All the Global Startup Awards 2019 winners

As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2019 Grand Finale, which was set to take place in 2020, was postponed to 2021, culminating in a virtual event which took place on 27 January 2021.

Local partners in each of the regions go on an annual expedition to find those companies and individuals that have gone on to become a game changer or inspiration to thousands, if not millions or billions.

Each region is capped with a Grand Finale Day where the best - together with the other stakeholders - are invited to participate in a closed, invite-only Ecosystem Summit which includes celebrations, recognition and networking.

The Global Startup Awards is already present in over 105 countries. The finalists in the competition were the regional winners of the 2019 season are from the following regions:

• Nordic Startup Awards (Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden)

• Central European Startup Awards (Austria, Bulgaria, Czechia, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia)

• South European Startup Awards (Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, and Spain)

• EuroAsian Startup Awards (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine)

• Southeast Asia (ASEAN) Startup Awards (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) and
  
• Southern Africa Startup Awards (Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe)

Together, these regions span 47 countries across Africa, Asia, and Europe and produced 98 finalists who vied for the top spot in nine categories, but there could only be one winner in each.
The winners

⭐️⭐️ OUR GLOBAL WINNERS OF 2020 ⭐️⭐️

Get to know this year’s amazing winners here ➡️ https://t.co/XEjKkhHvDF#Innovation #StartupEcosystem #Technology pic.twitter.com/xzA15H7EEe

— GlobalStartupAwards (@Startup_Awards) January 28, 2021

• Best Newcomer: Trustchain (Hungary - Central European Startup Awards)
  
• Startup of the Year: Pleo Technologies (Denmark - Nordic Startup Awards)
  
• Founder of the Year: Kengo Kitaura (Cambodia - ASEAN Startup Awards)
  
• Investor of the Year: Gobi Partners (Malaysia - ASEAN Startup Awards)
  
• Best Acceleration / Incubation Programme: Axeleo (Franc - South Europe Startup Awards)
  
• Best Coworking Space: Workshop17 (South Africa - Southern Africa Startup Awards)
  
• People's Choice - Startup: Soundboks (Denmark - Nordic Startup Awards)
  
• People's Choice - Individual: Sara Rajabli (Azerbaijan - EuroAsian Startup Awards)
  
• People's Choice - Startup Ecosystem Supporter: Malin Frithiofsson (Sweden - Nordic Startup Awards)

"The Nordic regions have one of the most developed startup ecosystems in the world, and among the Nordic countries, Sweden is leading not only the Nordics but globally by having the largest concentration of billion-dollar companies per capita in the world. I believe this is possible due to the work of many ecosystem supporters. Malin is one of the front leaders, which is why she deserves to win the category,” shares Kim Balle, co-founder and CEO at Global Startup Awards.

For more about the Global Startup Awards, go to https://www.globalstartupawards.com/