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From left to right: Fernando Lallana, Director of the +50 Emprende Awards; Rodrigo García, third prize winner; Beatriz Sánchez, General Director of Fundación máshumano; Juan Gutiérrez, winner of the Green Entrepreneurship award; Eduardo Ferrer, first prize winner of the VI year of the +50 Emprende Awards; María Malaxechevarría, General Manager of Endesa Foundation and General Manager of Sustainability of Endesa; and Dylan Jones, who accepted the second prize on behalf of Delphine Hatsadourian.
- Eduardo Ferrer (64, Barcelona) was awarded first prize in the VI year of the +50 Emprende Awards for his project, Slimop Space,which focuses on developing space telescopes for satellites and nanosatellites.
- Delphine Hatsadourian (53, a French national living in Barcelona) received second prize for SwiftOn, an innovative smart device that encourages hotel guests to save water. Rodrigo García (59, Madrid) took home third prize for Dekipling, a project addressing Alzheimer’s care in the home.
- In the special Green Entrepreneurship Award category, Juan Gutiérrez (50, Asturias) was recognised for his Agrolinera project, designed to digitise the collection process of slurry and manure for biogas plants.
- The +50 Emprende Awards are an initiative by Generación SAVIA, a project led by Endesa Foundation in partnership with Fundación máshumanos and produced by 02:59 Films.
Experience, innovation, and sustainability took centre stage at the grand finale of the VI year of the +50 Emprende Awards - Spain’s most prestigious senior entrepreneurship event, proving year after year that talent knows no age. For the first time, this edition introduced the Green Entrepreneurship Award, highlighting initiatives focused on energy transition and circular economy.
Held at Endesa’s headquarters in Madrid, the event gathered the 12 finalists who presented their projects to an expert jury chaired by Leopoldo Abadía. The awards recognised senior entrepreneurship as a key driver of Spain’s business and social fabric.
This initiative by Generación SAVIA, Endesa Foundation, Fundación máshumano, and 02:59 Films aims to showcase the entrepreneurial potential of professionals over 50 and highlight initiatives that create real societal impact. This year received a record-breaking 201 project submissions from 481 entrepreneurs.
Among the projects submitted this year, there was a wide range of proposals spanning diverse sectors. Notably, many of them were linked to sustainability and the environment, while artificial intelligence was more prevalent among the projects presented, ranging from tech devices to AI-generated artworks and books.
VI year winners of the +50 Emprende Awards
The winning project of this VI year was Slimop Space, led by Eduardo Ferrer (64, Barcelona). A cutting-edge project for developing ultra-lightweight, low-cost, high-resolution space telescopes for satellites and nanosatellites. The project offers ultra-lightweight, low-cost, high-resolution image generators with rapid deployment and delivery capabilities. These telescopes are designed to be scalable and meet the growing demand for Earth observation satellite constellations.
The second prize was awarded to SwiftOn, developed by Delphine Hatsadourian (53 years old, a French national residing in Barcelona). SwiftOn is an intelligent device that encourages hotel guests to save water in a fun and engaging way, without compromising their experience. By leveraging AI and gamification, the solution guides users through an optimised routine, naturally promoting shorter showers in an enjoyable and effective manner.
The third prize went to Dekipling, created by Rodrigo García (59 years old, Madrid). This project addresses in-home Alzheimer’s care through an innovative model that combines social and healthcare assistance with clinical evidence. Its clinically validated, structured monitoring methodology allows for more accurate medication adjustments, helps prevent avoidable hospital admissions, and reduces caregiver burden.
Finally, the Green Entrepreneurship Award was presented to Agrolinera, developed by Juan Gutierrez (50 years old, Asturias). Agrolinera aims to digitalise the collection process of whey and livestock slurry for biogas plants. The project has developed a system of smart, sensor-equipped collection points connected to a cloud-based platform. The system is currently in its pilot phase at the Picos de Europa National Park.
‘At Endesa Foundation, we believe in the immense potential of senior talent to transform society and the business landscape. It’s not just about recognising their experience but empowering them to keep innovating and having an impact. The +50 Emprende Awards reflect our commitment to a future where age is an asset, not a barrier, for building a more diverse and sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem.’ — María Malaxechevarría, General Manager of Endesa Foundation and General Manager of Sustainability at Endesa.
‘Talent never retires. It may take new directions and evolve, but it never disappears. Senior professionals bring invaluable experience and strategic insight to both business and innovation. These awards celebrate the enormous contribution of professionals over 50 to our society.’ — Beatriz Sánchez Guitián, General Director of Fundación máshumano.
‘Age isn’t an obstacle, it’s an advantage. With it, comes maturity, resilience, and a strategic vision that makes a difference. It’s never too late to become an entrepreneur. The quality, expertise, and presentations from this year’s finalists and winners show that senior entrepreneurship is gaining serious momentum in Spain.’ — Fernando Lallana, Director of the +50 Emprende Awards.
