Vienna, June 14, 2023. "The disposal of smartphone cases in Austria produces over 100,000 kilograms of plastic waste every year," said Natalie (16). Along with Elena (17), Michael (17), and Nikolai (17) of the Theresianum in Vienna, she introduced a product designed to address this problem. Their pitch: "cappucca not only protects your smartphone—it protects the planet, too." The winning team from Vienna thought out their concept carefully: The recycled coffee grounds used to produce their smartphone cases are sourced at no cost from the famous Café Sacher, which is just around the corner from their school. The coffee grounds are then mixed with an innovative bioplastic to make the smartphone case biodegradable. This idea clearly impressed the judges at the International Finals of business@school, the educational initiative of the international consulting firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG). 

Presentations for high-profile judges at the close of the project year
This year, for the 25th time, more than 1,000 students at around 70 schools immersed themselves in the world of business as part of business@school, the educational initiative of Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Over the past ten months, participants in business@school discovered their entrepreneurial spirit and developed impressive business ideas. They were supported in this by over 400 coaches from roughly 20 partner companies of the initiative and BCG. Lukas Haider, head of BCG's office in Vienna and chairperson of the judges' panel, was impressed by the valuable skills participating students learned in the course of the project year: "business@school gives you a financial education, and your presentations show great expertise in this regard," he told the teams at the International Finals.

The best teams at participating international schools presented their business ideas at the International Finals, held at the Theresianum in Vienna, after which they answered the judges' probing questions. "What impressed us was that you provided a proof of concept for your idea with preliminary orders and did such a good job of underpinning your sales," said Melanie Raidl, Careers Editor at the Austrian newspaper Der Standard and one of the judges at the Finals, explaining the decision of the business experts on the judges' panel to award first place to the Theresianum's home team.