Überlingen/Frankfurt am Main – Congratulations to the innovation elite: Ranga Yogeshwar congratulated this year’s TOP 100 innovators on their success in the innovation competition at the German SME Summit on Friday, June 24. The science journalist accompanied the competition as a mentor. At the Jahrhunderthalle in Frankfurt am Main, all medium-sized companies that have carried the TOP 100 2022 seal since the beginning of the year gathered for the award ceremony. We at tmax are also among the TOP 100 most innovative companies for the second time in a row.
This year, a total of 436 companies applied for the TOP 100 innovators seal of innovation in a scientific selection process. 294 were successful and now received personal congratulations from Ranga Yogeshwar at the Summit. The latter points out the role model function of the award winners: “Innovators are thought leaders, but they are always also trailblazers,” says Yogeshwar. “They are putting their products to the test and asking themselves what demands an ecological society and a climate-friendly world will make. And they are examining what opportunities and challenges increasing digitization will bring for forms of cooperation, social relationships and thus also for employee retention.”
During the competition, Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Franke and his team assessed the innovative strength of the applicants on the basis of more than 100 performance indicators in five categories. For the researchers, it is particularly important whether a company’s innovations are just a random product or are systematically planned and thus repeatable in the future (for more information on the test criteria, see TOP 100 Innovation Competition – Test Criteria). To ensure that all participants have the same opportunities, the TOP 100 Innovators seal is awarded in three size categories based on the number of employees: up to 50 employees, 51 to 200 employees and finally more than 200 employees.
Various key figures demonstrate the innovative strength of the 294 TOP 100 innovators. For example, they generated 39 percent of their sales with market novelties or innovative improvements. 80 percent of the award-winning SMEs also carried out business model innovations – i.e. deliberately changed their business model – in the period from 2018 to 2020. The top innovators were granted 614 national patents and 2,357 international patents from 2018 to 2020. So much innovative spirit also has an impact on job creation: The award-winning companies intend to hire 18,500 new employees within three years. “These results and figures are an excellent testimony to the top innovators,” sums up Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Franke. “Those who have the ability to respond quickly and creatively will also be able to adapt more quickly and sustainably to changing circumstances.”
Since 1993, compamedia has been awarding the TOP 100 seal for special innovative strength and above-average innovation success to medium-sized companies. Since 2002, the scientific management has been in the hands of Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Franke. Franke is founder and director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. With 25 research awards and over 200 publications, he is one of the leading innovation researchers internationally. The mentor of the TOP 100 innovators is science journalist Ranga Yogeshwar. Project partners are the Fraunhofer Society for the Promotion of Applied Research and the BVMW association of small and medium-sized enterprises. The magazines manager magazin and impulse accompany the company comparison as media partners. More information under TOP 100 Innovation Competition.
