly innovative or creative idea, or for taking social responsibility. The prize awarded by the audience is worth another EUR 5,000. The 16 prize-winning entrepreneurs will be invited to Berlin from 8 to 10 October 2015. The winners will be supported by a PR agency when publishing their success story.

The winners of the KfW entrepreneurs' award will be chosen by a jury consisting of experienced representatives from politics and business, state development institutions and chambers of commerce and industry, from among all submissions. The jury will assess the business ideas for their level of innovation and creativity and review whether they create value added for society. Other criteria for the award are how environmentally friendly the process of implementation is and whether jobs and training positions have been created or retained. Companies from all sectors can apply.