European Commission

The European Enterprise promotion Awards (EEPA) are an opportunity for outstanding projects from across the European Union and COSME countries to be recognised for their work in supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses.

The fifth category in which projects compete is Supporting the Development of Green Markets and Resource Efficiency. The projects listed below are national winners in this category and will be considered by the EEPA 2019 Jury for a place on the 2019 European shortlist.

Germany: StartGreen@School

Greece: TILOS

Netherlands: Green PAC iLab

Sweden: KTP (Knowledge Transfer Partnership)

Turkey: Regional Development Oriented Mission Differentiation and Specialization

This year this category received 5 entries from a variety of programmes, including projects focused on knowledge transfer regarding energy efficiency for SMEs, assisting entrepreneurs in the plastics industry to ensure they follow circular models and introducing sustainable entrepreneurship principles in schools.

Keep coming back to the News Portal each week to discover the national winners in each category for EEPA 2019!

About the EEPA selection process

The competition has two stages. Applicants must first compete at national level to be eligible to compete at European level. For the national competition, each country selects up to two entries to be nominated for the European competition.

A shortlist of nominees will be chosen by a European jury. All nominees from the national and European competitions will be invited to attend the final awards ceremony. The ceremony recognises the winners for their efforts and gives them the opportunity to present themselves in a pan-European environment.

The European Enterprise promotion Awards (EEPA) are an opportunity for outstanding projects from across the European Union and COSME countries to be recognised for their work in supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses.

The third category in which projects compete is Improving the Business Environment. The projects listed below are national winners in this category and will be considered by the EEPA 2019 Jury for a place on the 2019 European shortlist.

Austria: i.ku – Kufstein platform for innovation

Bulgaria: Fast Tracking Success

Czech Republic: Trh inovací

Ireland: The Digital School of Food

Latvia: Consult First

Lithuania: Development of the Dreverna Small Boat Harbour by way of a public-private partnership

Malta: MEAINDEX – The Online Toolbox for Business Entrepreneurs

Spain: FOMENTO DE LA CONTRATACIÓN PÚBLICA CON PYMES

Turkey: TIM-TEB StartUp House

This year this category received 9 entries from a variety of programmes, including projects focused on transferring scientific knowledge, supporting innovative startups in the food industry and facilitation of relationships between supervisory authorities and entrepreneurs.

Keep coming back to the News Portal each week to discover the national winners in each category for EEPA 2019!

About the EEPA selection process

The competition has two stages. Applicants must first compete at national level to be eligible to compete at European level. For the national competition, each country selects up to two entries to be nominated for the European competition.

A shortlist of nominees will be chosen by a European jury. All nominees from the national and European competitions will be invited to attend the final awards ceremony. The ceremony recognises the winners for their efforts and gives them the opportunity to present themselves in a pan-European environment.

EEPA – The European Enterprise Promotion Awards, recognises outstanding projects from across Europe that are working to support entrepreneurs and small businesses across six different categories.

This year the fifth category of the EEPA “Supporting the Development of Green Markets and Resource Efficiency” is back after a temporary suspension in 2017. This category recognises initiatives that support SME access to green markets and help to improve their resource efficiency through, for example, green skills development and matchmaking, as well as funding.

Netherlands: HAS Food Experience

Portugal:Matosinhos Carbon-zero Living Lab enhanced by local carbon market

Serbia: Rural HUB

Slovakia: Green bicycle

Turkey: İzmir Development Agency, Eco-efficiency Program (IEP)

Come back to Promoting Enterprise every week to discover the national winners across the other five EEPA categories: Promoting the entrepreneurial spirit, Investing in Entrepreneurial Skills, Improving the business environment, Supporting the internationalisation of business and Responsible and inclusive entrepreneurship.

Want to know who will be judging the 2018 projects? Meet the EEPA 2018 Jury here on the Portal!

EEPA – The European Enterprise Promotion Awards, recognises outstanding projects from across Europe that are working to support entrepreneurs and small businesses across six different categories.

The fourth category of the EEPA “Supporting the Internationalisation of Business” recognises initiatives that encourage enterprises and particularly small and medium-sized businesses to benefit more from the opportunities offered by markets, both inside and outside the EU. This year the category has nine different projects competing to win, so who will make it onto the European shortlist? Find out at the end of September after the EEPA 2018 Jury meeting!

Bulgaria: Supporting the internationalization and digitalization of SMEs in Bulgaria and Europe

Denmark: Lean Landing

Estonia: Development of the Estonian timber sector as the biggest exporter of wooden houses in the European Union

Finland: Kasvu Open – company growth sparring programme

Hungary: Startup Budapest Programme

Malta: Enabling the digital transformation of Maltese SMEs

Slovenia: Innovative business model 2COUNTRY

Spain: Misión Inversa del Vino y la Alimentación

Turkey: Cyberpark Accelerator Program (CAP): An Internationalization Pathway Business

Come back to Promoting Enterprise every week to discover the national winners across the other five EEPA categories: Promoting the entrepreneurial spirit, Investing in Entrepreneurial Skills, Improving the business environment, Supporting the development of green markets and resource efficiency and Responsible and inclusive entrepreneurship.

