Graphenea has received the Innovative Company award at Donostia Innovation Week!

Innovation Week is an annual event that promotes the efforts of the regional government in supporting innovation. The government provides support through economic contribution, valuable knowledge workshops, events aimed at supporting local business, and diffusion in the market and promotion through communities and networks. The economic contribution in particular is elaborate, with a set of grants related to the creation of employment, technical and technological development of products and/or services, implementation of strategic projects, incorporation of personnel with talent and development of activity in foreign markets.

The Donostia INN awards are now in their third year, supported by the Mayor’s Office of San Sebastian Donostia. Graphenea received an award in the category of young companies, for its innovative work, its global approach and its connection with the city. The awards were presented on Thursday, October 25, as part of Innovation Week. Amaia Zurutuza, Scientific Director, and Iñigo Charola, Director of Business Development were presented the prize on behalf of Graphenea.

The young company category represents recently created businesses that develop their activity from San Sebastian in a successful way in emerging sectors, with a high global projection, and that represent the business model of the future, with strong employment of talent and a technological foundation. The criteria for the prize were commitment to innovation, impact, global approach, and connection to the city.

Iñigo Charola and Amaia Zurutuza receive the award for Graphenea. Standing to the left of Amaia is Afonso Gurpegui, city councillor.

Graphenea, founded in 2010, has become one of the largest suppliers of graphene in the world. It employs 24 people and exports graphene materials to 60 countries. It supplies its products to global operations for universities, research centers and industries. Graphenea is part of a growing group of nanotechnology companies that emerged at the nanotechnology research center, CIC nanoGune. The company’s research capacity and ability to follow the progress of graphene science and technology has enabled Graphenea to become the largest graphene supplier in the Graphene Flagship, a ten-year, EUR 1 billion European Commission project. The company maintains a close relationship with world-leading, regularly publishing scientific articles of the highest level.

The deputy mayor, Ernesto Gasco, remarked that "Graphenea, with 24 employees dedicated to the design and production of graphene in different formats, offers the city high-value employment opportunities, thus favoring the attractiveness of Donostia for attraction and return of talent. It also has the endorsement of the European Union as a highly innovative company, with the granting of aid worth one million euros through the SME instrument, in addition to attracting the interest of private investors.”

The commitment to innovation is one of the elements that have characterized San Sebastián throughout its recent history. The city has an entrepreneurial capacity, both in the private sector and in the public sector, which has allowed it to become a model of economic and social development. In this model, the work of companies and entrepreneurs who have promoted projects in this city in different sectors is key.