In February 2012, Beneq received the Internationalization Award of the President of the Republic of Finland. The aim of the internationalization award is to promote company activities in an international environment and their ability to develop and implement new operating models. It is also intended to encourage the winning companies’ internationalization and that of other Finnish companies.

“One of the purposes of the Internationalization Award of the President of the Republic is to highlight concepts and business models as examples to other internationalizing Finnish companies and to encourage internationalization. Export is very important to Finnish well-being - after all, we are the most export-driven country in Europe. All of the recipients represent a high level of specialized Finnish competence and have shown strong internationalization,” says Finpro President and CEO Kari Häyrinen.

In December 2011, Beneq was named as a Red Herring Global Top 100 Winner. The Red Herring Global Top 100 prize is an award in recognition of the leading private companies from North America, Europe and Asia. The prize celebrates the innovations and technologies across their respective industries.

Red Herring’s Global 100 list has become a mark of distinction for identifying promising companies and entrepreneurs. Red Herring editors were among the first to recognize that companies such as Google, Skype, Baidu, YouTube and eBay would change the way we live and work.

"Choosing the best out of the previous two years was by no means a small feat," said Alex Vieux, Chairman of Red Herring. "After rigorous contemplation and discussion, we narrowed down our list from 1,100 potential companies to 100 winners.  It was an extremely difficult process.  Beneq should be extremely proud of its achievement, the competition for the Top 100 was fierce. The Top 100 Global are truly the best of the best."

Read the original news on the Red Herring homepages.

In November 2011, Beneq won the prize for Best of New Materials by the Global Cleantech Cluster Association. The prize is a token of acknowledgement given for excellence in the cleantech industry for innovative coating technology and green job creation.

Winning the GCCA Later Stage Award for New Materials demonstrates the significant success of Beneq in the growing cleantech industry and validates its innovative coating equipment and technology as a leader in the New Materials sector.

“Our Top 10 winners are truly the best in class and companies to watch,” says Ben Taube, Chairman of the GCCA. “In each category, these companies are making both broad strides in their global industries as well as working closely with their regional cleantech clusters to build sustainable green economies and jobs. We are thrilled to name them the GCCA Global Top 10 for 2011.”

The GCCA Later Stage Award Top 10 winners were selected from an original pool of 4000 eligible companies represented by the GCCA’s 33 member clusters. Each cluster nominated up to 10 companies in 10 award categories. In total, 185 companies were nominated for the 2011 Later Stage Award. That number was later narrowed down to the Global Top 30 semi-finalists and to the final Top 10 winners. Head Judge Dr Peter Adriaens of the University of Michigan and CleanTech Acceleration Partners lead the evaluation process along with 28 leading venture capital investors and cleantech serial entrepreneurs. A full list of all the GCCA Later Stage Award 2011 Global Top 10 winners can be found at the GCCA website (below).

Click here for the GCCA website.

In October 2011, Beneq was presented with the Millennium Distinction Award, which is an accolade presented by Technology Academy Finland (TAF) to Finnish scientists and growth companies for outstanding technological achievements in the field of the most recent Millennium Technology Prize Winner.

The 2010 Millennium Technology Prize was won by Professor Michael Grätzel for his invention of dye-sensitized solar cells, and hence, the 2011 Millennium Distinction Awards were presented to scientists and companies working in the solar energy sector.

The Millennium Distinction Awards celebrate Finnish innovations and technological achievements. The selection process involves several criteria including pioneering work in research or business activities, distinguished contributions to higher education and significant achievements in the commercialization of innovations based on new technologies.

Ainomaija Haarla, President and CEO of Technology Academy Finland comments: “The selection committee analyzed information on both researchers and companies from all over Finland, and I was happy to discover that there were so many good candidates. The winners represent a true cross-section of expertise in Finland’s solar energy sector.”

Read the original news on the Technology Academy Finland homepages.

The program for funding for young innovative growth companies (YIC), established by Tekes, aims to accelerate growth and internationalization of the most promising young companies. Funding is granted in phases and may add up to one million euros per enterprise, if certain milestones are achieved. Accomplishing all the phases is a definite sign of excellence and a top management team capable of conquering new markets and efficiently executing a business plan. Companies reaching the top of the funding pyramid are capable of attracting private investments and are likely to be an interesting investment target for international investors.

Beneq was one of the first two companies ever to finalize the YIC funding. For these forerunners it has taken, on average, two and a half years to complete the funding. These Champions are encouraging examples for the future start-ups innovating new, internationally competitive products or service concepts.

Tekes - the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, is the main public funding organization for research, development and innovation in Finland.

In November 2010, Beneq was acknowledged by Deloitte’s Finnish Technology Fast 50 program. The program is a ranking of the country's 50 fastest-growing technology companies based on percentage revenue growth over a five-year period. The Technology Fast 50 program, which is part of Deloitte Technology, Media &  Telecommunications, was established in 1995 and ranks the 50 fastest growing technology companies by geographic region. The program operates independently today in 18 countries and one region. This year was the sixth time the competition was arranged in Finland. Of all participants in the ranking, Beneq came in tenth with a growth percentage of 1090%.

Read the original news on Deloitte’s homepages (in Finnish).
 

