News: Bert Baeck wins JCI Young Entrepreneur Award
Read why Bert Baeck, CEO and Founder of TrendMiner, won the JCI Young Entrepeneur of the Year Award.
JCI Young Entrepreneur Awards
With 200 000 members globally, JCI (Junior Chamber International) is an international organization of young leaders and enterprising people aged 18 to 40. Through their commitment, friendship and the realization of creative projects, they grow into future-oriented entrepreneurs. The four pillars on which JCI members evolve are individual, community, internationalism and business.
The Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award is a highly respected validation of the strength of a new generation of business people who are here to make a change. Entrepreneurship provides employment, growth and prosperity, for positive change. To contribute to this change, JCI Limburg highlights young, deserving entrepreneurs.
Winner: Limburg Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award of 2016
It was with great honour that our CEO, Bert Baeck, received his nomination for the Limburg Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award of 2016 and on March 2, 2016 he was declared the winner. Watch the moment the results were announced here.
“Laureates like Bert Baeck are evangelists for entrepeneurship.”
“Laureates like Bert Baeck are evangelists for entrepeneurship.”
Winner: JCI Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2016
After taking home the trophy, Bert then received an invitation to defend his local title at the JCI Flanders’ finals. This round groups winners from multiple regions together to decide the final winner. The nominees are extremely diverse, with businesses ranging from selling solar power to small villages in Africa to visualization of lung functionality or big data for industrial manufacturers. In 2016, this group comprised:
- Antwerp – Jan De Backer (Fluidda)
- Brabant – Thijs Claes (Daddy Kate)
- East-Flanders – Yoshi Aesaert (Marmelade)
- West-Flanders – Bert Bernolet (Solar Zonder Grenzen)
- Limburg – Bert Baeck (TrendMiner)
After deliberation, Bert Baeck was declared the winner of the award. When asked why Bert was chosen, the chairman of the jury said:
“Bert Baeck won the JCI Young Entrepreneur Award 2016 for being a very driven and energetic entrepreneur. The jury strongly valued his ambition, eloquence as well as his energy. His personal history, maturity as an entrepreneur, his entousiasm as well as his global ambitions make Bert Baeck an example for future generations of young entrepreneurs.”
David versus Goliath
In his closing statement, Bert referred to the road ahead, saying that while TrendMiner operates in a market that is dominated by big conglomerates, he was determined to continue the company’s success.
“This award is a very welcome confirmation of the many hours of passion that I and the team put in TrendMiner, but we cannot rest on our laurels and assume business is going to be easy. This award has just refueled us all to keep growing our success.”
