ALEXANDRIA, VA -- (Marketwired) -- 11/23/13 -- The Entrepreneurs' Organization's Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA), the premier global competition honoring the top high school, college and graduate students who have founded and are running revenue-generating businesses, today announced Spencer Quinn, co-founder and CEO of FiberFix, as the Champion of the 2013 Global Student Entrepreneur Awards. This year, the Entrepreneurs' Organization partnered with International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank, to present the inaugural IFC Emerging Entrepreneur Impact Award to a student from a developing country.
Quinn, a Brigham Young University student, Shark Tank star and co-founder and CEO of FiberFix, will receive his share of $150,000 in cash and in-kind business services from the Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) to help Quinn successfully continue on his entrepreneurial journey.
In 2013, Quinn and his cousin Eric Child founded FiberFix, the heavy-duty repair tape that is 100x stronger than duct tape. They have been featured on Shark Tank, QVC and are already in more than 1,600 stores across the nation. Quinn first won the San Francisco regional competition in California before besting the top 42 international student entrepreneurs at the Global Finals at the International Finance Corporation in Washington, D.C. on November 22. These 42 semi-finalists competed and were selected from a field of more than 1,600 applicants from 37 countries. The 2013 Global Finals competition saw 50% of finalists stemming from Mexico as well as the most applications in the competition's history.
"Someone once told me, if you're going to be anything in life, be passionate. Being a part of the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards has surrounded me with some of the most talented, passionate people on the planet," said Spencer Quinn, co-founder and CEO, FiberFix. "I am just so incredibly grateful for the support from EO and GSEA. I look forward to nurturing the many relationships I've made with the other students and members of the Entrepreneurs' Organization and to growing FiberFix over many years to come."
Adam Robinson, global GSEA sub-committee chair, added, "Each year we see an increase in applications and the quality of the businesses presenting. We were absolutely blown away by the talent of the 2013 GSEA participants. These young, successful business owners from all over the world remind us that entrepreneurship is increasingly becoming the career path of choice for not only American youth but the youth of our world to innovate, create jobs, and impact their communities."
GSEA 2013 WINNERS & HONOREES
First Runner Up: Daniel Fine, University of Pennsylvania. Founder of Glass-U, a custom sunglass company that creates fully folding glasses targeting the youth and young adult market offering licensing for universities nationwide.
Second Runner Up: Jordi Munoz, CETYS Universidad, Mexico. Founder of 3D Robotics, the leading open unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) company. 3D Robotics designs and manufactures electronics and aerial vehicles, including multicopters and airplanes. It has more than 150 employees, with annual sales of $10 million per year.
Social Impact Award: Jolijt Tamanaha, Washington University in St. Louis. Co-Founder and COO of Farmplicity, an online marketplace that local farmers use to sell to local chefs.
Innovation Award: Spencer Quinn, Brigham Young University. Co-founded FiberFix, a repair tape inspired by casting tape physicians use to repair bones that allows for long-lasting household and industrial repairs.
Lessons from the Edge Award: Natalia Maczek, Jagiellonian University, Poland. Founder of street wear clothing brand, Misbehave MISBHV. Her designs are sold at premium retailers in London, Paris, Hong Kong and Shanghai and worn by modern pop icons like Rihanna and Cara Delevigne.
2013 GSEA High School Winner: Megan Holstein, a recent graduate of Dublin Coffman High School in Ohio and current student at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Founder and president of Pufferfish Software, which makes apps for autistic children. She founded the company when she was just 15-years-old.
International Finance Corporation (IFC) Award: Sofia de Huguet, Universidad Centro Americana, El Salvador. Founder of April Store, a clothing store for true fashion lovers that helps young women in need. The IFC Award is given to a profitable, sustainable business creating job opportunities in developing countries.
Partnership with IFC also recognizes the important role the Entrepreneurs' Organization's members from developing countries play in creating jobs and reducing poverty, supporting the main goals of IFC's Let's Work global partnership.
"Promoting entrepreneurship is critical for addressing global unemployment. There are over 600 million young people in developing countries who are neither working nor studying and their best prospect for moving out of poverty is through a job -- either self-employment or working in a company. IFC works to remove obstacles that prevent small businesses -- which create the most jobs in developing countries -- from growing and thriving," said Roland Michelitsch, Global Head, Let's Work, IFC.
EO was founded in 1987 with the mission to build a better entrepreneur. It is a global network with roughly 10,000 members and 131 chapters in more than 40 countries. EO has been running the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards competition since 2006. This year's sponsors include: Thomas Franchise Solutions and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The International Finance Corporation is a proud host partner and GSEA also received generous support from Global Entrepreneurship Week.
About the Entrepreneurs' Organization's Global Student Entrepreneur Awards
As the premier global competition for high school, undergraduate and graduate students, the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA) represents more than 1,700 of the prominent student entrepreneurs from more than 32 countries. Built on a mission to inspire students to start and grow entrepreneurial ventures, GSEA brings global visibility to pioneering student business owners. Since 1998, the GSEA, a program founded at the John Cook School of Business at Saint Louis University, has honored outstanding students who simultaneously attend university full-time while running their own businesses. The Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) took on leadership of the GSEA in 2006 to offer student entrepreneurs access to a global network of mentors, resources and connections from the most influential community of entrepreneurs in the world. The Entrepreneurs' Organization's GSEA is generously supported by Thomas Franchise Solutions and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. To nominate a student entrepreneur or to get involved, go to www.gsea.org and follow GSEA on Twitter at @EO_GSEA.
About the Entrepreneurs' Organization
The Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) is a global business network of more than 9,500 business owners in 131 chapters and 40 countries. Founded in 1987 by a group of young entrepreneurs, EO enables small and large business owners to learn from each other, leading to greater business success and an enriched personal life. The organization's vision is to build the world's most influential community of entrepreneurs, which aligns with its mission of supporting entrepreneurial education and engaging entrepreneurs to learn and grow.
The Entrepreneurs' Organization also operates the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA), the premier award program for high school, undergraduate and graduate students that own and run businesses while attending college or university; and Accelerator, a series of quarterly, high-impact learning events designed to provide top business owners with the tools, knowledge and skills they need to grow their businesses to more than US$1 million in annual revenue.
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Jessica Fletcher
Emerging Media for Entrepreneurs' Organization's GSEA
817-707-8429
Jessica@emergingmediapr.com