Want to know who will be judging the 2018 projects? Meet the EEPA 2018 Jury here on the Portal!

Who else will be competing for a place on the European shortlist for EEPA 2017? Time to find out about the European projects competing in Category 3: Improving the business environment! Don’t forget to have a look at the national winners in Category 1 and Category 2.

Category 3 recognises initiatives that support enterprise start-up and growth, simplify legislative and administrative procedures for businesses. In 2016 the prize was won by the Leader SME programme from Portugal for their activities to support national SMEs.

This year there are 8 projects competing for a European title in this category. Congratulations to all the national winners and we look forward to finding out who is on the EEPA 2017 shortlist!

Austria: Innovation to Company

Czech Republic: Třebíč is lively

Ireland: Mayo Ideas Lab

Italy: Progetto Manifattura – Polo Meccatronica

Netherlands: Innofest

Slovenia: Podjetno v prihodnost

Spain: Reempresa

Turkey: Business Friendly Uskudar Municipality

As the jury decision for the European Enterprise Promotion Awards (EEPA) shortlist draws closer it is time for us to meet all of the outstanding projects from across Europe that are competing on European level! Promoting Enterprise will be presenting all of the national winners that are being considered for the European shortlist as well as the categories that they are competing.

This week is the turn of Category 1: Promoting the entrepreneurial spirit, which recognises initiatives that promote an entrepreneurial mindset, especially among young people and women. In 2016 the prize was won by the entrepreneurship stronghold Lyon Ville de l’Entrepreneuriat from France.

This year there are 18 projects competing in this category and competition is fierce! Good luck to all the projects and we look forward to finding out who is on the EEPA 2017 shortlist!

Croatia: BUDI UZOR®/BE THE ROLE MODEL™

Cyprus: The Future in our hands:  Creating European entrepreneurs

Czech Republic: Jaudelam.cz

Denmark:
Fonden for Entreprenørskab som national, ansvarlig aktør for implementering af entreprenørskab i uddannelserne.

Estonia: Enterprise Village

Finland: Pikkuyrittäjät – Mini company program for primary school

France: Start’Up Lycée

Germany: BIRTH – Business Innovation Responsibility and Technology @Hansenberg

Greece: PATRAS Innovation Quest (Patras IQ)

Hungary: Startup Campus Program

Italy: 3D 4-Uman Technology is not uniquely human

Latvia: Information campaign “Support for entrepreneurs

Lithuania: KTU Startup Space

Romania: Doing innovative business based on advanced research and public communication

Serbia: Caravan of Youth Entrepreneurship

Slovakia: I will do it.sk

Turkey: Supporting Entrepreneurship, Skills and Future of Children and Youth Programme

United Kingdom: Made in North Tyneside

We are up to Category 5 of our European Enterprise Promotion Awards (EEPA) shortlist showcase…have you been keeping up so far?

This week is the turn of the national winners competing in Category 5 – Supporting the Development of Green Markets and Resource Efficiency. These projects have made it onto the shortlist because of their support for policies and initiatives at national, regional or local level that support SME access to green markets and help to improve their resource efficiency. From renewable energy to sustainable development, the top contenders for EEPA Category 5 are tackling important issues and are definitely ones to watch.

The Lime Trees & Honey Bees for Sustainable Development of the Danube Microregion project in Serbia strengthens the competitiveness of beekeeping in the Fruška Gora region and motivates young people to start beekeeping businesses. The project aims to increase the market share of Fruška Gora lime honey by investing in human resources and skills development, improved knowledge through scientific research, education and the introduction of new technologies. In addition, it ran a high-profile promotional campaign to raise public interest and created a marketing plan that changed the ad hoc approach of 8 beekeeper associations to a value-added, branded product, with export potential. Check out their video to learn more!

The Renewable Energy and Environmental Technologies Financial Support Programme is the first regional programme in Turkey to focus on renewable energy and environment. Nine projects dedicated to the design and production of renewable energy systems and environmental technologies were supported, as were 18 solar energy, 6 wind energy and 6 hybrid (solar + wind) systems. At the start of the project there were no systems for unlicensed electricity production connected to the grid in İzmir, making the energy capacity achievements of the programme (8.7 MW) all the more impressive. Watch this video to find out more!

An overview of the previous four categories presented:

• Category 1: Promoting the Entrepreneurial Spirit,
• Category 2: Investing in Entrepreneurial Skills,
• Category 3: Improving the Business Environment,
• Category 4: Supporting the Internationalisation of Business national winners.

In total, 343 National EEPA entries were received from 31 participating countries in 2016, which were then narrowed down by the national EEPA coordinators to 57 projects put forward for the European level of the competition.

At a meeting in Brussels on 27 September, the EEPA Jury drew up a project shortlist for each of the EEPA’s six project categories.  Let´s meet 18 shortlisted winners for EEPA 2016!

