A group of up-and-coming business founders from Monaco and the French Riviera has received a €100,000 injection of support in the first-ever Stelios Young Entrepreneur Awards — a new initiative spearheaded by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the man behind the easy brand family. The awards, aimed at recognising innovation and job creation among entrepreneurs under 35, were presented on Thursday, May 15 at the Stelios Foundation Conference Hall in Monaco.
Out of 29 applicants, five standout ventures walked away with funding — €70,000 in cash prizes and an additional €30,000 in advertising support from Riviera Radio, which partnered with the Stelios Foundation to help the winners raise their profile and grow their businesses.
The top prize of €30,000 went to Yacine Bayar, founder of Sianatech, an industrial engineering firm based in Fontvieille. Bayar, who runs a team of seven, said the win brought much-needed validation to an industry that often operates behind the scenes. “We’re not flashy or digital — but we’re essential. This kind of recognition is powerful,” he said, adding that the prize money will be used for recruitment and digital marketing.
In second place, 27-year-old Félix Nacach took home €20,000 for his startup Bed Boat, which offers overnight stays on docked yachts in glamorous locations such as Monaco and Cannes. “We’ve made the yacht dream affordable,” said Nacach, who credited the Riviera Radio advertising support as a key tool to attract more guests and scale operations.
Cannes-based filmmaker Sébastien Perez, founder of Sez Productions, secured the €10,000 third prize for his video production company, which counts global names like Netflix and Amazon among its clients. Perez said the funds will allow him to invest in drone equipment and marketing to build a more robust digital offering.
Two fourth-place prizes of €5,000 were awarded to ventures showing creativity and strong future potential. Raphael Mena of GOYA, a Spanish restaurant in Nice, plans to use the funding to build a charcuterie lab and expand his produce cultivation. Lauren Aubert, the 25-year-old behind LAU Monte Carlo, said her rotating concept store of accessible luxury items will now launch an e-commerce site and potentially expand to a larger retail space.
With its first edition already drawing praise for the quality of candidates and its practical impact, the Stelios Young Entrepreneur Awards appears set to become a major annual fixture for the region’s business community.
