Company Sortuz 2023 is an entrepreneurial competition aimed at sustainable industry, and all business ideas with a sustainable technological base are included. Three scholarships were awarded in mid-June, but there are still vacant scholarships, which will be reserved for the new call that opens in the fall. Students and researchers from various Mondragon University faculties (Mondragon University Polytechnic High School, Humanities and Educational Sciences Faculty and Business Faculty), as well as professionals and entrepreneurs outside the university, have submitted to this first call.

A total of nineteen projects have been submitted to the competition, and these ideas have provided technological and sustainable solutions, including in the automotive industry, health, industry and manufacturing. The following companies have provided support for the scholarships: Fagor Group, Orbea, Centro Stirling and Fagor Ederlan. All of them also promote technological talent and the creation of employment and wealth in the territory.

The finalists presented their proposals in the grand finale held at the Garia technological park on June 16, and the winners were chosen by a jury made up of representatives of the participating companies and institutions.

Winners of the ENGIPRENEURSHIP and TECHNOPRENEURSHIP categories

In the first call for 2023, two awards were given in the ENGIPRENEURSHIP category and one in the TECHNOPRENEURSHIP category. The first one looks for innovative and sustainable technology-based business ideas to try to bring to market. However, in the second only the idea is rewarded; there is no need to develop.

Focusing on ENGIPRENEURSHIP, the INCLUSIVE Design and SATOP projects have been awarded. The first one was developed by Amaia Beitia and Arantxa Gonzalez de Heredia, professors and researchers at Mondragon University. It is a project based on inclusive design, and aims to market a platform and consultancy around more inclusive products and services, which will make it easier for companies to reach more potential customers or users in the market. For its part, SATOP was born from Mondragon University professor-researcher Aritz Esnaola, and proposes a business model for the production of sports shoe soles, taking advantage of the benefits of 3D printing. The prize in this category is a scholarship, a scholarship for an engineering student from the University of Mondragon to join the project in the 2023 - 2024 academic year, and it also offers a financial bag of 10,000 euros for project expenses and investments.

It should also be emphasized that the SATOP project also received the award for the best pitching/presentation. The public chose it by voting, and in that case, the winner, Aritz Esnaola, also received a prize of 500 euros.

Finally, in the second category, regarding TECHNOPRENEURSHIP, the Allergenius initiative was the winner. This project has been developed by Ainhoa Artola, Malen Herruzo and Judith Zubia; They are students of the University of Mondragon's Master's in Biomedical Technologies, and they want to develop non-invasive solutions to control allergies. It is a microfluidic chip based on the Basophil Activation Test, which detects types of allergies, and the AllerGenius App.

About Enpresa Sortuz

The company Sortuz initiative of the Mondragon University Polytechnic High School has been running for several years, and in recent years the support given by companies and organizations has increased significantly, especially because the Center for Technological and Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Mondragon, located in Mondragon and led by the University of Mondragon, will soon open with HIREKIN. The Gizabidea Foundation, which is part of the Fagor Group, is the main sponsor of Enpresa Estuduz, together with Orbea, Centro Stirling and Fagor Ederlan. On the other hand, the sponsors of the competition are: MONDRAGON Corporation, Saiolan, Galbaia, the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, the Basque Government, LABORAL Kutxa Gaztenpresa Foundation and GARAIA Technological Park. Thanks to all these supporting organizations, the Enpresa Sortuz competition will distribute more than 100,000 euros in 2023 in the form of scholarships and financial support.

Do you have a start-up or a business idea and want to add an engineer to your team? Are you a student or former student and want to get a scholarship to help make your idea a reality? Are you a researcher at Mondragon University's Polytechnic High School and want to give an impetus to an interesting research result? The Enpresa Createz competition can give you the resources to bring that project or idea closer to reality next year!

The Company Sortuz competition aims to promote sustainable technological entrepreneurship and for this purpose it seeks people with innovative and sustainable product, service or business ideas. 

This competition, promoted by the Higher Polytechnic School of dragon University, is sponsored by companies such as Fagor Taldea, Orbea Scoop and Centro Stirling, and 6 scholarships will be distributed throughout the year to carry out these business ideas during the 23/24 academic year.

• ENGIPRENEURSHIP category: What is sought: innovative and sustainable business ideas with a technological base.
• NOPRENEURSHIP category: What is sought: innovative and sustainable products or services with a technological base.
• TALENT category: Win a dual program scholarship to join a start-up team!