Rethinking Reading: Student Team from Milan Wins International Finals for Best Business Idea: business@school

An interactive reading app that uses artificial intelligence to create personalized stories – with their business idea "Crea-ding," six students from Deutsche Schule Mailand, Milan in Italy prevailed against teams from Albania, Austria, Germany, Great Britain, and Switzerland.

Zurich, June 12, 2024. "Especially the younger generations do not read as much anymore – this is sad, and we want to change that. Every week, a new chapter is published, and users of our app can leave comments. An AI then generates further chapters. With this, we want to create not only unique personalized stories but also healthy reading habits." This is how Tommaso (17) explains his team's vision. Together with Alessandro (16), Davide (16), Greta (17), Loreley (17), and Vittoria (16), he developed "Crea-ding." This idea and the accompanying business plan impressed the judges at the International Finals of business@school.

Jury member Dr. Stephanie Schoss, University of St. Gallen, says that she herself became an entrepreneur due to her participation in business@school as a student and that the initiative significantly contributed to her mindset of "being able to change the world." She was impressed by the innovative spirit of the winning team from Milan: “The students have placed AI at the core of their idea and have shown great courage for disruptive development.”

Presentations for high-profile judges at the close of the project year
Business knowledge, entrepreneurial spirit, and the development of their very own business idea – this was the focus for more than 1,000 students at around 70 schools over the past ten months. The participants of business@school delved deeply into the world of entrepreneurship this school year, developing impressive business ideas and business plans. They were supported in this by over 400 coaches from roughly 20 partner companies of the initiative and BCG. Joachim Stephan, Managing Director and Senior Partner at Boston Consulting Group in Zurich, sees great value in the educational initiative: "business@school is a great platform for young people to learn about entrepreneurship, teamwork, and leadership roles while also building a network for their future careers. And it has been a lot of fun for all participants and those involved."

Crea-ding

The winning team
German School Milan, Italy

from left to right: Vittoria (16), Tommaso (17), Loreley (17), Alessandro (16), Davide (16), Greta (17)

Favorly

Zurich International School, Adliswil, Switzerland
from left to right: Ofir (16), Benjamin (16), Kajetan (16), Ishan (15), Itay (16)

Thessar Farm

Nehemiah Gateway, Buçimas, Pogradec, Albania
from left to right: Eleana (17), Klea (17), Jorgo (17), Siloena (16), Megi (17), Eda (17)

The HUB Business Platform

ACS International School Egham, Great Britain
from left to right: Diniz (17), Ali (17), Emil (17), Mateo (17)

Farm to Fork

Munich International School, Starnberg, Germany
from left to right: Henrik (16), Daniel (17), Jiayi (16), Hugo (17), Vincent (17), Markus (17)

SpotYourService

Sir Karl Popper School/Wiedner Gymnasium, Vienna, Austria
from left to right: Egon (16), Artem (16), Elias (16), Nico (16), Lorenz (16)

CommuteCompanion

Theresianum, Vienna, Austria
from left to right: Stanislaus (16), Tristan (17), Elias (17), Lukas (17)

Imperfect

Kantonsschule Enge, Zurich, Switzerland
from left to right: Malik (19), Janis (18), Marguerite Hilda (18), Nike Athena (19), Sven (18)

Vorjury

The jury members of preliminary rounds I and II

from left to right: Kris van der Merve (Principal, Boston Consulting Group), Pascal Eberl (Chief of Staff, Sygnum Bank), Julia Senser (Partner Insurance, Schilling Partners AG), Florian Faustmann (General Agent, Allianz Suisse Versicherungs-Gesellschaft AG), Katja Rinaldi-Martin (Business Development & Strategy Management/ Top Customer Relations, Swiss International Air Lines Ltd. ), Agnieszka Czupryk (Head of Agile Consulting with P&L responsibility, Ti&M AG), Claudio Lermer (Chief Development and Services Officer, SV Group), Jonas Hetterich (Project Manager, Boston Consulting Group)

