The Russian-based company SWsoft wins the Audemars Piguet

The Russian-based company SWsoft wins the Audemars Piguet
“Changing Times Award”
- vente-privee (France) is awarded the Special Jury Prize and Innovative Silicon (USA)
receives the “Next Gem Award” Geneva – November 16th 2007 – Serguei Beloussov, Chairman and CEO of SWsoft, a fastgrowing virtualisation and automation solutions company, was named “European
Entrepreneur of the Year 2007” during a gala evening held in Gland, Switzerland. This most
prestigious honour within the Audemars Piguet “Changing Times Award” program is intended
to reward the European entrepreneur whose company has made the greatest impact on the
greatest number of people over the past three years.
“It is a tremendous honour to receive this award, especially in light of the other selected
Finalists and the collective impact their companies have already made on the global
technology landscape. We feel this selection acknowledges the rapid progress we have
made in enabling the optimization of desktop and server computing with innovative and
useful technology,” explained Serguei Beloussov.
SWsoft offers Parallels, the leading desktop virtualization product, and Virtuozzo, the leading
operating system server virtualization solution, along with a full suite of complementary
automation solutions. Founded in 1999, SWsoft currently employs 900 people and has more
than doubled revenues every year. The company is active in Europe, the United States, and
in Asia.
The vente-privee.com company, one of the European leaders in internet retailing and
the pioneer of event-driven online sales, has been on-line since 2001 and was also one of
the finalists chosen by the international jury that acted as a selection committee. Xavier
Court, co-founder of vente-privee.com, was officially awarded the Special Jury Prize for the
results achieved since the founding of his company. In 2006, vente-privee.com racked up a
turnover of 250 million euros, with thousands of items sold per day and one million individual
visitors a day. Employing 750 people and enjoying a market leadership position in France,
vente-privee.com is now entering the Spanish, German, Italian and UK markets.
Innovative Silicon, a company headquartered in the USA and founded in 2003 in
Switzerland, was also honoured in the “AP Changing Times Award” ceremony. It received
the “Next Gem” award for the company with the most promising future. In 2005,
Innovative Silicon launched its Z-RAM ultra-dense memory technology to the semiconductor
industry. This innovation significantly shrinks the size-and therefore the cost- of both DRAM
and complex microprocessor chips, while improving performance and simplifying
manufacturing. The work of Innovative Silicon has been unanimously acclaimed by analysts
and customers alike.
Mark-Eric Jones, President and CEO of Innovative Silicon, expressed his delight in receiving
this distinction: “It is extremely rewarding to see that the contribution of our Z-RAM memory
technology makes for the semiconductor industry be recognised, especially by great names
in industry such as ETT and Audemars Piguet.”
The “Next Gem” Award was officially presented to Mark-Eric Jones by Luc Denis,
representative of the Schroder & Co SA bank that sponsors this prize.
This event, which brought together over 200 handpicked guests, also featured a round table
organised with representatives of the finalist companies and moderated by Matthias Lüfkens,
Associate director, Media, World Economic forum. Guests invited by Audemars Piguet,
Rezonance and European Tech Tour were able to address questions and comments directly
to the finalists. Invitees stemming from a broad variety of sectors including private banking,
private equity, the pharmaceutical and automobile industries as well as telecom and internet
companies, all took the opportunity to share ideas and show their support for the
entrepreneurs of the future. The Tech Tour presidents of over 10 European countries took
part in the event, along with many noteworthy media representatives.
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Audemars Piguet
Founded in 1875 by Jules-Louis Audemars and Edward-Auguste Piguet in the Swiss village
of Le Brassus, Audemars Piguet is one of the world’s oldest watchmakers. Often referred to
as the master watchmaker, Audemars Piguet is still independently owned by its founding
families. Based in the Vallée de Joux, the company’s skilled craftsmen transfer their unique
expertise and know-how to the exclusive range of products that consist of carefully crafted
high-precision watches and several jewellery collections. At each milestone in its history,
Audemars Piguet has always adopted innovative and forward-looking techniques, an
approach which has earned the company an unparalleled number of world firsts in the field
of “Haute Horlogerie”
http://www.audemarspiguet.com
Schroders
Schroders, a global investment-management company, was established in 1804 and the
Schroder family still controls 47% of the voting shares. Schroders Plc, one of Britain’s major
listed private companies, has been present in Switzerland since 1967. Its offices in Zurich
and Geneva (since 1984) look after local and international private and institutional investors.
Schroder & Co Banque SA offers a wide range of asset-management (CHF 320 billions) and
credit services. As part of a leading international asset-management organisation, the
company combines a well- established local presence with the international resources and
global perspective of the Schroder Group.
http://www.schroders.com
The European Tech Tour Association (ETT)
The European Tech Tour Association (ETT), an independent organization composed of key
contributors to the high-technology industry, was founded in Geneva in 1998 in response to
growing interest to visit emerging technology companies in various European regions. ETT
aims to provide a platform that allows interactions between the three main groups,
entrepreneurs, insiders and visitors eventually leading to facilitating or funding local high
technology companies looking to expand internationally. Find out more at www.techtour.com
http://www.techtour.com/
Rezonance
Founded in 1998, Rezonance.ch is a network of businesses, people and knowledge that
brings together more than 23,000 entrepreneurs and holds 30 seminars a year on
innovation, entrepreneurship and sustainable development. It is also the publisher of the
Swiss Innovators Yearbook, a reference for Swiss innovation that features portraits of all the
winners of innovation and entrepreneurship awards.
http://www.rezonance.ch
Media contacts:
Nathalie Crausaz
Audemars Piguet
Tel: +41 (0)21 845 14 72
E-mail: [email protected]