Philips Innovation Award virtual grand final

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On Monday May 18 at 19:30 hours CET, the 15th edition of the Philips Innovation Award will be held as a virtual event and live streamed on the Philips Innovation Awards’ website: www.phia.nl. The Philips Innovation Award is the largest student entrepreneurship competition in the Netherlands. It targets students who plan to further develop their start-up businesses, as well as students with an innovative idea wishing to turn it into a start-up. Every participant benefits from expert feedback, workshops, and trainings. Based on their live pitches, this evening it will be decided which of the eight finalists has the most innovative idea. A jury, chaired by Frans van Houten, CEO of Royal Philips, will decide who will win the Innovator Award and EUR 50,000, and Rough Diamond Award and EUR 10,000.

As the world combats COVID-19 and adjusts to the new normal, I firmly believe that we must continue to foster innovation and entrepreneurship in order to ensure future economic prosperity.

Frans van Houten

CEO of Royal Philips

“As the world combats COVID-19 and adjusts to the new normal, I firmly believe that we must continue to foster innovation and entrepreneurship in order to ensure future economic prosperity,” said Frans van Houten. “At Philips, we remain focused on our triple duty of care: addressing critical customer needs, safeguarding the health & safety of our employees, and ensuring business continuity. I am pleased to see that the Philips Innovation Award organization is also following these principles, with this year’s Philips Innovation Award final now being a virtual event, live broadcasted via various channels. It is more important than ever to encourage entrepreneurship among students and motivate the leaders and entrepreneurs of tomorrow to take their first steps. Since its inception, the Philips Innovation Award has grown tremendously. I am extremely proud of the coaching network, start-up capital, and encouragement the platform continues to offer to students. Over the years, several of our winning students have become successful entrepreneurs - a truly fantastic achievement.”