Global Student Teams Shine in Evolve! 2025 Business Simulation Competition

We’re thrilled to announce the winners of Evolve! 2025, SimVenture’s premier international business simulation competition, proudly sponsored by Genio. This year’s event set a new benchmark, with 257 students across 73 teams from 13 countries testing their strategic thinking and entrepreneurial skills in a dynamic, team-based challenge.

Celebrating the top teams

After four days of intense competition, the top three teams demonstrated exceptional creativity, decision-making, and business acumen:

First Place: Universidad Modelo Mérida, Mexico

Team JKonic managed a virtual bicycle business with outstanding strategy and adaptability. The team members – Claudio Rafael Calderón Gama, Catherine Paulina Cuevas Polanco, Diana Raquel Luna Olmedo, and Luis Horacio Morales Villavicencio – impressed judges with their strategic vision, guided by educator Mr. Edwin Melchor Balam Moo.

“Fostering strategic thinking represents a challenge that transcends the knowledge acquired in the classroom; it involves the ability to apply what has been learnt in real and dynamic contexts. Through the use of business simulators, our students experience scenarios that mirror the decisions and challenges of the professional world. In this regard, Evolve 2025 has been an exceptional platform that has enabled them to strengthen their skills, apply their creativity, and demonstrate their strategic vision. We are deeply proud of their performance and sincerely grateful to the organisers and sponsors of this international event for providing them with such a valuable opportunity for learning and global exposure.” – Mr. Edwin Melchor Balam Moo, Universidad Modelo Mérida

Student highlights:

• “The main takeaway is that you need to take big risks while also reducing risk as much as possible — it’s a balance.” – Claudio Rafael Calderón Gama
• “Trust your decisions, you could get a surprise.” – Diana Raquel Luna Olmedo

Second Place – University of Limerick, Ireland

Team NoBudgetCo. impressed with their innovative approach and teamwork. Art Ó Liatháin, Daniel Kennedy, Darragh Grealish, and Dominick Stephens leveraged diverse academic backgrounds under the guidance of Dr. Roisin Lyons, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

“The entire Immersive Software Engineering (ISE) team are incredibly proud of our students’ performance in Evolve! 2025, which gave them a valuable opportunity to apply business strategy in a global context. The team became fully immersed in the experience and balanced the competition with their studies. They are brilliant students, and this further highlights their drive, strategic thinking and leadership mindsets.” – Dr. Roisin Lyons, University of Limerick

Student reflections:

• “A fantastic way to learn how to think strategically in a rich and dynamic context.” – Daniel Kennedy
• “Evolve! 2025 challenged us to react to change and strategically invest to stay ahead.” – Darragh Grealish

Third Place – Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

Team The Sim demonstrated strategic agility and cross-functional decision-making. Students Kanitha Teekaput, Krittitee Teeraumphon, and Nattanicha Tanprasertsupha, guided by Mr. Wit Wannakrairoj, applied classroom theory to real-world scenarios.

“We are immensely proud of our students’ exceptional performance in Evolve! 2025. This incredible result showcased their ability to apply the knowledge and skills gained from the Crafting Business Strategy class in a global context.” – Dr. Wit Wannakrairoj, Chulalongkorn University

Students described the experience as “dynamic, realistic, and engaging,” and summed it up perfectly: “Cash flow is the key, fun is the game, experience is the win.”

Special Commendations

Other notable achievements include:

• Kelowna Secondary School, Canada – Top Performing School
• Botswana Accountancy College, Botswana – Top Performing College

A Truly Global Challenge

Evolve! 2025 continues to grow as a world-class competition, bringing together aspiring entrepreneurs from around the globe. This year, students from Ireland, Thailand, India, Botswana, Pakistan, the UK, Mexico, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Canada, South Africa, The Gambia, and Colombia competed online from 27–30 October 2025.

Participants managed virtual bicycle companies using SimVenture’s acclaimed Evolution business simulation, making strategic decisions across operations, marketing, finance, production, and sustainability while navigating dynamic markets.

Winners receive cash prizes from a £2,000 prize fund, trophies, certificates, and free Evolution licenses for their institutions – alongside the prestige of being crowned Evolve! 2025 Global Champions.

“Evolve!2025 participants brought to life everything we feel is important about education. The SimVenture team exists to help people engage in authentic and sustainable learning. Quality experiential opportunities in the business and entrepreneurship space create powerful opportunities for thinking and understanding to be advanced and to support 250+ people means so much to all of us.” – Peter Harrington, Director, SimVenture

Congratulations to all participants for their incredible effort, creativity, and teamwork — you’ve all shown what it means to think strategically and embrace the challenge!

If you’d like to learn more about SimVenture’s Evolution business simulation and see it in action, you can book a free demo and discover how it can bring business learning to life for your students or team.