Friday, 23 June, 2017

CeNS spin-off NanoTemper awarded title of Innovator of the Year

Company tops the Top 100 list / Innovation management and success of innovations praised / Award to be presented by Ranga Yogeshwar

 

The 24th Top 100 awards for the leading innovators among Germany's SMEs have been presented, and NanoTemper Technologies GmbH has taken the top spot. The Cens spin-off is the best in its class (companies with 51 to 200 employees). Science journalist and TV personality Ranga Yogeshwar, the competition mentor, presented the company with its award at the fourth German SME Summit on 23 June 2017 in Essen.

Clearly structured innovation processes, a fruitful climate for innovation and exceptional success in bringing innovations to market are what characterise the Top 100 companies. And close collaboration with external partners and customers are an integral part of their day-to-day business. In a high-class field, NanoTemper demonstrated some exceptional qualities that helped it scoop first place.

NanoTemper employs 125 people, and develops and produces biophysical laboratory measuring devices for fundamental research and the development of active agents. One of the unique selling points of the Munich-based company is its groundbreaking proprietary technology, which is protected by international patents and can significantly accelerate the identification of biomolecular properties in research and development contexts. Average testing times can be reduced from 144 hours to a mere 1.5 hours, for example. In addition, the amount of material required for the tests is 40 times less than the standard amount. Pharmaceutical companies can save some three months' development time at an early stage.

Explaining the reasons for their decision, the panel of judges said: "NanoTemper, which was only founded in 2008, has succeeded in bringing its innovation to successful fruition on the market. The manner in which it has achieved this has been impressive: its first product was sold in 2010, and the company has since recorded an average annual growth rate of 60 per cent. NanoTemper Technologies appears regularly in lists of Germany's fastest growing companies. Besides the remarkable success of its innovations, the excellent climate of innovation within the company impressed the TOP 100 judges. Most of its employees have an academic background and seem driven by a 'natural' spirit of research and discovery."

Statistics reveal the special status of the top innovators: this year, they include 101 German market leaders and 26 global market leaders. In the last three years, these SMEs have together applied for a total of 1,226 German and international patents. Their revenue growth over the previous five years was 20 percentage points higher than the average for their industries. The proportion of their revenue attributable to innovative improvements and products new to the market was 38 per cent. And their strong position is also driving employment, as they are expected to create around 9,500 new jobs by 2018.

The Top 100 competition
Since 1993, compamedia has been awarding the Top 100 seal of approval to SMEs with a particular ability to innovate and above-average success rates for innovations. Professor Nikolaus Franke has coordinated the project since 2002. He is the founder and director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration and a visiting professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is one of the world's leading innovation researchers and has won 18 science awards and published over 200 articles. The Top 100 is mentored by science journalist and television presenter Ranga Yogeshwar and organised in partnership with the Fraunhofer Society for the Promotion of Applied Research and the German Association for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (BVMW). Media support for the company benchmarking competition is provided by manager magazin. Further information is available at www.top100-germany.com.