Entrepreneurial ecosystem is a term that has become widespread among researchers in the last 30 years. It represents a set of participants in the business environment that interact with each other in a certain geographical area, and the conditions that ensure the creation of enterprises and their development. In different sources, researchers distinguish different components of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Within the framework of the project "Multidimensional assessment and development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem at national and regional level in order to boost the SME sector in the Republic of Moldova", the authors study the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the Republic of Moldova, highlighting innovation as a separate component. A survey of entrepreneurs carried out within the framework of the project made it possible to assess the perception of the impact of this component on business development, as well as its change over two years. The results of the survey showed that although entrepreneurs still face many problems in the process of developing and implementing innovations, they consider innovation to be more of an incentive for the successful business development in the Republic of Moldova.