EU – Baltic States, Good for Business, Innovations, Lithuania, Markets and Companies

The award was jointly presented by President Grybauskaitė as well as Matthias Mülmenstädt, German ambassador to Lithuania and patron of the award, and Dr. Dietmar Luz, President of the German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce in Lithuania.

With the German Business Award 2013 focusing on “Young Business” the German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce wants to acknowledge and promote young and innovative companies which set new impulses and have a lot of potential for the future. This year the German-Baltic chamber of commerce pays attention to young business. I am glad that we have something to be proud of. In the independent Lithuania a new professional generation of entrepreneurs developed. These are people with visions and courage. They are ready to create jobs for themselves and surprise the world. To them failures appear like experiences which decisively contribute to their success“, President Grybauskaitė stressed in her commemorative speech. She continued: „Thanks to these ambitious entrepreneurs Lithuanian companies also become European companies. There work contributes to the fact that Lithuania becomes competitive on the global market.”

31 young companies have applied for the German Business Award in Lithuania 2013. Out of these the jury chose Brolis Semiconductors UAB as the winner. The company which is located in Vilnius produces modern long-wavelength semiconductor lasers that can be used worldwide in many industrial sectors, e.g. aerospace or medical technology.

The Lithuanian word "Brolis" means brother. The people behind the young company are the three brothers Vizbara. The wish to use their technical know-how for an own company was already clear to the brothers Augustinas and Kristijonas during her doctorate time in Munich. They returned back to Lithuania with an ambitious plan and founded in 2011 together with her older brother Dominykas the company Brolis Semiconductors. Already shortly after the foundation the development of their products had matured so far that they received financial support from EU funds and found private investors to finance the establishment of a test lab. Already next year Brolis Semiconductors wants to bring competitive products to market. Crucial for the jury were especially the courage of the young businessmen, their profound technical education as well as the firm conviction of their own products and Lithuania as a location for technological innovation.

The winner was chosen by a jury consisting of representatives of the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Lithuania, the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Crafts in Vilnius, the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Germany Trade and Invest, the German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce as well as the sponsors.

The award is endowed with EUR 5.000 and a trophy designed by a young artist. Furthermore, the winner – as well as the other five finalists – receives free membership in the German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania (AHK) for one year.

The six finalists this year were (in alphabetical order):

- App Camp UAB – www.appcamp.lt

Development of smartphone apps

- Brolis Semiconductors UAB – www.brolis-semicon.com

Production of long-wavelength semiconductor lasers

- Chocolate Naïve (Mulate UAB) – www.chocolatenaive.com

Gourmet chocolate and ice cream manufacturer

- Rubedo sistemos UAB – www.rubedo.lt

Development of motion management solutions for roboters

- Uoga uoga UAB – www.uogauoga.lt

Production of natural cosmetics

- Zvelk auksciau UAB – www.flyeye.lt

Programming and photo documentation services

Previous laureats:

- Altechna UAB

-  EMP Recycling UAB

- Savas takas ir ko UAB and Gintauto Dailydos kino įmonė studija ’Seansas’

- Mėlynoji uoga UAB and Statinių apšiltinimo medžiagos UAB

- Kauno energetikos remontas UAB, Stevila UAB and Jolandos Šoblinskienės ūkininkės ūkis

- Dariaus Beconio įmonė UAB and das Litauische Rehabilitationsausbildungszentrum

Previously, the Award had been awarded to one small and medium sized company as well as in an annually changing category. Since 2009, the Award focuses on special topics and is exclusively presented to a small and medium sized company.