Innovator 2024

Objective

To acknowledge innovative Estonian companies who have implemented or launched an outstanding innovation that offers significant value to clients or society and who invest their sales revenue in research, development or innovation activities.

Who can apply?

Estonian companies that have successfully implemented a technology development project or launched a new product or service solution in the last three years that improves the company’s competitiveness are invited to apply. The participating company should belong to sectoral and/or international networks.

Evaluation criteria and process

The following economic indicators are evaluated (comprising 30% of the final result):

  1. Added value1  percentage growth per employee in 2021-2023(10%)
  2. Proportion of research and development2 costs in sales revenue in 2023 (we evaluate the ratio of R&D expenses to sales revenue) (10%)
  3. Sales revenue percentage growth in 2021-2023 (10%)

 

The company must show a significant achievement in the following areas (comprising 70% of the final result):

  1. A significant technology or process development compared to the general level of the market, accompanied by a significant change in the company or an impact on the financial results (20%)
  2. Unique product/service/business model that gives the company a competitive advantage in foreign markets (20%)
  3. The company has created and implemented an innovation management model/system, formulated strategic goals, set objectives and created metrics (20%)
  4. SDG3, ESG4 or other similar principles are being created or implemented and disclosed by the company (10%)

1. Added value per employee = (labour costs including taxes + depreciation of fixed assets + business profit) / number of employees.

2. Research and development (including experimental development) includes systematic creative activities designed to increase the scope of knowledge and the ability to use such knowledge to uncover new fields of technology. Activities can be classified as research and development if they fulfil five basic criteria: innovative, creative, producing unexpected results, systematic, transferrable and/or repeatable. For research and development, all five criteria should be simultaneously fulfilled, whether it is a constant or intermittent activity.

3. SDG or the Sustainable Development Goals were adopted in 2015 by the United Nations as a call to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that by 2030, all people have peace and well-being. See more: https://sdgs.un.org/goals.

4. ESG or Environmental Social and Corporate Governance – an environmental, social and corporate governance framework that is integrated into an organisation’s strategy to consider the needs of all organisational stakeholders (such as employees, customers and suppliers and financiers) and find ways to create more value for them. It can be considered a set of management measures and standards through which it is possible to manage the impact of a company and its products and/or services on the environment, people and the economy.