Nine tech start-up finalists present their pitches at the "It Takes a Community" Campaign. The first prize goes to Relocate.me

Find out who are the winners of the 3rd edition of IOE Migration Challenge.

The Migration Challenge Start-up Competition aimed at rewarding the most promising human resources, fintech, civictech, edtech and healthtech start-ups with solution-oriented products to improve migration systems that respond to labour market needs and inclusive societies. The decision was made by an international Jury Panel consisting of Ana Álvarez from Migrapreneur, Alvise Giustiniani from Philip Morris International, Nikolai Strom-Olsen from Startup Migrants and David Munir Nabti from Bloom EMEA.

The winner of the Third IOE Migration Challenge Competition is Relocate.me, an Ukrainian tech start-up that provides an all-inclusive platform for IT specialists around the world to connect with verified employers, get comprehensive information on international relocation options to make informed career decisions. Relocate.me will be awarded 5,000 Swiss francs in addition to personalized mentoring sessions. The two runners up, Jobian in Ukraine and 3minutesjob in Romania, will be awarded scholarships for personalized mentorship sessions designed to support entrepreneurs, especially in a post Covid-19 environment, to reduce the time and efforts needed to fundraise and scale up their businesses.

This year the IOE-Seedstars partnership on Migration Challenge was recognized as UNSDG Good Practice for its contribution to sustainable implementation of SDG 8, 10 and 17 by supporting tech start-ups whose beneficiaries are vulnerable groups who need access to banking, information, and connection to decent and productive work and solutions address and support the facilitation of regular migration.

Roberto Suárez-Santos, IOE Secretary General, said: "This edition of the Migration Challenge Competition continues the vital support tech start-ups need to offer digital solutions that offer a triple win for migrants, businesses and host communities. Last year, we saw how important the recognition this competition offers is to innovative entrepreneurs, who are leveraging technologies to create one-stop shop platforms, digital tools, and smart apps. At IOE, we are proud to be a partner in this competition, and firmly believe it is a major contributor towards promoting well-managed migration as a positive force for change."

Jury member Ana Álvarez, Founder and CEO of Migrapreneur, said: "I think start-up finalists resemble the solutions that are missing in the migration system. There are still pain points in very basic areas, like jobs, language, finances and housing. All of the start-up applicants working in the field of migration are doing tremendous work and we congratulate each one of the teams for wanting to change this. The great news is that the prize comes not only with recognition, but also with much needed financial assistance to support migrants and their relocation, inclusion and integration which is a key to success of our society."

Our partner Kevin Schoucair at Seedstars shared his impressions: “We are proud to partner with IOE on this 3rd edition of the Migration Challenge, uncovering promising start-ups doing great work and contributing to alleviating the challenges of migration and improving migration processes. The winner and 2 runners-up are all working towards impacting the most critical factor determining the success and integration of migrants in their destination country, i.e., finding and settling into a new job. Relocate.me is focusing on facilitating the discovery of tech jobs and the relocation of tech professionals, while Jobian and 3minutesjob are looking to build ecosystems of services for low skilled migrants across Europe.”

While winners take the prize, all will join the Alumni Network of Migration Challenge where they will have access to opportunities for internal and external networking as well as prospects for international visibility and professional growth.

Find all the tweets on our official Twitter accounts in English, French, and Spanish: @ioevoice, @oievoix, @oievoz. All videos, including the pitching sessions and the announcement of the winner, can be found on our YouTube channel.