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Seventeenth National Contest
Innovative Enterprise of the Year 2021,
Finalists
 The national contest Innovative Enterprise of the Year is organised by the Applied Research and Communications Fund, ARC Consulting, Enterprise Europe Network – Bulgaria, с подкрепата на Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs and Sofia Tech Park.It was conducted in partnership with the following media outlets: the Bulgarian National Television through its telecast Innovative, the Bulgarian National Radio – Radio Sofia, Economy magazine, Digitalk, Kaldata.bg, Bulgarian Science magazine, Uspelite.bg, Innovation.bg, the portal of the Bulgarian industry IndustryInfo.bg, 3e-news.net and Trending Topics.eu.
All finalists in the contest are granted the right to use the Excellence in Innovation label of the Applied Research and Communications Fund and are provided opportunities for reaching potential international partners and clients in all economic fields through the Enterprise Europe Network active in over 60 countries.
 At the Seventeenth National Innovation Forum, the Bulgarian President Rumen Radev presented awards to distinguished enterprises in the following areas according to the impact of innovation:
За „An honorary statuette and diploma were awarded to Cupfee Ltd in the Market Leadership category.
 Cupffee Ltd produces eatable biodegradable cups for hot and cold beverages, made of natural ingredients only and GMO, artificial colorant, sweetener and preservative-free. The cup is neutral in taste and does not alter the flavour of the drink. Its production process is 100% environmentally friendly and does not generate industrial waste – all leftover materials are utilised as ingredients for other edible products. The cups are sold in over 40 states across the 6 continents. The company opened a new production facility in 2021 with a manufacturing capacity of 2.5 million cups monthly.
In the Market Leadership category an honorary statuette and diploma were also awarded to Orenda Group Ltd.
 Orenda Group Ltd has created and for the first time in Europe produces a 100% natural sunscreen with invisible Zink which does not leave any marks on the skin. The production process involves no nanotechnology, but successfully infuses Zink in natural oils achieving high homogeneity with no layering of ingredients. The mineral lotion is packed in fully recyclable sugar cane containers. The company’s organic cosmetic products such as baby care products, body oils, grey-free hair spray, etc. have reached the markets of 36 countries.
In the Innovative Start-Up Enterprise category for 2021, Omnio Ltd received an honorary diploma.
 Omnio Ltd has developed an intelligent AI-based platform operating a fraud and anti-money laundering alert system. The software is based on the multiple factor approach, screening transactions in real time and identifying suspicious deviations from past transaction patterns. The solution assists financial institutions required to comply with financial crime regulations.
The company also received a special start-up award by Sofia Tech Park, comprising 3 workspaces free of charge, participation in one digital edition of the Anonymous Innovator Club and a mentoring session with the Sofia Tech Park Business Development team.
The 2021 Green Innovation honorary diploma went to Atlas Agro Sicence Ltd.
 Atlas Agro Science has created a 100% organic liquid plant stimulant based on seasoned anaerobically processed sediments from waste water treatment plants. The product can be used in agrarian business, including organic farming, landscape design and floriculture. It can successfully reduce the need for costly mineral fertilisers, contribute to soil restoration, strengthen plant immunity and resistance to stress factors as well as increase crops volume and quality.
The 2021 Innovation for Quality of Life honorary diploma was given to CMYK Ingredients JSC.
 CMYK Ingredients JSC develops liquid fermented herbs and spices as ingredients of clean-label foods and beverages as well as for direct consumption. Their production technology preserves the precious flavours, vitamins and minerals of the spices at any temperature, including in frozen foodstuffs. The company markets its food industry innovations to over 30,000 professionals and 40 companies in the hotels and restaurants sector.
The 2021 Innovation in the Creative Industries honorary diploma went to ZenHold JSC.
 ZenHold JSChas developed interactive VR for educational purposes based on videos of real locations and sites ordered by clients. It can be used in a wide variety of contexts, but is most often applied for simulating risky situations such as burglary, fire, etc. and for memorising repetitive actions for medical, military and other purposes. The company can respond to client demands with highly personal VR versions. Among its products are virtual landmarks developed for a British historical museum.
In the Social Innovation category for 2021, Spark Vision Ltd was awarded an honorary diploma.
 Spark Vision Ltd has developed smart glasses for blind and visually impaired people. The main function of the glasses is to help recongnise objects and read texts. The surroundings is analysed and the information gathered is converted into audio format that the user can listen to from the appended headphones. Apart from objects, the glasses identify colours and brightness, register and recognise faces, provide smart internet search assistance and professional support through video calls.
The 2021 Digital Transformation honorary diploma was given to Iris Solutions Ltd.
 Iris Solutions has created an open banking application enabling merchants who integrate it in their digital channels to receive account-to-account payments. The company has also developed a solution that transforms any messenger service (SMS, Viber, Whatsapp) or a formal document (contract, invoice, debit letter) into a point of sale by integrating the direct bank transfer. Through their platform, the company is currently servicing 36 banks and payment institutions.
