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Europe spends less of its GDP on research and development than the U.S., Japan, or China. Its R&D intensity has held at roughly 2.1% for years, compared with 3.45% in the U.S. and Japan and 2.6% in China. Yet the continent continues to punch above its weight, generating world-class ideas and breakthroughs: the European Patent Office logged a record number of patent applications last year.
Fortune’s Europe’s Most Innovative Companies ranking, now in its second year and produced in partnership with Statista, showcases the businesses helping drive that performance. The list spans 300 companies across 18 countries and 21 industries, highlighting organizations that are pushing boundaries in fields ranging from healthcare and manufacturing to telecommunications, retail, and financial services. Each was evaluated across three dimensions of innovation: product, process, and culture.
Together, the ranking paints a picture of a continent defined by deep industrial expertise, fresh ambition, and a capacity to reinvent itself. At a moment of rapid technological and economic change, these companies are helping shape Europe’s future.
Europe isn’t winning the AI race, but it’s powering it
Europe may lag behind the U.S. and China across much of the tech landscape, but it has assembled a formidable semiconductor ecosystem.
ASML tops this year’s ranking. Behind the glass walls of the Dutch company’s cleanrooms, white-coated engineers work with machines precise enough to print features just a few nanometers wide onto silicon, pushing the boundaries of how the world’s most advanced semiconductor chips are built.
ASML is pushing the AI race forward with two breakthrough innovations. The first is the Twinscan XT:260, a specialized tool built for advanced chip packaging. The second is its High-NA EUV systems, machines that act like ultra-fine laser pencils, printing microscopic chip features that let tech giants pack record-breaking processing power onto a single silicon wafer.
The list also includes Infineon Technologies, NXP Semiconductors, ASM International, STMicroelectronics and Austria’s Ams-Osram.
Rather than trying to match the U.S. or China in large-scale chip manufacturing, Europe is doubling down on the areas where it already holds a competitive edge, chief among them ASML’s near-monopoly on advanced lithography equipment. This strategy is shaping the EU’s industrial policy. Under the proposed Chips Act 2.0, Brussels aims to strengthen Europe’s semiconductor ecosystem as part of a broader push to boost investment in chips, AI, cloud computing, and digital infrastructure.
Lasting legacies
The defining characteristic of this year’s ranking may be its longevity. Many of Europe’s most innovative companies are among its oldest.
In 1665, a French glassmaker was commissioned by Louis XIV to produce mirrors for the French crown, including those in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. That company, Saint-Gobain, has since remade itself as a leader in sustainable construction materials and now ranks 35th on the list.
Plenty of other companies were founded not in the last decade, but in the last century or, in a handful of remarkable cases, the century before. Siemens was founded in 1847 and Rolls-Royce in 1904. In comparison, of the U.S businesses founded since 1994, only one-third survived a full decade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The list spans 300 companies across 18 countries and 21 industries, highlighting organizations that are pushing boundaries in fields ranging from healthcare and manufacturing to telecommunications, retail, and financial services. Each was evaluated across three dimensions of innovation: product, process, and culture
Michelin, new to the list this year and already cracking the top 10, was founded in 1832 but was reincorporated as Michelin and a tire company in 1889. Its breakthrough removable pneumatic tire carried Charles Terront to victory in the world’s first long-distance cycle race in 1891. Today, Michelin is applying that same materials expertise to developing airless Moon boots for the next Lunar Rover.
Nokia’s story is also one of reinvention. Ranking 22nd on the list, it started in 1865 as a paper mill before transitioning into rubber product manufacturing, cables and mobile phones, and today builds the 5G networks underpinning the digital economy. Its 160-year run suggests that the secret to longevity isn’t clinging to a successful business model, it’s knowing when to abandon one.
Germany’s industrial machine keeps delivering
If semiconductors are Europe’s technological backbone, Germany remains its industrial engine room. The country has more companies on the list than any other (a total of 56) with leaders spanning technology, automotive, engineering, and pharmaceuticals.
Stuttgart-headquartered Bosch has been reinventing itself since it was founded in 1886, expanding from its automotive roots into artificial intelligence and hydrogen technology. Its fuel-cell power module for heavy-duty transport, essentially an engine for zero-emission hydrogen trucks, recently won Germany’s Future Prize for Technology and Innovation, one of the country’s most prestigious engineering honors.
Germany’s economic model traditionally prioritized long-term investment over quick wins, contributing to to this innovative streak. Its network of Mittelstand firms (SMEs) and its dual system of vocational education and apprenticeships have produced a deep pool of skilled engineering talent, contributing to the region’s global competitiveness in highly specialized industries, from precision engineering to advanced chemicals.
While the country faces increasing pressure from labor shortages and rising energy costs, Germany’s industrial champions are adapting these traditional strengths to the digital age.
Siemens, ranked 11th on the list is a pioneer of smart manufacturing, integrating AI, automation, and digital technologies into its factory operations. The group recently launched its Digital Twin Composer, a tool that builds photorealistic virtual replicas of physical environments, letting engineers test designs before they ever leave the screen, cutting down on the physical prototyping that German manufacturers can least afford right now.
Building better businesses from the inside out
It’s easy to focus on what Europe builds, but just as important is how it builds. Some 28 companies, including Adidas, Ingka Group, Heineken, Lufthansa, Richemont, Celonis, Babbel, and Kirkbi (Lego), made the list for building innovative cultures.
Adidas encourages designers and engineers to work together through cross-functional hackathons. It’s an approach that has paid off. This year, it introduced the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 running shoe, which is lighter, grippier and more cushioned to help athletes run faster. Two runners recently completed sub-two-hour marathons while wearing them.
Also on the list is Ingka Group, the Dutch-headquartered company behind Ikea’s global retail business. It’s currently training roughly 30,000 employees and 500 leaders in AI literacy in an attempt to ensure AI augments, rather than replaces, the workforce.
Europe may not dominate the tech race, but this year’s list proves it keeps producing the companies everyone else relies on. From the machines that make AI chips to the factories, networks, and materials powering the global economy.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