The winners are spread pretty evenly across Europe, with only Serbia featuring on the list more than once, with winning projects in the Promoting the Entrepreneurial Spirit and Supporting the Development of Green Markets and Resource Efficiency categories. We will present all of the shortlisted projects, category by category, on the Promoting Enterprise blog over the next six weeks.

The winner in each category will be revealed at the EEPA Awards Ceremony during the SME Assembly on 24 November in Bratislava, Slovakia, when the Grand Jury prize-winner will also be announced. All of the national winners will have their costs covered to send one representative to attend the SME Assembly, while shortlisted projects will be able to send two representatives.

Congratulations to all of the shortlisted projects – they are all worthy winners, and the EEPA Jury will have a difficult task in selecting the winning projects in each category. We wish them all the best of luck at the SME Assembly in November.

I started Ekapici because I love e-commerce. We are currently the only online takeaway ordering service in Turkey that delivers orders in 30 minutes and that has low minimum delivery costs. We save people time and money. We have just secured investment to expand in İzmir, and we hope to set up franchises in Ankara and Istanbul within the next three years.

If I were in charge of start ups and SMEs, I would ensure that they had access to decent investment so they could make their dreams happen.

“Entrepreneurs like me are important to society because we innovate; we help construct the national economy and create a broad vision for our country.”

Hero(es): Hakan Bas

Start up capital: Family and bank

Growth rate p.a: 100%

Mentor(s): No

Can you code?: No

Employees: 9

Education / Training: Mechanical Engineering

Product / Service: Online takeaway services

The seven winners of the eighth annual European Enterprise Promotion Awards (EEPA) were announced in Naples at the SME Assembly, which is the cornerstone of European SME Week.

The Grand Jury Prize was awarded to Encouraging Business Start-ups by Mothers with Young Children, a Hungarian project that seeks to help mothers develop the skills and mind-set to launch and run successful businesses. It offers online resources and training programmes. The project also holds the Entrepreneurial Women’s Roundtable to help mothers navigate the world of business and build relationships with one another.

Winners in the six official categories included organisations from Lithuania, Bulgaria, Spain, Italy, Germany and Portugal. These and many other initiatives encompassed areas as diverse as technology, sustainability and textile and proposed innovative solutions to a range of issues from pollution to lack of corporate social responsibility.

Below is the breakdown of winners and runners-up in each of the six competing categories.

Category 1: Promoting Entrepreneurial Spirit

Winner:

Lithuania – Mobile Apps Laboratories

Responsible organisation: App Camp, JSC

Runners up:

Austria – AplusB build!

Responsible organisation: build! Gründerzentrum Kärn GmbH

Netherlands – 20-80 Learning

Responsible organisation: Willem van Oranje College

Category 2: Investing in Entrepreneurial Skills

Winner:

Bulgaria – Brandiko

Responsible organisation: Ministry of Economy & Energy

Runners up:

Germany – Brennerei Next Generation Lab

Responsible organisation:  Wirtschaftsförderung Bremen GmbH

Serbia – Western Balkans Business Challenge

Responsible organisation: Junior Achievement Serbia

Category 3: Improving the Business Environment

Winner:

Spain – Start-up in 3

Responsible organisation: Ministry of Finance and Public Administration (MINHAP)

Runners up: 

Italy – Grow and Compete with Business Network  Contracts

Responsible organisation: Unioncamere Emilia-Romagna

United Kingdom – The Sharp Project

Responsible organisation: The Sharp Project

Category 4: Supporting the Internationalisation of Business

Winner:

Italy – Mirabilia: European Network of UNESCO Sites

Responsible organisation: Matera Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Crafts and Agriculture

Runners up:

Netherlands – Get in the Ring

Responsible organisation: Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship

France –The Living Heritage Company Label

Responsible organisation: Directorate for Competitiveness, Industry and Services

Category 5 – Supporting the Development of Green Markets and Resource Efficiency

Winner:

Portugal – AMS – Thinking Ahead

Responsible organisation: Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade of Portugal, Public Enterprise (“AICEP”) in partnership with AMS-BR STAR PAPER, S.A. (“AMS”).

Runners up:

Malta – EU LIFE+ Investing in Water

Responsible organisation: Malta Business Bureau

Turkey – Developing a Widely Applicable, Low-Cost Model for Clean Production in the Textile Finishing Industry

Responsible organisation: Uludağ Textile Exporters Association (UTEA)

Category 6 – Responsible and Inclusive Entrepreneurship

Winner:

Germany –Wiesbaden Engaged

Responsible organisation: Municipality of the City of Wiesbaden – Agency for Social Work

Runners up:

Poland – Consortium of the design “Construction and equipment of the Intramunicipal Vocational Rehabilitation Centre”

Responsible organisation: Polish Association for Persons with Mental Handicap, Szczecin Branch

France – The Entrepreneurs Team

Responsible organisation: National Association of Designer Groups (ANGC)

Special mentions:

United Kingdom – Primary to Professional

Responsible organisation: Gower College Swansea

Austria – Sources of Strength

Responsible organisation: Industrie- und Wirtschaftsentwicklung Murtal GmbH

Portugal – DO IT – Ideas of Portuguese Origin

Responsible organisation: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs