We Mean Business! AAU leading the Junior Achievement Start-Up Competition 2023

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Phase two, here we come! The School of Business Administration means business in this year’s Junior Achievement Start-Up Competition. After winning first place in the main category for Top Project – the project with the greatest overall likelihood of success, we’re looking forward to what these AAU entrepreneurs will do next… 

What is the JA Start-Up Competition?*

The University JACzech competition spans 2 University semesters – Fall and Spring – in which time students create a business project with a team and proceed step by step according to all the necessary points to present a complete business idea at the end of the program. During the year, they will also have the opportunity to take part in accompanying specialized events and competitions. The regional winners will take part in the European finals which will be in Istanbul in July 2023. 

“The JA Startup program is an excellent opportunity for the students to immediately apply what they are learning, as they are learning it.  The perfect learning experience, promoted by the prevailing and most effective pedagogical methods and supporting research.”

– Professor Jeff Medeiros, 2023

Under the guidance of AAU professors; Jeff Medeiros, who leads the Entrepreneurship in Practice course, and Heinrich Homola, who is the Junior Achievement Mentor/Advisor, this team of AAU business students created the business ‘List-n-Eat’.  

List-n-Eat is an app-based tool to help university students with the journey to finding health and balance in their university life. The service will give students a break from planning and budgeting, by doing it for them by providing easy-to-follow cooking recipes and a simple list of ingredients to buy. This soon-to-be-launched application will enable users to have accessible quick nutritional recipes as well as upload and share their own. List-n-Eat lists the benefits of using the app as time and money saving, and above all, improving the eating habits of tired, busy students.

Students Involved:

  • Duc Long Bui
  • Anna Chevychalova
  • Rose de Bantes
  • Genevieve Flores
  • Nicole Gilberg
  • Nada Khozheiri
  • Yuliia Kondaurova
  • Jan Zejdlik

Learn more about List-n-Eat here.

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For their efforts in the first phase of the JA competition, the AAU team was awarded first place for Top Project and second place for Top Brand for their business model! Now having created their business idea, their brand architecture, their communication pillars, and their Lean Canvas, the students are focusing on new JA Startup challenges related to the development of their venture throughout this semester – in short, the AAU team is refining their business model, including a go-to-market plan they will be executing.

“This experience means that my dreams are within reach. It inspires me because I see myself in the people that have succeeded. Not only is it a class led by entrepreneurs sharing their stories with honesty, but it is also the chance to turn what we have learned into real action. Regardless of whether we win or not, I have taken so much from the opportunity that will help me start my own business in the future.”

– Genevieve Flores, 2023

What’s Next?

Ultimately, our students will put together a pitch deck for potential investors culminating with an ‘ask’ – their request for the investments is needed to launch their business venture, ‘List-n-Eat’. This will then serve as their pitch in the National Finals, where they will strive to win the overall competition representing AAU and JA Czech at the European Finals in Istanbul.

Watch this space!

Interested in Getting Involved?

Get involved in future projects, competitions, and opportunities by contacting your School’s Dean! If you are an active entrepreneur, and especially one of our very own Anglo American Alumni, please contact the Alumni Office and they can coordinate on your behalf. 

*Junior Achievement was founded in the United States in 1919 with the intention of showing school-aged students the path to creating their own businesses by actually starting their own ventures.  JA provides a structured learning environment and experienced mentors to the students, and operates globally in 120 countries, reaching over 3 million students who actively participate annually. JA is proud to have been nominated in 2023 for the 2nd year in a row for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Junior Achievement (JA) Czech and JA Europe are the regional organizations, which currently have over 300 universities enrolled throughout Europe representing over 15,000 students. JA Czech, the Czech regional program is a non-profit educational organization that has been implementing a comprehensive concept of above-standard education in schools for 30 years. More than 350,000 students have graduated from JA Czech’s programs. 

For more information about Junior Achievement, visit www.juniorachievement.org.
For more information about the Czech JA regional program, visit www.jaczech.org.