SEB opened an innovation centre for businesses

Today, on 18 April, SEB opened an innovation centre for Estonian businesses, in Tallinn. The purpose of the centre is to help enterprises to grow their business and raise their competitiveness, thereby fostering faster economic growth in Estonia.

At the heart of the innovation centre is a special growth programme, which helps enterprises to take a step forward in their business within a period of only three to six months. SEB’s objective is to bring the globally proven work methods used by start-ups to traditional companies and implement innovation at a rate that is several times faster than what is currently taking place. The first group, more than ten enterprises, has already started the programme.

Allan Parik, Chairman of the Management Board of SEB: “The expectation that the standard of living in Estonia would catch up with that of other European countries can only be realised when our economic growth is among the highest in Europe. Over the past few years we have lagged far behind Europe’s leaders, and if this continues we will never achieve the hoped for standard of living. SEB has taken a proactive role in enlivening the business environment, and our innovation centre – the first of its kind – has a special programme aiming at helping businesses to increase their profitability and grow quicker. Hopefully SEB’s innovation centre will not be the only one, but other ambitious enterprises will also create similar opportunities for helping themselves and their clients move forward—this way our economic growth would not come from a few top players, but a broad-based circle of entrepreneurs.”

At the round table held during the grand opening of the innovation centre, speakers pointed out problem areas that prevent enterprises from achieving their potential. “Estonia has many enterprises with a turnover of EUR 4 to 10 million, who seem to have come up against a glass ceiling and are unable to grow. Traditional enterprises are afraid of making changes, as they are afraid that the clients would not come along with them. By thinking like start-ups, such traditional enterprises could break the glass ceiling and keep growing”, noted Heidi Kakko, Managing Director of the Estonian Business Angels Network EstBAN. Sander Aasna, Head of the Information Logistics Area at Omniva, cited lack of ambition as the company’s main problem. “Estonian companies must do things for the world and not for Estonia. A mindset that needs to be promoted among entrepreneurs is how to create a product or a service for the world and not only for the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian markets,” added Aasna.

More information about SEB’s innovation centre and its growth programme is available at www.seb.ee/innovatsioonikeskus

For more information:

Silver Vohu
Head of the Marketing and Communications Division
SEB Pank

phone 665 5393
mobile 521 1170
Address Tornimäe 2, 15010 Tallinn
e-mail silver.vohu@seb.ee