Felix Krause, chief executive of Milk the Sun GmbH, recently claimed his ‘Business Trip to Malta’ prize after winning an elevator pitch competition in Leipzig.

Mr Krause, who leads an 11-member team running an online business-to-business portal connecting partners in the photovoltaic industry at www.milkthesun.com, met local operators in the financial services industry with whom he discussed possible business cooperations.

Mr Krause’s business trip was the top prize at this year’s edition of the Elevator Pitch event in Leipzig, Germany, where Milk the Sun was deemed to have the most innovative business idea.

Organised by the ICC Sprachinstitut English Business Club, the competition saw 12 young innovators or entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to potential investors or partners in three minutes.

The 12th edition of the popular event, which is considered to be one of the most interesting networking events in central Germany, was attended by about 350 people from the business, political and media communities.

The ‘Business Trip to Malta’ prize was introduced for the first time this year and sponsored by Malta Enterprise seeking an idea that can be best applied to the Maltese market.

Milk the Sun GmbH won for its online business, which brings together stakeholders in photovoltaics and integrates service providers in the area of solar energy, enabling its registered users to find new business partners easily, efficiently and directly.

The system also enables transparent, Europe-wide trading of project rights and installed solar systems without long broker chains, facilitating the growth of the solar energy industry.

Milk the Sun GmbH was set up in Berlin earlier this year.

Besides sponsoring the trip to Malta, Malta Enterprise also set up meetings for Mr Krause with Malta Enterprise, the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, FinanceMalta, and several companies operating within Malta’s thriving financial services industry.

The initiative was also supported by the Malta Embassy in Germany as part of its strategy to assist Malta Enterprise’s office in Germany in its efforts to attract foreign investment to Malta.