By Mehru Jaffer

Vienna, July 11 (IANS): Bangalore-based Suhas Gopinath, 23, who shot to fame as one of the youngest CEOs in the world, has added another feather to his cap. He has been given the first Make a Difference award here for supporting young entrepreneurs around the world.

"I feel very excited that my work is being increasingly appreciated in the heart of Europe," Gopinath, CEO of Globals Inc, a company that offers software solutions to over 200 clients worldwide, told IANS.

Gopinath started Globals in 2000 when he was 14 years old from a cyber cafe in Bangalore. He registered the company at San Jose, California, as Indian laws did not allow a minor to start a company. The average age of employees is about 25 years at Globals.

However, the plan is to shift the headquarters to Bangalore as soon as the construction work is ready. Gopinath is based in India's Silicon Valley although he travels around the world. Globals already operates from about a dozen countries, including Germany.

"But Austria is not Germany. This country is conservative and unique. It is a different kind of challenge to work here," said Gopinath of Austria, one of the richest countries of the European Union (EU).

While in Vienna, Gopinath used the opportunity to pick Maya India, an Austrian IT company, as a local partner of Globals.

"Our main focus will be to support Austrian IT companies to improve their cost structure so that they can survive the economic crisis and focus more on R&D and innovation," added Wolfgang Bergthaler, 27, founder of Maya India.

The Make a Difference award is an initiative of Brainswork, a Viennese consultancy boutique that organised IncredibleEurope, a one-day summit held here in celebration of the work of individuals whose unique talent and creative ideas have made a positive contribution to the world.

Along with Gopinath, the other winners for 2009 are Ilse Dippmann, who initiated the Austrian Women's Run, the largest women's running event in Central Europe; Muhammad Mesic, a 24-year-old Bosnian who uses his skills in 56 foreign languages to promote human rights and reconciliation worldwide; as well as professor Luigi Colani, the 80-year-old design legend and professor considered a role model by many young people.

All the winners were lauded for overcoming a variety of obstacles in life without losing faith in their vision and for inspiring other human beings to do the same.

For Gopinath, this is not the first European award. This year he has already been listed the Young Global Leader (YGL) and is reported to be the youngest YGL in the nearly four-decade-old history of the World Economic Forum held annually at Davos, Switzerland.

In 2007, the International Association for Human Values honoured Gopinath with the Young Achiever Award after he was invited to address businessmen at the European Parliament in Brussels.