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Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs
News article17 November 2021Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs

The winners of the European Small and Mid-Cap Awards 2021 announced

Yesterday evening, we celebrated the 9th edition of the European Small and Mid-Cap Awards, organised by the Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE), EuropeanIssuers and the European Commission's Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs during the SME Assembly in Portorož (Slovenia).

The awards highlight excellent SMEs from 27 EU and EFTA countries that have accessed capital markets via an Initial Public Offering (IPO). They display the diversity of European markets and aim to promote stock listings in EU public markets, in particular targeting SMEs and growth companies.

Companies get recognition through either a special mention or awards in the four categories of

  • the Star of the Year, awarded to a newly listed mid-cap company that stands out from the crowd in a broad range of areas (e.g. financial and economic performances, governance, reputation) with its clear growth potential 
  • the Star of Innovation, awarded to a newly listed mid-cap company that places innovation (i.e. in corporate strategy and/or marketing strategy and/or the use of new technology) at the centre of its strategy for business development
  • the International Star, awarded to a newly listed mid-cap company that boasts impressive results in terms of international sales, profit and market share  growth
  • the Rising Star, awarded to an SME with up to €50m capitalisation with remarkable growth potential
  • the Special Mention recognises an initiative, an individual or a company, that has had a significant impact on small and mid-cap issuers accessing capital markets

Kristin Schreiber, Director, Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, said: “The COVID-19 crisis severely affected the EU’s economic landscape and triggered the need for renewed ambition to support the financing of high-growth small companies and scale-ups. As indicated in the recent Capital Market Union Action Plan and in the Communication on the SME Strategy, the Commission aims at making it easier for small and high growth companies to raise capital in order to finance their growth, in particular by supporting their access to EU public markets. The European Small and Midcap Awards are a great occasion to raise awareness on this objective and promote the access of SMEs to public capital markets. We hope that the awarded companies will serve as good examples for other EU companies needing to access EU public capital markets. As part of the support to the listing in EU markets, the Commission is working on creating an SME IPO Fund which will support EU SMEs during and beyond their listing process.”

Meet the winners

Star of 2021

Aluflexpack AG’s (listed on SIX Swiss Exchange) core competence is the conversion of aluminium, but also plastic and paper-based substrates, into high-quality flexible packaging solutions for end-markets such as Coffee and Tea, Confectionery, Dairy, Pet food and Pharma. It operates an integrated value chain across Europe, comprising eight high-end production plants as well as several sales offices and logistics centres.

Star of Innovation

Nanoform Finland Plc (listed on Nasdaq Helsinki and Nasdaq Stockholm) is an innovative nanoparticle medicine enabling company. Nanoform works together with pharma and biotech partners globally to develop new and improved medicines. In particular, the company focuses on reducing clinical attrition and on enhancing drug molecules’ performance through its innovative nano-forming technologies and formulation services.

International Star

Pexip Holding ASA (listed on Euronext) offers both self-hosted and as-a-service deployment options for enterprise video conferencing. Its scalable platform enables high-quality video meetings, with enterprise-grade security, and is easily adapted to fit customers’ IT requirements and existing infrastructure. Its solutions are sold through 300 channel partners in 75 countries and used in more than 190 countries.

Rising Star

FOM Technologies (listed on Nasdaq First North Growth Market) sells state of the art and cutting-edge machines and equipment that enable researchers, scientists and professionals to discover, develop and commercialise new functional materials, for a cleaner and more sustainable future, in particular through slot-die coating. The company originated from Risø/DTU (Danish Technical University) as a spin-off.

Special mention

Enlight Research (nominated by Nasdaq Riga) is an investment research startup that enables SME’s to get exposure to institutional and private investors by providing in-depth analysis of Baltic listed companies. The Enlight Research community consists of over a thousand investors and 28 Baltic companies. Its motto is ‘high-quality research to ALL’ as its research is available for free and the same information is shared with private and institutional investors.

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