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Karel Volenec of ELLA-CS, Technology Entrepreneur Of The Year 2012, saves human lives thanks to unique stents

Karel Volenec, director of ELLA-CS, s.r.o., has been named winner of the prestigious Ernst & Young Technology Entrepreneur of the Year 2012 Czech Republic competition. The prize is awarded as part of the Entrepreneur Of The Year competition held every year by Ernst & Young. ELLA-CS is at present the only producer of unique medical devices that save thousands of lives every year and are lauded the world over: a biodegradable stent, a Danis stent for stemming stopping the acute variceal bleeding and an extractor for esophageal stents.

The company focuses on the development and production of stents for the gastrointestinal tract. ELLA-CS owns many Czech and international patents and is represented in almost 50 different countries. The company’s objective is to act as a partner alongside doctors in resolving their problems in the experimental and clinical fields.  

“I am very happy to have won the prize for Ernst &Young Technology Entrepreneur Of The Year. This is significant for me for two main reasons. It is recognition of the entire work team for its years of hard work, and it is proof that a purely Czech firm is capable of reaching the top rung in several spheres despite limited financial resources and difficult legislative conditions,” said Karel Volenec, director of ELLA-CS, s.r.o.

 “The aim of the Entrepreneur Of The Year award is to support business development in our country and to make the word entrepreneur respectable again. The competition nominees lead firms that have succeeded in the face of stiff competition and complex economic conditions. They share a sense of honesty and place emphasis on business ethics, diligence, responsibility and humility. And perhaps it is these very qualities that have kept them among the best and make them worthy of our respect,” said Magdalena Souček, Country Managing Partner of Ernst & Young in the Czech Republic.

Karel Volenec has dedicated his life to research. It all started at the Medical Faculty of Charles University in Hradec Králové, where he was involved in new methods of treating tumours. The faculty was not equipped to put these methods into practice, and so he was almost obliged to start doing business. He got into debt through building a laboratory, but by selling his first colleague’s car he was able to buy a lathe. However, he had faith in his vision and research and his efforts gradually began to bear fruit. His firm’s inventions save thousands of lives every year and are appreciated the world over. ELLA-CS owns many Czech and international patents and is at present the only global manufacturer of unique medical devices: a degradable truss (stent), the Danis stent for stopping the variceal bleeding, and an the extractor. The company is best known for its biodegradable truss stent, the only one of its type in the world, which helps clear to improve the patency of digestive tract and is today regularly referred to in medical literature in Europe and the USA. Karel Volenec likes to devote his free time to farming in the Šumava Mountains and he is a sports pilot. He recharges his energy from the results of his work, deriving the most satisfaction from saving human lives and being commended by his colleagues, world specialists in this field.

The prize for Technology Entrepreneur Of The Year is awarded as part of the Entrepreneur Of The Year competition organised by Ernst & Young in cooperation with the TUESDAY Business Network. Anyone whose company creates technology or uses it in an innovative way can be nominated for the category Technology Entrepreneur Of The Year.

Technology Entrepreneur Of The Year judging panel members: Ivan Pilný – judging panel chairman, TUESDAY Business Network Ondřej Bartoš – Credo Ventures Jiří Beneš – 3TS Capital Partners Jaroslav Klíma – TESCAN, Technology Entrepreneur Of The Year 2011 Josef Suska – HOKAMI CZ, Technology Entrepreneur Of The Year 2007

Ernst & Young Technology Entrepreneur Of The Year winners:

• 2011 – Jaroslav Klíma, TESCAN
• 2010 – Václav Muchna, Y-Soft Corporation
• 2009 – Eduard Kučera, AVAST Software
• 2008 – Vlastimil Sedláček, SEKO EDM
• 2007 – Josef Suska, HOKAMI CZ
• 2006 – Jan Červinka, Adastra
• 2005 – Radim Králík, Grapo
• 2004 – Jiří Konečný, ELKO EP