Ecomesh wins the first edition of the KIC InnoEnergy Iberia Award

On 16 December 2014 KIC InnoEnergy held the award ceremony for the first KIC InnoEnergy Iberia Award at the World Trade Center in Barcelona.

More than 25 Spanish start-ups presented their innovative projects in the field of sustainable energy, six of which were selected to pitch their projects in the final round. Ecomesh (EndeF) was declared the winner of a grand prize of 10.000 €, three months of office space at KIC InnoEnergy’s incubator at ESADE CREAPOLIS and six mentoring sessions with collaborators from ESADE’s network.

The event was enriched by the inspirational conference of Albert Bosch, entrepreneur and adventurer, who pointed out “the important role of this kind of initiatives which, with the support of KIC InnoEnergy, represents the innovation in the industry and helps illustrate the energy future of our country.” Likewise Mikel Lasa, CEO KIC InnoEnergy Iberia, emphasised “the role of entrepreneurs who, with different approaches, share with KIC InnoEnergy the main goal of energy sustainability.”

The jury of the KIC InnoEnergy Iberia Award, composed by Mikel Lasa; Josep-Miquel Torregrosa, business creation officer for KIC InnoEnergy Iberia; Oriol Pascual, director for Enviu Barcelona; Jan Brinckmann, professor for ESADE; as well as Jordi Daunis, Judith Cruxent and Renato Braz, business creation managers for KIC InnoEnergy Iberia, assessed the projects and presentations of the six finalists:

• Volta Smart Energy: company that provides solutions to manage the domestic energy consumption through an online application
• Métrica6: has created “NES”, a system that brings information and intelligent tools which enable proper management of hot water
• Vortex Bladeless: developers of wind generation systems without blades and moving parts, making wind energy more efficient, cheaper and environmentally-friendly
• ARI Solar: company that designs and manufactures more efficient heliostats for solar-thermal plants
• Biomival: has created a system to use tidal energy through biomimetic designs
• Ecomesh (EndeF): designer and manufacturer of hybrid solar panels, which combine photovoltaic and thermal elements, with a greater energy efficiency

The idea and implementation of the KIC InnoEnergy Iberia Award has been executed in record time; Josep-Miquel Torregrosa explains the process: “In September we set out to launch an award for the best cleantech project and assign it in less than 3 months. We created the website, the communication campaign, the basis of the contest, evaluated the projects and selected the finalists. All on a tight schedule and budget, like every entrepreneur. At the end we are very pleased with the high quality of the projects presented.”