First prize went to Alexandre Cardon De Lichtbuer of Overijse (pictured), whose Qustomer is a system that joins together the customer loyalty card from any number of businesses in a single card. His prize is worth €25,000. Second prize (€7,500) was for Daan Bergers of Vosselaar, Antwerp province, who introduced Qualenica, a pharmaceutical company specialising in homemade medicines as a cheaper alternative for pharmacists.

Johan Jacobs and Kaat Van Hauwe of Antwerp took third place (€3,000) with Millibeter, which does research into waste treatment using the larvae of the black soldier fly, of which they have now bred two colonies.

Bizidee is one of the Enterprise Competitions set up by the government under Flanders in Action to provide, according to minister-president Kris Peeters, “An outstanding formula for encouraging enterprising spirits and to lead them to set up their own business. Flanders has one of the highest rates of entrepreneurship in northern Europe, and, despite the crisis, the number of companies is increasing year after year. I am delighted that so many Flemings take part in these competitions.”

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