The gazelle is often portrayed as one of nature’s ‘underdog’ animals, usually the target of a lion or a cheetah. But gazelle is much more than that – it is a smart and adaptive animal, highly alert and sensitive to the presence of other animals and always on the watch. The human world and the animal kingdom share so many parallels – so many obstacles and predators, the need to adapt in order to survive. And to be successful these days, companies must be quick, creative, innovative – which is basically the description of a gazelle. No wonder the Slovenian Gazelle is an award presented to three fast growing companies in Slovenia.
The Slovenian Gazelle, an annual award for the fastest growing company in Slovenia, traces its origins back to 1991, the year Slovenia announced its independence. This recognition of business growth led to the Gazelle Project, launched in 2001 by the business weekly, Gospodarski vestnik (GV), with a view to stressing that fast growth and good entrepreneurial models are two most essential factors for Slovenia’s economy. Since then, three top ‘hot growth’ companies have been chosen among regional winners. By 2003, the Golden Gazelle Award had emerged as one of the most prestigious business prizes in Slovenia. Over the last 14 years, the Gazelles have become invincible in all respects, showing the importance of growth, innovation and survival instinct of Slovenian companies. The project not only features a list of 500 award-winners, but also provides a platform for all ambitious entrepreneurs who dare to realise their vision. All in all, a growing and dynamic economy!
Miha Vrbinc, Slovenian Gazelle about the Slovenian Gazelle 2017 event in CD Congress Centre Ljubljana: “The newspaper company Dnevnik rounded up the seventeen selection (this was the 119th event in a row), the selection of the best among the fastest growing companies in Slovenia. At the event at CD Congress Centre Ljubljana and in the full Linhart hall, we awarded the golden gazelle to the company Tehnos from Žalec. The statue of the golden gazelle was handed over to the director of the company Anton Kisovec, by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Miro Cerar. The silver gazelle was given to company Sitor from Pivka, and the bronze gazelle to Varis from Lendava. This year we had a particularly demanding task choosing the 6 finalists, since all the companies were really excellent and thus, they were quite equal in terms of selection criteria. This year we also prepared one regional event per week and thus we were able to devote more attention to the region and to the fast growing companies in it, while other media could also give more time and space to the successful stories of winning regional Gazelles. This year we have retained last year’s novelty by transferring regional events to the environment of school centres, further promoting even closer integration of young people and entrepreneurship. This year we paid additional attention to the transformation of short films that accompany events, namely presentations of companies, school centres, and partners and supporters of the Gazelle project”.
CD Congress Centre Ljubljana/Cankarjev dom is the venue for the most important cultural and business events in Slovenia, and it suitable that the awarding of “business Oscars” like Slovenian Gazelle are being called, takes place here. The prominence of the reception hall and the stage of the Linhart Hall are unique and you simply cannot experience and organize such a pleasant and prestigious event with such a large number of visitors. Miha Vrbinc