Hauptjury

The jury members

from left to right: Joachim Stephan (Managing Director and Senior Partner, Boston Consulting Group), Gernot Sauerborn (Management Coach and Consultant, Sauerborn Management Consulting GmbH), Stephanie Schoss (Director, University of St. Gallen), Bernd Eitel (Senior Vice President Corporate Communications, KION GROUP AG), Thomas Götschmann (CEO, TG Consulting GmbH), Manuel Meier (CEO / Managing Director, Lufthansa Aviation Training Switzerland)

The best teams from international schools in Albania, Austria, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, and Switzerland presented their results at the International Finals in Zurich and then answered the jury's critical questions.

The panel was comprised of the following judges:

Bernd Eitel, Senior Vice President Corporate Communications, KION GROUP AG
Thomas Götschmann, CEO, TG Consulting GmbH
Manuel Meier, CEO/Managing Director, Lufthansa Aviation Training Switzerland
Gernot Sauerborn, Management Coach and Consultant, Sauerborn Management Consulting GmbH
Dr. Stephanie Schoss, Director, University of St. Gallen
Joachim Stephan, Managing Director and Senior Partner, Boston Consulting Group

Strong international competition
Given the numerous good ideas, the jury had a hard time choosing the winners. Besides the eventual winning team, three other teams made it to the final round:

Daniel (17), Henrik (16), Hugo (17), Jiayi (16), Markus (17), and Vincent (17) from Munich International School in Starnberg presented "Farm to Fork," a local delivery service for agricultural products in a subscription model.
Elias (17), Lukas (17), Stanislaus (16), and Tristan (17) from Theresianum in Vienna presented "CommuteCompanion," an app for carpooling to events and for commuters.
Benjamin (16), Ishan (15), Itay (16), Kajetan (16), and Ofir (16) from Zurich International School in Adliswil presented "Favorly," an app for arranging small service tasks.
Eda (17), Eleana (17), Jorgo (17), Klea (17), Megi (17), and Siloena (16) from Nehemiah Gateway in Buçimas Pogradec presented "Thessar Farm," agrotourism in Mujaze, Albania.

Eight teams participated in the International Finals:

Albania

Eda (17), Eleana (17), Jorgo (17), Klea (17), Megi (17), and Siloena (16) from Nehemiah Gateway in Buçimas Pogradec presented "Thessar Farm," agrotourism in Mujaze, Albania.

Germany

Daniel (17), Henrik (16), Hugo (17), Jiayi (16), Markus (17), and Vincent (17) from Munich International School in Starnberg reached the final round with "Farm to Fork," a local delivery service for agricultural products in a subscription model.

Great Britain

Ali, Diniz, Emil, and Mateo (all 17) from ACS International School Egham presented "The HUB Business Platform," a software for B2B interactions and transactions.

Italy

Alessandro (16), Davide (16), Greta (17), Loreley (17), Tommaso (17), and Vittoria (16) from Deutsche Schule Mailand in Milan won the International Finals with "Crea-ding," an interactive reading app.

Austria

Artem, Egon, Elias, Lorenz, and Nico (all 16) from Sir Karl Popper School/Wiedner Gymnasium in Vienna presented "SpotYourService," an app for arranging service tasks.
Elias (17), Lukas (17), Stanislaus (16), and Tristan (17) from Theresianum in Vienna reached the final round with "CommuteCompanion," an app for carpooling to events and for commuters.

Switzerland

Benjamin (16), Ishan (15), Itay (16), Kajetan (16), and Ofir (16) from Zurich International School in Adliswil reached the final round with "Favorly," an app for arranging small service tasks.
Janis (18), Malik (19), Marguerite Hilda (18), Níke Athena (19), and Sven (18) from Kantonsschule Enge in Zurich presented "Imperfect," a second-chance concept for selling returns and defective clothes.