Germany's Most Innovative SMEs Receive Award

TOP 100 competition honours leading innovators among German small and mid-sized companies ('Mittelstand')

UBERLINGEN,Germany,June 20,2020 --On 19 June,5.30 pm CET,Germany's most innovative SMEs have received the TOP 100 award as leading innovators. The award winners were chosen using a scientific process as part of the 27th edition of the TOP 100 competition. The competition focusses on how companies manage innovation and how successful their innovation work is.

A total of 364companies took part in the competition,257were successful across the three size categories (no more than 100 companies per size category). They managed to win over Professor Nikolaus Franke,an innovation researcher who is responsible for reviewing and selecting the companies on behalf of compamedia GmbH: "The TOP 100 winners have produced some remarkable innovations,because they maintain a firm focus on their ability to innovate."

The TOP 100 applicants were assessed on the basis of around 120criteria. These included explaining how their innovation processes are organised and how they create a working environment that enables their employees to be creative (see www.top100-germany.com/test-criteriafor further information).

Some of the key figures show the outstanding performance of the TOP 100: The winning companies' revenue growth is 22.7percentage points above the industry average. They generate 36.8percent of their revenue from new products or innovative enhancements. Between 2016 and 2018,the TOP 100 winners were granted a total of 4,584 patents.

For a list of the TOP 100 companies in 2020,visit www.top100.de/die-top-innovatoren.

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. Since 2002,Professor Nikolaus Franke has been coordinating the project scientifically on behalf of compamedia. He is the founder and director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. The TOP 100 is mentored by science journalist Ranga Yogeshwar. The three size categories are defined by the number of employees: up to 50,51 to 200,and over 200.

Contact compamedia GmbH

Sven Kamerar

Head of Corporate Communications

Phone: +49-(0)7551-9498-633

Mail: presse@compamedia.de

www.top100.de