DIGITALEUROPE's Future Unicorn Award

Since 2018, the Future Unicorn Award stands as a beacon of excellence in Europe’s tech ecosystem. More than just a prize, it is a strategic initiative designed to showcase Europe’s future tech champions and elevate their voices within EU policy-making circles.

At DIGITALEUROPE, we have set a bold objective in our manifesto: to double the number of European unicorns by 2030. This award is pivotal in realising that vision, by providing a platform that propels companies into the next phase of growth and innovation. This year, the Future Unicorn Award will be presented on 20 February 2025 during our flagship event, Masters of Digital.

Awards

From 2025 onwards, the Future Unicorn Award recognises excellence through two distinct categories:

Future Unicorn Award: Celebrating European scale-ups with the potential to become the continent’s next unicorn. These companies are not only contributing to the digital economy but also redefining it with their innovation and rapid growth.

Dual-Use Technology Award: In collaboration with NATO and the DIANA Accelerator, this award highlights companies pioneering civilian technologies with dual-use potential in security and military contexts. This category also honors companies that have made significant contributions in Ukraine.

Eligibility & Selection Process

The Future Unicorn Award is conducted in collaboration with 41 National Trade Associations from across Europe. Participants must be nominated by these associations and be European tech companies in the scale-up phase, having grown by over 20% per year for at least three years.

To learn more about how the finalists and winners are chosen, watch this video:

Previous Winners

The Future Unicorn Award has celebrated companies that have revolutionised industries and expanded their global footprint. Notable winners include:

2024: Multiverse Computing (Spain) – Quantum computing.

2023: Red Points (Spain) – Cybersecurity.

2022: Circulor (UK) – Supply chain traceability.

2021: Oncompass Medicine (Hungary) – AI-driven healthcare solutions.

2020: Corti (Denmark) – AI-driven healthcare solutions.

2019: MaaS Global (Mobility, Finland), Teslasuit (Smart clothing, UK), and Umbraco (open sourceCMS, Denmark)

2018: AirFaas (Manufacturing, Finland), Deeper (Angling, Lithuania), and Plytix (data-driven digitalisation, Denmark)

Meet last year’s jury

The 2024 jury comprised some of the leaders in venture capital, innovation, and European institutions. Their expertise is crucial in identifying the tech leaders of tomorrow: