Estonian companies in seven categories have reached the final round of the Entrepreneurship Award 2026, the longest-running business competition in Estonia, which names the exporter, innovator, investor, future shaper, industry changemaker, tourism developer and employer of the year.
The competition is organised by Enterprise Estonia and the Estonian Employers’ Confederation, and the winners will be announced on 14 November at the “Estonia’s Best Companies 2026” gala. Several of this year’s finalists, among them ALPA Kids and UP Catalyst, were among last year’s finalists as well.
What the Entrepreneurship Award 2026 finalists have in common
What connects this year’s finalists, according to Ursel Velve, chair of the management board of Enterprise Estonia, is that they do not settle for existing solutions but create new opportunities for their own companies and for the Estonian economy.
“We see investments in high-technology manufacturing, the adoption of artificial intelligence and automation, and new solutions in the space and defence industries,” Velve said. “It is also notable how differently Estonian companies break through in the international market: some develop technologies that are only now being taken into use in the world, others find new business opportunities in traditional industries. This shows that success does not depend so much on the field of activity as on the courage of company leaders to invest in innovation and in expanding export markets, and on the ability to carry bold plans through.”
The finalists, category by category
Exporter
- Harju Elekter, which earlier this year won a Siemens order in Finland, develops and manufactures power-distribution and energy solutions whose demand is growing with the rapid expansion of data centres. The company’s export revenue reached €40.7M in 2025, and in customised data-centre solutions the added value of engineering work can be 10–20 times higher than on standard products.
- HANZA Mechanics in Tartu makes high-technology industrial and medical equipment and exports to more than 45 countries. Exports account for over 90% of its sales revenue, and its work has been recognised by international customers Saab and 3M. It is part of the Swedish HANZA group, which expanded its Estonian manufacturing through the Fortaco acquisition.
- BLRT Grupp works in shipbuilding, ship repair and the marine industry. The group’s export revenue reached €416.2M in 2025, and recent large projects include underwater support modules worth €50M for a Norwegian client.
Innovator
- 1oT, which has expanded into the US market, develops technology that allows the mobile connections of millions of smart devices to be managed. Its solutions are used in 170 countries, and 1oT was the first company in Europe and the second in the world to implement the new international IoT eSIM standard SGP.32.
- CrystalSpace develops camera and vision systems for the space and defence industries, including equipment used on space missions, in a field where Estonia’s space expertise has drawn growing European interest. Its sales revenue grew by an average of 136% a year between 2023 and 2025.
- UP Catalyst, which is planning a CO₂-to-graphite plant in Oulu, develops technology that turns industrial carbon dioxide into graphite and carbon nanotubes for use in batteries. The company aims to reduce Europe’s dependence on imports of critical raw materials, and €2.58M was invested in its development work in 2025.
Future Shaper
- ALPA Kids creates research-based digital learning games adapted to different languages and cultures. The Estonian company’s app has been downloaded more than 2.5 million times and is used in more than 170 countries.
- Meridein Grupp develops and manufactures defence-industry solutions that have been taken into use in the Baltic states and Ukraine. The company works with Estonian universities on development and contributes to the local electronics and technology industry.
- NPM Narva opened Europe’s first rare-earth permanent magnet plant in Narva in 2025. The company is creating high-qualification jobs in Ida-Viru County and helping to reduce Europe’s dependence on China for permanent magnets.
Investor
- YOOK Production, the maker of award-winning oat drinks, built a €16M oat-drink plant in Türi, the first of its kind in the Baltics. Its sales revenue grew by nearly 42% a year on average between 2023 and 2025, and production is exported to more than ten countries.
- NPM Narva invested €67.3M in the first stage of the Narva permanent magnet plant. The planned investment in the next stage could reach €200M to increase production of permanent magnets that are strategically important for Europe.
- BLRT Grupp invested €83M in Estonian production capacity between 2023 and 2025. Large projects include a 180-metre floating dock and a new foundry in Kohila, aimed at tripling production volume and creating about 70 jobs.
Industry Changemaker
- ETS NORD invested €10.2M in automating and digitalising production over three years. The ventilation-solutions manufacturer uses digital twin technology, among other tools, and opened a development and testing centre in Tallinn in 2025. Its export revenue reached €62.5M.
- Chemi-Pharm makes disinfectants and cleaning products using automated equipment and artificial-intelligence-based quality control. Real-time data monitoring and digital supply-chain solutions help to make its production more efficient. Export revenue reached €11.2M in 2025.
- Finest Steel invested nearly €3.3M in modernising metal production over three years. The company uses automated laser-cutting and robotic bending equipment, and AI-based software that compiles the material lists needed for production automatically from customer orders.
Tourism Developer
- Sviby is an experience platform created in Estonia that combines ticketing, marketing, experience discovery and data-based audience understanding into one growth system for culture and tourism. The platform has more than 390,000 users. The total value of tickets sold through Sviby was €3.9M in 2023, and in 2026 it is moving past the €20M mark.
- ÖÖD Hotels has taken the mirror-house concept created in Estonia to the international market. From an original five houses, the network has grown to more than 150 houses at nearly 60 accommodation sites in Europe and the United States. The concept has since travelled as far as South Korea.
- Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) holds international A-category festival status. In 2025 it welcomed 2,000 foreign guests, its programme included 108 world premieres and its estimated economic impact reached €11.3M.
Employer
- Nordea Bank’s Estonian branch employs more than a thousand people from 50 nationalities. Staff development uses international learning programmes and an AI-based career platform. Its employee recommendation index stands at 76 points.
- ETS NORD employs 486 people in its group, 361 of them in Estonia. The volume of employee training grew nearly fivefold in a year, and the company supports the next generation of engineers with scholarships and internship programmes.
- Ragn-Sells develops circular-economy solutions together with three universities and invests in the development of its employees and of young people. New technologies from its research cooperation have reached production, including solutions for valorising oil-shale ash.
Entrepreneurship Enabler
- IDA Hub develops the film-industry business environment in Ida-Viru County. Where film shoots in the region previously involved an average of 4–5 local companies, in 2025 the figure was 15–20. The Jõhvi film campus is being built with €16M from the Just Transition Fund.
- Content Builders / Vibe Code Atelier helps companies test business ideas and find cooperation partners with the help of artificial intelligence. A community of more than 900 members has grown around the initiative.
- Tallinn Business Incubator supports entrepreneurs with counselling and development programmes in which more than 200 entrepreneurs have taken part over three years. Between 2022 and 2025, the companies in those programmes created 342 jobs and 45 of them engaged in exports.
Company of the Year is chosen from the category winners
Company of the Year 2026 will be announced on the evening of 14 November at the “Estonia’s Best Companies 2026” gala, which will be broadcast by ETV. The title is contested by the category winners of the Entrepreneurship Award, the leaders of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s competitiveness ranking and the company recognised by the Ministry of Defence as a supporter of national defence. The gala also recognises the entrepreneurship enabler and presents the young entrepreneur award.
The Entrepreneurship Award is the highest state recognition given to companies, and the competition is co-funded by the European Union.
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