The 2021 Innovation Management honorary diploma went to A Data Pro Ltd.
 A Data Pro is a sustainable innovator effectively managing its innovation activities. The company analyses and measures user interest to various topics, e.g. those that attract greatest interaction by news readers and social network users. Information clustering lies at the core of the technology and a specific platform developed by the company enables its clients to easily analyse and visualise all available data.
Finalists in the national Innovative Enterprise of the Year 2021 contest (in alphabetical order)
AvtoIkonom Ltd has created the first mobile platform worldwide that comprehensively manages client needs in the automotive, insurance and leasing industry, which allows a two-way communication and directly links customers and suppliers. The platform users can choose between multiple service providers, whereas through the mobile app’s service book the end customers can easily manage all services related to their automobile, leasing scheme and auto insurance.
Barin Sports JSC has developed and electronic system tracking the performance and shape of professional football players based on an original radio protocol. It makes analytics fully automated, thus saving significant human resources. The device is perfectly adapted to use in adverse conditions (e.g. metal sheds at stadiums that hamper the radio signal reception), at the same time collecting and analysing thousands of data points in real time.
Bastun Media Ltd has created a budget technology for semi-automatic restoration and improvement of audio-visual archive items turning them into higher-resolution products. This AI and open code based method assesses and restores the items with either fully coloring the black-and white original, or enhancing the quality of a coloured item. When necessary, manual corrections and additional processing are also performed.
Brandy Company Ltd has developed a raincoat for bikers, motorcyclists and other two-wheel vehicle riders. The product fastening design is innovative – it can be worn as a standard overcoat, but in rainy weather it can quickly be transformed into overalls that protect the body down to mid-calf, waterproofing the rider and securing maximum comfort.
Vidas Company Ltd offers soft drinks with Bulgarian-grown herbs and fruits, which are free of all types of artificial colorants, sweeteners, flavours, white sugar, caffeine and preservatives. All products are 100% natural in origin and are sweetened with pure grape juice. They are bottled in a vacuum environment ensuring their long shelf life. The flavours currently on the market are: pomegranate with black cumin, fig leaves, elderflower with lemon, peach with St. John’s wort and mountain tea with lemon.
GetMonety Ltd creates educational games to develop the financial competence of children and their families. The product has three components: game cards boosting the financial and strategic thinking of kids, flash cards with financial concepts and household tasks and a web-based application in which by scanning a QR code children collect points for having completed household activities which they can later monetise or receive prizes for. The games are also suitable for classroom use.
Cardinal Bites produces raw protein sugar-free sweets containing plant or dairy protein. The bites combine traditional Bulgarian products with more exotic ingredients, e. g. cocoa, Bulgarian rose essence and Mahlab. The bites are packed with the full range of essential amino acids and fibers that satiate and improve digestion, but contain 20% less calories than the usual chocolate candy.
Quanterall Ltd has created a hardware and software solution that through a mobile application allows each point, such as vending machine, gas station, shop, etc. to accept and process payments with both bank cards and cryptocurrency wallets. The device uses universal protocols enabling fast and easy connection with nearly any point of sale (including the generation and use of QR for payment purposes), and operators have telemetric data and reports at their disposals.
Mutiv BG Ltd has created the first ever liquid thermometer – a new type of solution for monitoring body temperature based on thermochomic crystals, which is applied directly on the skin via a roll-on. It follows temperature over long spells of time and remains present on the skin for up to 24 hours, changing its colour from red, through purple to pink depending on current body temperature level.
Serpact Ltd has created a process as well as digital instruments to optimise companies’ internet performance on web search engines. Based on machine learning, available digital data about products and services are analysed in order to raise sales. The tools utilise all key phrases and words of the user up to 16 months back, making comprehensive analysis possible. One of the tools identifies key revenue boosting words, which helps companies focus on them to increase their gains.
3 N 3 Ltd has developed a type of wall paint that, for 10 years after application, absorbs carbon dioxide in the painted premises and filters the air inside over several stages – during application, at the paint’s contact with air and through a bacterium that consumes carbon dioxide (this last stage is to undergo additional tests). The production process is also environmentally friendly, as the released carbon dioxide does not go into the atmosphere, but is captured and sold to companies that use it in their activities.
Health in Box Ltd offers vending machines and micro-markets supplied with carefully selected healthy foodstuffs. Each vending machine has a POS terminal for electronic proximity payments, and the micro-markets are operated based on self-handling and fully cashless payments. Thus, corporate servants and shared business space users can access high-quality healthy food and beverages.
Website of the 2021 Innovative Enterprise of the Year national contest
Media coverage (in Bulgarian)
All editions of the Innovative Enterprise of the Year national contest
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