In June 2010, the European Tech Tour announced the 30 selected companies of the Nordic Tech Tour 2010. The finalists represent the region's most promising, high-growth, early- and expansion-stage technology companies. The 30 companies - all of them based or incubated in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Iceland and Baltic countries - were chosen from a pool of over 500 companies. The selection was based on detailed reviews by the Nordic Tech Tour's Selection Committee in a four month process, comprising of 30 senior global venture capital and technology industry leaders. The Nordic Tech Tour 2010 finalists span several technology sectors, including new materials, semiconductors, nanotechnology, electrical devices, telecommunications & mobility, enterprise software, internet & media, IT system software, medical devices & IT and cleantech.

The European Tech Tour Association (ETT) was founded in Geneva in 1998 in response to the growing interest in emerging technology companies in various European regions. ETT is an independent, not-for-profit organisation composed of key contributors to the high technology industry. The Association recognises that continued prosperity in Europe lies in its ability to transform today's innovative projects into tomorrow's global technology leaders.
(read ETT press pack)

In May 2010, Beneq was awarded the prestigious Nanotech Finland Award in the category for Best Business Potential. Beneq CEO Mr Sampo Ahonen received the award on Tuesday, May 4^th, at the final seminar of Finland´s nanotech initiative FinNano.

In the words of the prize committee: "Beneq Oy is, internationally speaking, the most successful nanotechnology company in Finland. Beneq manufactures and develops industrial coating equipment and technologies for the needs of industry. Coating application areas are especially in the fields of solar energy, flat glass, medical, printed and flexible electronics, and lighting solutions.

The success of Beneq is based on high-quality competence in atomic layer deposition (ALD) and the aerosol technology patented by the company. Beneq has built successful international business operations, and the company’s production is primarily exported to Europe, Asia and the United States. The company’s mission is to grow into a globally significant solution provider of equipment and technology for demanding industrial applications within its customer industries. Beneq has already been selected for the list of leading Nordic cleantech companies."

Beneq CEO Sampo Ahonen comments on the prize: "Beneq is naturally honored to have been acknowledged in this way. One must bear in mind, however, that a prize of this kind is an acknowledgement addressed to the entire community within and surrounding Beneq. With this I mean Beneq staff, our partners and collaborators, without whose input we would not be where we are today. For this community, this prize is truly rewarding and encouraging, especially for the activities that lie ahead."

In October 2009, Senior Technology Advisor Markku Rajala from Beneq was presented with the 2009 Fine Particle Forum Award from the Fine Particle Forum of Finland. The award was presented at the Fine Particle Forum Seminar on 27 October. In the words of the prize board: "Mr Rajala is one of the pioneers of the Finnish fine particle network, which connects academic and industrial experts working to advance aerosol, materials, and design knowledge in Finland, as well as internationally. As senior technology advisor, Mr Rajala has a key expert role, scaling up Beneq- patented aerosol-based nHALO^® and nAERO^® technologies for industrial solar power and other applications."
(read the original article, in Finnish)

In April 2009, Beneq was nominated as one of the 50 most promising Cleantech Companies in the Nordic market by the Cleantech Group, LLC and Cleantech Scandinavia, the leading Nordic network of investors in cleantech. In the words of the selecting body: "Despite challenging economic conditions and inevitable market pullback, the companies selected as the 50 for this inaugural report demonstrated the potential and likelihood to achieve high growth and high market impact. Selected from 145 nominations, the final 50 companies were chosen from a range of seed/pre-revenue and growth companies from all Nordic countries, representing all cleantech segments."

Beneq provides solutions for cleantech and renewable energy in glass coatings, photovoltaics and thin films for industrial applications using Beneq proprietary aerosol coating and atomic layer deposition (ALD).

In April 2008, Beneq participated in the St. Petersburg Technical Fair at LenExpo in St. Petersburg, Russia. During the fair, the Scientific and Technical Committee of the St. Petersburg Government, the Federal State and the exhibition association RESTEC conducted its annual contest of "The best innovative project in the field of metallurgy and machinery industry". The aim of the contest is to activate industrial companies in the field of innovative technologies, present the most promising projects and development in machinery industries and provide assistance in promoting local and foreign markets.

Of a total of ten different categories, the Beneq TFS 500 Thin Film System for atomic layer deposition won the first prize for "New high-tech equipment development and high-end technology". The prestigious and appreciated diploma with following gold medal was presented to the Zelenograd-based local representative of Beneq, NPO QuintTech, Ltd.

In January 2008, Beneq won the second national Future Winners- competition, which aims to single out the most potential and successful young growth company in Finland. The competition is arranged by Helsingin Sanomat, the largest daily newspaper in Finland.

In the first phase of the competition, Finnish venture capital investors and other professionals working with and knowing young growth companies, were asked to name the most potential growth companies, with the restriction that they were not allowed to name a company in their own investment portfolio. A total of 160 companies were listed in the answers and the ten companies having the most mentionings were published and presented in the newspaper.

The final round between the ten companies was organized as a show of multiple corporate presentations open to the public. The jury, consisting of six students from Helsinki University of Technology, Helsinki School of Economics and the University of Art and Design Helsinki, unanimously elected Beneq winner of the competition. In their comments, the jury was especially impressed by the story and background of Beneq, including the international focus and targeted growth.

Beneq management was overwhelmed by the award, but was sure to emphasize the importance of highly skilled and motivated personnel behind the success. Also, the necessity of openness and networking was emphasized.
(read original article, in Finnish)