BEST YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR 2016

The award was presented by the Minister of Business and Knowledge of the Generalitat of Catalonia Santi Vila. The award ceremony was held this Wednesday, July 5, 2017, at the Castell de Montjuic in Barcelona, where Jose Elías was recognized as the best young entrepreneur 2016 in Catalonia.

In his thank you speech José Elías recognized the importance of 3 pillars in his life: family, friends and team. He highlighted that this award is the award of many people and for this reason he wanted to dedicate it to the team, more than 1,800 employees who make up the Audax Group, without whom this award would have been totally impossible. Jose said he was very happy with this award because it had made him remember his origins, his failures and his achievements. L'empresari jove 2106 states that the key to success lies in effort, dedication and the spirit of improvement, because mistakes and failures teach you to improve and continue innovating. He also highlighted the high level of the other two candidates for the award, Gerard Olivé and Martina Font, whose careers have been exceptional and are an example for entrepreneurs.

José Elías Navarro began his business project in 2009, in the toughest moments of the economic crisis, founding a small electricity and gas supplier from scratch. Proximity, innovation and commercial orientation allowed Orus Energía to grow and gain a foothold in the national electricity market. The growth of the company allowed it to acquire the Audax Energía marketer in August 2012 and begin a process of improvement and promotion, making it the 9th marketer in the national electricity market. Internationalization has always been present in the group's future plans and has allowed the Audax model to now be present in Portugal, Italy, Germany, Poland and Holland. Furthermore, in August 2016 it entered the generation market by acquiring 70,86% from Fersa Energías Renovables, SA, thus becoming the group's renewable generation subsidiary.

Audax Energía intends to continue growing. The company's objective, defined within its Strategic Plan, was to achieve a turnover of 1,000 million in 2020, but its forecasts have been exceeded by achieving this figure in 2017. Its forecast is to continue with international expansion in Europe and plan its entry into Latin America.