NUREMBERG, Germany, January 24 /PRNewswire/ --

- OSBF Presents the Open Source Business Award 2008

Open Source Business Foundation e.V. (http://www.osbf.de), a European
network for the open source sector with its headquarters in Nuremberg, has
presented this year's "Open Source Business Award". The winner was announced
at the "Open Source Meets Business" Conference in Nuremberg on the evening of
January 23. Carrying a total of EUR 75,000, the Open Source Business Award
has the highest prize money of all business plan competitions in Europe. The
decision of the high-ranking jury, which consisted of 17 members, was
unanimous. All award winners were commended as outstanding, innovative
examples for the European open source sector. First place, earning prize
money to the tune of EUR 50,000, went to Rapid-I, an open source data mining
specialist from Dortmund (http://rapid-i.com). Second prize, carrying EUR
15,000, was taken by Open Bravo S.L., an open source ERP company from
Pamplona in Spain (http://www.openbravo.com). The third place and EUR 10,000
were presented to brox IT-Solutions GmbH from Hanover, a specialist in data
optimization and the personalized tracking of information (http://www.brox.de
). A special award in the shape of a 4 processor computer was presented to
the Freiburg-based coresystems GmbH (http://www.coresystems.de). This year's
premium sponsor of the Open Source Business Award was MAX21 AG of Darmstadt,
a holding company specializing in the implementation of business models
developed by young open source firms. Other sponsors included Intel Capital,
S-Refit and TVM.

The Open Source Business Foundation e.V. (OSBF)

Open Source Business Foundation e.V. (OSBF), an association headquartered
in Nuremberg, is a European network of companies, institutions and
individuals whose shared interests lie in open source development and
business models. For business founders and established companies from all
over Europe, OSBF is a business platform that not only offers them contacts
but also supports and promotes their business ideas. In its wide-ranging
activities, OSFB always has its focus on the commercial use of open source
software. OSBF was established at the end of 2007 as the successor
organisation of Linux Business Campus NÃŒrnberg e.V. Today, OSBF already has
120 members from all over Europe.

Contact

    Open Source Business Foundation e.V. 

    Richard Seibt               
    Maxfeldstrasse 9 
    90409 NÃŒrnberg 
    Germany 
    Tel. +49(0)911-18015-01 
    Fax +49(0)911-18015-05 
    E-mail: richard.seibt@osbf.de 

    Möller Horcher Public Relations GmbH
    Gabriele Horcher
    Ludwigstrasse 74
    63067 Offenbach
    Germany
    Tel. +49(0)69-809096-52
    Fax +49(0)69-809096-59
    gabriele.horcher@moeller-horcher.de