Business organizations Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA), a global competition for students to run profitable businesses in full college courses, today announced the winner of the Global Student Entrepreneur of the Year. Chelsea Sloan, University of Utah student and founder Uptown miser, a fashion exchange franchise for teens and young adults, was the first female winner of the competition. She will receive $150,000 in cash and in-kind business services from the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO) to help take her business to the next level.
Sloan opened the first Uptown Cheapskate store in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2009 with her brother Scott Sloan. After just eight months of operation and profit, Sloan opened a fashion franchised thrift store and has since expanded to 20 stores in 12 states. . Sloan first won the EO Alchemy regional competition in Seattle and then defeated the top 30 international student entrepreneurs in the global final at the New York Stock Exchange on Nov. 16. These 30 semi-finalists competed and were selected from approximately 1,100 applicants from 42 countries on 6 continents. The 2012 Global Finals featured the highest number of female finalists, with 7 women finishing in the top 30.
“Participating in the Employers’ Organization GSEA program has been a once in a lifetime experience,” said Chelsea Sloan. “The communication, mentoring and training I have received has been invaluable, and winning the title further fuels my passion for entrepreneurship.”
“The quality of this year’s Entrepreneur Organization Global Student Entrepreneur Awards entries is incredible,” said Samer Kurdi, Chairman of EO Global. “These students, who founded successful businesses while still in school, are changing industries, communities and the world, and they inspire all of us to become better entrepreneurs and citizens of the world.”
First Prize Winner: Mikhail Naumov is a Rutgers University student and founder of the GREEN Program, which provides experiential educational programs in Costa Rica. GREEN, or the Global Energy Recycling Education Network, combines volunteering with education and develops programs that educate members on reusable energy by developing an actual clean energy facility for an area in need.
Second Prize Winner: Brett Sheffield is a student at the University of Manitoba in Canada and the founder of Sheffield Farms and the Stay Fit health club. Founded in 2008, Sheffield Farms is a 1,700-acre grain farm in rural Manitoba that utilizes the latest in agricultural technology. The Stay Fit Health Club is a 24-hour fitness center in its first year. After winning in Developing Canadian Entrepreneurship (ACE) Sheffield advanced to the GSEA of the Employers’ Organization and finished in second place.
Social Impact Award: Elisabeth Aguirre Moreno Valle, a student at the TEC de Monterrey in Mexico, has opened an Instant Fruit Factory. The company supplies fresh fruits and fruit juices to kiosks in schools, universities and malls with the mission of providing healthy nutrition.
Innovation Award: Mandar Tulankar, a student at the Nuva College of Engineering in India and founder of Angels R&D Pvt Ltd., has invented a mobile shoe charger that uses the pressure generated by walking to power cell phones.
Edge Awards Lessons: Daniil Mishin, a Russian student at the Institute of Economics and Computer Science, founded and owns Bear Hostels, a brand of high quality, affordable youth hostels throughout Moscow.
High School Winner: Tony Wren is a Canadian International Baccalaureate student at Bayview High School and the founder and president of Median Web Solutions. For just $3,000, he set up a web design agency that customizes websites for the youth market. He has since become president of EasyStudy Canada, an academic resource site for high school students in Ontario, and is the CTO of Epitome Marketing, a youth marketing firm. He is also one of the youngest employees at the Royal Bank of Canada, where he works to develop the Social Business Association, a social collaboration platform for entrepreneurs.
PhD Winner: Brad Moss, a recent graduate of Brigham Young University, founded React Games in 2008 to develop mobile games for smartphones and tablets for brands. Since then, Moss has created award-winning games and grown the company to over 21 employees, and has worked with EA, Hasbro, A&E and Intel.
Global Finals is a special program of the Kaufman Foundation’s Global Entrepreneurship Week sponsored by the Marion Kaufman Ewing Foundation, NYSE Big Start Up and Thomas Franchise Solutions Ltd. This year’s jury included representatives from NYSE Euronext, the Kaufman Foundation, and Cisco. , The New York Times, Upstart Business Journal, EO and former GSEA champions.
Image credit: gsea.org
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