National Innovation Award

The State Prize for Innovation is the highest award of the Republic of Austria for companies that have already successfully enriched the market with pioneering products, processes, or services. In each federal state, regional innovation competitions identify outstanding projects, from which an expert jury nominates the best submissions and ultimately selects the winners. The aim of the award is to publicly recognize outstanding innovation and excellence and to effectively support the laureates in their marketing activities. The festive award ceremony also offers an excellent platform for media presence as well as a specially produced video portrait series about the awarded projects.

Eligible to participate are Austrian companies headquartered in the country whose innovation has been largely implemented and is already market-relevant. The jury evaluates based on the following criteria: Novelty (innovative achievement and intellectual property), Benefit (impact and problem-solving), entrepreneurial achievements (risk, development costs, innovation-friendly corporate culture), Market (opportunities and marketing concept), and Impact and societal effects (jobs, diversity, ecological and social contributions). Companies qualify exclusively through their participation in the respective regional innovation competition, from which up to three candidates per federal state are nominated. The award not only confers the highest state recognition but also sustainably increases market visibility and strengthens the innovation profile in the national and international environment.