Best Companies of 2018 Awarded

On 4 October, Enterprise Estonia, Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Estonian Employers’ Confederation awarded the best Estonian companies at a gala held at the Haven Kakumäe Marina. Cleveron AS, which develops and manufactures click and collect pickup automation solutions was declared the Company of the Year.

The Company of the Year was selected from amongst the best of the Enterprise Estonia’s Entrepreneurship Award and Estonian Chamber of Commerce’s Competitiveness Ranking. This year, the nominees for the title were Thermory AS, Aston Synthetics OÜ, Ecometal AS, Cleveron AS, Tallink Grupp AS, SA.MET AS and Callisto Group OÜ.

Chairman of the Board of Enterprise Estonia, Alo Ivask said that he is glad to see so many capable Estonian companies. “This year’s Company of the Year, Cleveron, is a truly inspiring story where hard work has built a business from zero and it keeps on growing. It is a high-tech company from Viljandimaa, which has broken open the doors of the largest retail chains in the world,” said Ivask and added that they are aiming even higher.

“A lot of time, knowledge and money is contributed to successful companies and through that new values are created for the entire Estonian society and economy. In order for companies to have motivation and strength to contribute daily, it is important to recognise them,” said Toomas Luman, President of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and he added that promoting entrepreneurship is in our hands and it should not be done only a few days a year.

Toomas Tamsar, Director of the Estonian Employers’ Confederation said the winner is like a drawing out of the children’s book Lotte from Gadgetville. “Somewhere in the Gadgetville, inventors develop a machine that brings joy to the entire world. We are looking for awesome examples as these,” emphasised Tamsar.

The Company of the Year was chosen by a high-level jury, which consisted of Rene Tammist, Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology, Ardo Hansson, President of the Bank of Estonia, Tiit Land, Chairman of the Board of the Rectors Council and Rector of the Tallinn University, Alo Ivask, Chairman of the Board of Enterprise Estonia, Kristiina Esop, Director of the Responsible Business Forum in Estonia, Ruth Oltjer, Member of the Board of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Member of the Board of Chemi-Pharm, Oliver Väärtnõu, Member of the Board of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Chairman of the Board of Cybernetica, and Toomas Tamsar, Director of the Estonian Employers’ Confederation.

Winners of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Competitiveness Ranking 2018:

·         The Most Competitive Large-Scale Company – Tallink Grupp AS

·         The Most Competitive Small and Medium-sized Company – SA.MET AS

·         The Most Competitive Micro Company – Callisto Group OÜ

The Most Competitive Companies by areas of activity:

·         Harju Elekter AS, industry and energy

·         Farmi Piimatööstus AS, food industry

·         Tallinna Kaubamaja grupp AS, retail

·         Orlen Eesti OÜ, wholesale

·         Tallink Grupp AS, tourism

·         Kapitel AS, real estate

·         Merko Ehitus AS, construction

·         Nortal AS, communication and IT

·         Sillamäe Sadam AS, service

·         Infragate Eesti AS, project design and architecture

Winners of the Entrepreneurship Aware 2018 organised by Enterprise Estonia and Estonian Employers’ Confederation:

·         Innovator of the Year – Cleveron AS

·         Exporter of the Year – Thermory AS

·         Family Enterprise of the Year – Ecometal AS

·         Design Applier of the Year – Cleveron AS

·         Foreign Investor of the Year – Aston Synthetics OÜ 

Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2018 is the Creator of eAgronom Robin Saluoks

Robin Saluoks is a 23-year-old entrepreneur whose idea to digitalise agriculture has been very successful. Robin’s wish to get involved in business showed already in high school where he and three of his friends founded a company Kolm Põrsakest (Three Little Pigs), that organises science shows for children.

eAgronom started out as an Excel table that Robin managed for the company of his father who is a farmer. From there on, Robin already developed a programme and by now eAgronom has become a product that simplifies the life of a farmer: keeps the field journal, manages warehouse, organises logistics, performs complicated calculations and even follows the PRIA aid rules. With only the first six months, eAgronom covered 60% of Estonian grain producers and the company that was founded only two years ago has expanded to over 700,000 hectares in more than five Europan Union countries. Robin’s achievement is all the more remarkable that for a large portion of farmers eAgronom is the first thing that they use in the computer and moving from a notebook to the digital world needs more than just a good product.