AAU Business Students Secure Top Honors at JA Czech Competition–Again.

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For the third consecutive year, business students from Anglo-American University (AAU) have gained top recognition at the Junior Achievement (JA) Czech national startup competition, a leading platform for recognizing student entrepreneurship in the country. Competing in the university division, two student-led startups, Cooltivate and Innova, distinguished themselves by securing awards in multiple categories.

The Cooltivate team, consisting of Nicholas Ripper, Radim Zavoral, Jan Švec, and Usaburo Mendenhall, claimed first place in both the Top Brand and Top Project categories. Cooltivate aims to empower farmers by enhancing agricultural efficiency through drone technology, scanning farmland to collect crucial data that optimizes operations and reduces workload, while improving profitability and sustainability.

The Innova team, made up of Andrii Rudenko, Annika Juliette Allen, Jaya Yriza, and Jose Flores Perez, tied with Cooltivate in the Top Project category. Originally a passion project for war-torn Ukraine, Innova is intended to provide children in conflict zones who have lost lower limbs with affordable and highly customizable prosthetic solutions, utilizing 3D printing technology and modular components to facilitate greater independence, functionality, joy, and restored confidence in the wearer.

Allen expressed excitement over her involvement in the project and and the recognition given to the startup competition winners.

“I am honestly thrilled that a project we put time and effort into was rewarded in this light. It seems to be a wonderful competition for students to highlight something they’re passionate about, and we were given the space to find our niche and run with it,” she said. “I was a part of a really great team from all over the world, and it is just endearing to know that the jury at the competition thought Innova was something special.”

For Rudenko, the win serves as motivation to continue developing Innova.

“Winning the JA Czech competition is a confirmation for us that our idea is worth bringing to life, and it gives us an incredible opportunity to take it even further—helping change children’s lives for the better,” he said. 

The JA Czech Start-up competition spans two semesters—fall and spring—during which time students team up to create a startup project and proceed step by step to construct and present a complete business idea.

AAU’s legacy in student entrepreneurship within the competition has continued to grow. In the 2023/2024 academic year, an AAU team took first place in the Top Project category with the travel app DIVEIN, while, just a year earlier, another AAU team won in the same category with the dietary and lifestyle app List-n-Eat. Both teams went on to represent AAU at the international level.

The university’s consecutive wins in the competition are closely tied to its Entrepreneurship in Practice courses, in which both Cooltivate and Innova team members have taken part. Led by Heinrich Homola and (formerly) Jeff Medeiros, these instruct students in the essential facets of the entrepreneurial craft, guiding them through the process of developing a business from conception to launch, culminating in the JA Czech Start-up competition. 

Vice-Dean Jan Vašenda, who was integral in connecting AAU with Junior Achievement and integrating the competition with the Entrepreneurship in Practice program, regards Cooltivate and Innova’s success as a testament to the caliber of AAU’s School of Business.

“This third consecutive victory further highlights the quality of the practical, hands-on education that lies at the heart of the School of Business’s mission,” he said. “A big congratulations and thanks to the students and instructor for representing us so well.

As the victor in both the Top Project and Top Brand categories this year, the Cooltivate team will next advance to the international level, representing AAU at the JA Europe competition as part of the Gen-E 2025 European Entrepreneurship Festival in Athens, Greece, from July 1 – 3, 2025.

Representing his team, Ripper expressed a firm belief in their business idea and the expectation of a warm reception from the judges in Athens.

“This is an opportunity for us to have an impact, which is the core idea of our project. Cooltivate is ready to promote these ideas on the “big stage” of the GEN-E competition and prove that Czech companies deserve a seat at the table when it comes to startups and innovation…We’re extremely confident going into [the finals, and] I think that we’re going to steal the show,” he said.

More updates to follow.

Junior Achievement (JA) was founded in the United States in 1919 with the intention of showing school-aged students the path to creating their own businesses by starting their own ventures. JA provides a structured learning environment and experienced mentors, operating in 120 countries and reaching over 3 million students annually. The organization has now been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for the fourth year in a row.

JA Europe, the European representative of Junior Achievement, currently has over 300 universities enrolled in its programs throughout Europe, representing over 15,000 participating students. JA Czech, the Czech regional body, has been instrumental in shaping the entrepreneurial thinking and financial literacy of young people in the country for three decades.