At an official ceremony held today at the Sofia Balkan Palace Hotel in Sofia, the Innovative Enterprise of the Year 2023 awards were presented. The event was held as part of the national Innovation Forum “Innovation and Sustainable Growth”, organized by the Applied Research and Communications Fund and Enterprise Europe Network – Bulgaria. At the invitation of the initiators of the forum among the guests were the CEO of Invest Sofia Ph.D. Maria Hristova and Radostina Belcheva, Chief Expert at the Agency.
Bulgarian Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Iliana Ivanova and Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov were among the special guests at the National Innovation Forum, which again this year brings together representatives of the government, business and academia. Projects such as the Institute Insight, which is unique for the region, the Institute “Big Data for an Intelligent Society” (GATE) at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski, the PlanaCIST Institute in Plovdiv, which develops innovations in various fields, and the supercomputer in Sofia Tech Park, one of the scientific and applied structures that make Bulgaria unique among the neighboring countries, were among the best examples of successful Bulgarian projects at European and global level that were mentioned during the forum.
For the Innovative Enterprise of the Year 2023 Awards, 21 enterprises from different industries were shortlisted this year. All nominated and awarded companies can use the “Excellence in Innovation” brand.
The awarded companies are:
- Innovation for a better quality of life – the Sofia-based startup Algaya Ltd. with the Vodoraslo brand;
- Social Innovation – Outro Bulgaria Ltd. Biotechnology and Health Cluster Bulgaria awarded an additional prize;
- Innovation in Creative Industries – Zekeng AD;
- Digital Transformation – Giga Automa Ltd;
- Innovation Management – Lulis Mel Bulgaria EAD;
- Innovative start-up – Tsarina Winery Ltd. The Artificial Intelligence Cluster Bulgaria awarded an additional prize;
- Green Innovation – 2 companies were awarded;
In the Market Leadership category awards were given to:
- – Bizportal AD and Barin Sports AD (additional awards from Leader BG and Unified Innovation Center of BAS)
- – an additional award from Industry Info went to LogiSoft Ltd;
- – an award from PARA was given to Melexis Ltd.
The companies were judged by an independent jury of experts from government institutions, industry organizations, academia and entrepreneurs on the impact of the innovation they had created. Prizes are awarded for the introduction of a new or significantly improved product and/or process/service that has led to a lasting economic impact.
