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Yesterday evening, we celebrated the 10th 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 Prague (Czechia).
The Awards highlight excellent SMEs from across the EU that have accessed capital markets via an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the preceding two calendar years. They display the diversity of European markets and aim to promote stock listings on EU public markets, in particular targeting SMEs and growth companies.
Nominated companies are assessed by an independent, expert jury via four categories:
- the Star of 2022, awarded to an outstanding corporate citizen that stands out in a broad range of areas (e.g. ESG, financial and economic performances, reputation) as an exceptional leader in its class
- the Star of Innovation, awarded to a newly listed small or 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 small and 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 a market capitalisation up to €200m that displays remarkable growth potential
The Jury also assigns a Special Mention, to recognise an initiative, an individual or a company that has had a significant impact on small and mid-cap issuers accessing capital markets.
And the winnners are…
- Star of 2022: GreenVolt is a leading Portuguese renewables company operating across three segments: (1) Biomass; (2) Utility scale wind & solar projects; (3) Distributed generation. In Portugal, GreenVolt operates 5 electricity biomass plants (98 MW installed capacity) using exclusively forestry residues and, in the UK, holds a waste wood plant (42 MW installed capacity). GreenVolt is also a major EU developer of utility scale wind & solar projects. GreenVolt is listed on Euronext Lisbon.
- Star of Innovation: SECO is a centre of excellence in the field of innovation and technological integration. It develops and manufactures cutting-edge technological solutions, from miniaturized computers to fully customized integrated hardware-software systems. SECO also offers Clea, a proprietary end-to-end IoT (Internet of Things) AI analytics software suite that allows customers to gather real-time data from their on-field devices. SECO is listed on Borsa Italiana.
- International Star: NACON was founded in October 2019, following the consolidation of all components of Bigben Gaming Division into a new entity. The company specialises in the development and publishing of so-called AA video game software (games with sales of between 0.2 and 3 million copies) in both physical and digital format across the action/adventure, racing, sports, and simulation genres. NACON is listed on Euronext Paris.
- Rising Star: EiDF was founded in 2008 and is based in Galicia. The Spanish company specialised in photovoltaic (PV) solar energy installations. Its main activity is energy self-consumption aimed at small and large companies in order to offer them an efficient and profitable saving alternative with which to reduce energy costs and improve their competitiveness. EiDF is listed on BME, SIX Group.
- Special Mention: Rosinger Group is an internationally successful financial group, which is operating as both professional investor and independent specialised advisory service, it facilitates access for SMEs to capital, know-how and a network of contacts, focusing on IPOs, listings, financial engineering, corporate finance and strategy. Rosinger Group was nominated by Wiener Börse.
Merete Clausen, Director Investment, Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, at DG GROW said: “Access to public capital markets is key for the growth of EU companies and complements the support offered by private sources. The quality of the nominations this year was impressive, and the Jury has done a great job. The awarded SMEs stood out because of their growth performance, the innovativeness of their business models, the products or services they offer, or their successful internationalisation strategy. I hope the awarded companies will inspire other European businesses to take the leap and seek access to the EU capital markets.”
Petr Koblic, President of FESE, added: “Many congratulations to this year’s winners. Even if ultimately we only crowned one winner per category, being listed on capital markets is already a big achievement – one that makes every public company a winner in their own right. These Awards showcase successful IPOs from all over Europe and provide clear examples of the advantages of listing on exchanges for companies seeking to access finance.”
“SMEs are the foundation of the European economy. They are vitally important in creating jobs, supporting growth and boosting innovation. Supporting companies such as those celebrated last night to grow is essential to the green and digital transitions.”
Luc Vansteenkiste, Chairman of EuropeanIssuers, commented: “Small and medium enterprises are the backbone of the European economy. They are vitally important in creating jobs, supporting growth and boosting innovation. It is pleasing that the CMU Action Plan includes important actions to help these companies support their journey through their access to finance on capital markets. The challenge for the future is to find the perfect balance between the need of European harmonization and the respect of the local SME’s specificities.” “Today’s award ceremony showcases example of successful small and mid-cap companies, they are an example of vision and courage to go for stock exchange in order to make their companies grow and prosper. So let me congratulate them and wish them a successful future.”
The runners-up were the following:
Category ‘Star of 2022’
- Llorente y Cuenca listed on BME, SIX Group
- Trifork listed Nasdaq Copenhagen
Category ‘Star of Innovation’
- Checkin.com listed on Nasdaq Stockholm
- Spinnova listed on Nasdaq Helsinki
Category ‘International Star’
- Aiforia listed on Nasdaq Helsinki
- Ecoener listed on BME, SIX Group
Category ‘Rising Star’
- Omer-Decugis & Cie listed on Euronext Paris
- Span listed on Zagreb Stock Exchange
For more information, please contact:
Rainer Riess
Director General, FESE
riess@fese.eu
+32 2 551 01 81