What Ever Happened to the Class of '06?

What has become of the 15 nominees and six winners of last year's Europe's Young Entrepreneurs contest? We reached out to all of them and heard back from 10, and for the most part, the news is good. In fact, many said that their participation in the contest and the attention it garnered had been a major lift—either in attracting further media coverage or bringing in customers and business partners from around the world.

Last year's top vote-getter, Ben Woldring, got perhaps the biggest publicity boost. His Netherlands company, Bencom, runs a collection of consumer-oriented price comparison Web sites that allow Dutch users to search for the best deals on mobile phone service, broadband Internet access, and utilities (see BusinessWeek.com, 11/14/06, "Europe's Best Young Entrepreneurs 2006").