The event also featured an inspiring talk, Entrepreneurship: a great opportunity for senior talent, delivered by Yolanda Gutiérrez, partner at Eversheds Sutherland, President of PWN Madrid, and WA4Steam member. She shared practical tips on securing funding during the early stages of entrepreneurship.
These awards include a cash prize of €10,000 for the winner, €5,000 for the runner-up, and €3,000 for third place. In addition, the Green Entrepreneurship Award granted €15,000 to the top project in this category. The winners in the general category will also receive €20,000 in kind. This prize includes training and advisory services provided by collaborators such as 50 PRO, ARRABE INTEGRA, TQUITY, Revista Emprendedores, and Elena Garzia, an entrepreneur coach.
In this sixth year, the +50 Emprende Awards have consolidated their position as a benchmark for promoting senior entrepreneurship in Spain. In this way, it once again demonstrated that age is not a barrier to innovation and talent.
Other finalist projects in the VI year of the +50 Emprende Awards:
1. ELENA BARRIOS. (50 years, Madrid) Telegamba. The first online service delivering freshly cooked prawns to your door in just 30 minutes. It solves an immediate demand for a product that typically requires time and planning to enjoy at home. Telegamba caters to end customers and restaurateurs - whether they have a small kitchen or not - and provides peeled prawns for catering services and events with the ‘Gambas Party’ branding.
2. OLGA BOADA. (53 years, Tarragona) Bodega Olga Boada. With a successful career in marketing and commercial management, and extensive experience as an entrepreneur and trainer across various sectors, Olga is now taking on an exciting new project: renovating her family’s winery. The goal is to restore the space to host events, tastings, and activities, giving it a fresh new purpose as a hub for connection and celebration. This initiative represents the rebirth of the family winery.
3. ESTHER COSTABELLA. (51 years, Barcelona) Costabella Sailing Events. A project known as the ‘Boutique del Mar,’ offering exclusive, personalised, and unique experiences at sea that combine gastronomy, wellness, culture, adventure, and sustainability. It creates unforgettable moments for companies, tourists, and groups looking for a meaningful connection with the ocean, always with the utmost respect for the marine environment.
4. JESÚS GALEANO. (51 years, Alicante) Motion balance. An app designed for biomechanical analysis in podiatry and physiotherapy, essential for identifying the root causes of various conditions using AI. It establishes an examination protocol that helps healthcare professionals reduce consultation time, make more accurate diagnoses, and prescribe common treatments such as custom insoles, therapies, and physical exercises.
5. RAFAEL LORENZO. (58 years, Madrid) Ecotanq. A comprehensive solution helping the hospitality industry reduce its environmental footprint. The system facilitates actions such as cutting plastic use by 90%, lowering carbon footprints, saving over 500,000 litres of water per establishment, improving energy efficiency, and reducing chemical waste to deliver both ecological and economic benefits.
6. CLAUDIO MIRANDA. (53 years, Chile, residing in Zaragoza) A sustainable, high-efficiency food production facility to grow vegetables (primarily lettuces) using a hydroponic system that consumes 100 times less water and land than traditional farming. The system produces 168 harvests per year (three per week), with seed-to-harvest times ranging from 35 to 65 days, depending on the season.
7. ROSA ORRIT. (55 years, Barcelona) Tribalbi. A platform featuring digital AI-generated representations of REAL models and influencers. Its technology, based on blockchain and NFTs, allows brands to use these virtual models with guaranteed usage rights. Tribalbi also offers content creation for social media and websites across industries, along with training programmes that empower businesses to manage their own AI-driven marketing campaigns.
8. JOSÉ MANUEL PAYÁN. (53 years, Madrid) Waha. A zero-hour humanitarian crisis response platform focused on people, bringing intelligence directly to the field. It delivers an integrated solution to meet the needs of the response triangle: affected communities, aid organisations, and volunteers. Combining technology with a humanitarian vision, its motto sums it up: ‘Human beings are the “why”, technology the “how.”’
About Generación SAVIA
Generación SAVIA, a joint initiative by Endesa Foundation and Fundación máshumano, has been driving employability for professionals over 50 for six years. It fosters networking, training, and recognition of senior talent, addressing high unemployment rates in this demographic. SAVIA is a platform and community that fosters collaboration and brings together initiatives to create job opportunities for senior professionals. To date, 47,000 senior professionals and 800 companies are registered with Generación SAVIA, while 200 partner organisations work collaboratively as part of the project.
About 02:59 Films
DOS CINCUENTA Y NUEVE S.L. is an audiovisual production company founded in 2010 with a mission to convey human values to society through audiovisual content. Originally established as a producer specialising in viral videos for the internet, it reached a total of 200 million views across social media platforms. In 2018, the company diversified its activities by developing and producing its first feature film, Abuelos, released in October 2019. Today, the company balances film development projects with its advertising services, creating viral online campaigns.