The HerShield student team from St. Mary's School in Limassol was named "Student Company of the Year 2026" in the final of the "Student Enterprise" competition of Junior Achievement Cyprus, which took place on April 29, 2026, as part of the all-day event The Road to Gen-E.
The competition was organized for the 13th consecutive year by Junior Achievement Cyprus, with the institutional collaboration of the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth, marking the completion of a program that promotes creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial thinking of young people.
15 student teams participated in the final, which emerged through a total of 89 student companies. 550 students aged 15 to 18 participated in the program, who created and operated their own businesses.
Each team presented their business idea before a jury, which included representatives of JA Cyprus, PwC Foundation, MetLife, Coca-Cola HBC Cyprus, Coffee Island, the Research and Innovation Foundation, Amdocs Cyprus and the Bank of Cyprus.
The winning HerShield team consists of Paschalis Alatzoglou, Andreas Marcelina Pelendridi, Ioanna Christina Petrou, Emmelia Marina Mitrofanous, Despina Michael, Zoe Michael, Erica Vassili, Mikaella Tranta and Iro Christou.
Under the guidance of their teachers, Maria Kythreotou and Maria Papa, and their mentor, Annita Petrou, the students developed a discreet and elegant lip gloss-style case, which contains substance detection tapes in beverages. The product is designed with the aim of protecting women, allowing for quick and discreet checks for harmful substances.
The second place was awarded to the FromSea2Soil team from Lanitio Lyceum. The team consists of Timotheos Timotheou, Fotini Giannakou, Maria Louiza Vassiliadis, Konstantinos Argyrou, Christos Papaleontiou, Georgia Vassiliadou, Giorgos Loukaidis and Phoebus Iosif.
With the guidance of educator Christina Aristodimou and mentor Dimitris Dimitriou, FromSea2Soil utilizes the discarded posidonia oceanica, a species of marine plant, turning it into natural fertilizer. The idea links environmental management with the circular economy, through the recovery of phosphorus from water and its return to the soil.
The third place was won by the BioCleanse team from The Junior and Senior School. The group consists of Ioannis Ivan Symeonidis, Polina Lebedeva, Anastasia Ioannidou, Ioannis Episkopou, Romas Theocharidis, Veronika Kalyvitou and Alexis Kyriakides.
With the support of professors Michaelina Ioannou and Christina Papapavlou and their mentor, Pantelina Elia, BioCleanse has created a completely natural mouthwash, which rapidly breaks down oral biofilms. The effort was supported by research by professionals in the fields of microbiology, dentistry and pharmacy, as well as supervised laboratory experiments.
As part of the ceremony, special prizes were also awarded to individual areas of entrepreneurship. The awards for the best trade fair stand were awarded to the teams Seed of Hope from Linopetra High School and Earthcup from Apostolos Loukas Kolossiou Regional High School.
The team spirit awards were awarded to the CHECO teams from the GC School of Careers and Chill&Drink from the Pancyprian Gymnasium. The best logo award was given to PillBox by Olympion Lyceum, while the sustainability award was given to AquaWise by Agios Georgios Lyceum in Lakatamia.
The Sipit team from the English School was awarded for the best digital communication and commercial identity, while the best presentation award was awarded to BaeBeSafe by the GC School of Careers. GymbroAI from Xenion High School received the awards for Best Annual Report and Best Promotional Video.
The award for the most innovative product or service was given to Rehair by the Pancyprian Gymnasium, while the leadership award was given to Paola Ekkesi from the BaeBeSafe team of the GC School of Careers.
The event was honoured by the presence of the Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry, Michalis Damianos. On behalf of the Minister of Education, Sports and Youth, Athena Michailidou, the Inspector of Technical Education, Michalis Tsiarlistos, addressed a greeting.
The Ministry of Education honoured the 15 finalist teams for their progress in the competition, with the award being made by the Inspector of Secondary General Education, Ziannette Hadjiiosif.
HerShield will represent Cyprus at the JA Europe GEN-E 2026 European Competition, which will take place in July in Riga, Latvia.
During the event, Lanitio Lyceum was named Business School of the Year. At the same time, the Dr.Drone teams from Aspire British Private School and BaeBeSafe from GC School of Careers gained educational experience through the European YSBE-NET program and will participate in the European Trade Fair to be held in November 2026 in Sofia, Bulgaria.
An award was also awarded for the best campaign in the framework of the "Be the Match – Youth Edition" program, implemented in collaboration with the Karaiskakio Foundation. The program aimed to raise awareness among young people about their registration as volunteer bone marrow donors. The winning team, consisting of Chrysovalantis Hatzimarkou, Kalia Tsiourtou, Nikoleta Assioti and Katerina Vassou, will travel to the University of Patras to continue its campaign, with the support of the Karaiskakio Foundation.
JA Cyprus' "Student Enterprise" project is supported by PwC Cyprus as a strategic sponsor, the Cyprus Youth Board as a strategic partner, MetLife and Coffee Island as partners, as well as the Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry, Coca-Cola HBC Cyprus and Amdocs as supporters.
The institutional partner is the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth, while the co-organizer is the Research and Innovation Foundation.
Road to Gen-E 2026 brings together ideas and teams from school to university education. The winning teams will represent Cyprus in Riga, the largest European youth entrepreneurship scene.
JA Cyprus is a member of Junior Achievement Worldwide, the largest global non-profit organization dedicated to education for youth entrepreneurship, financial literacy and employability.
