Wittenberg/Germany, 19 June 2020 – Tesvolt, the manufacturer of electricity storage systems for trade and industry, has today been named “Top Innovator of the Year” in the TOP 100 competition. It secured first place in its size category in this leading innovation contest for German small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In addition to the young company’s rapid growth and agile organisational form, the 31-member jury was also impressed by the innovative technology that underpins Tesvolt storage systems. This was the competition’s 27th instalment.
“Germany lives on innovation. From a global perspective, Germany is a highly innovative country. But we must work to ensure that this remains the case and that we constantly reinvent ourselves. The key to these efforts are SMEs, which are the driver of our economy – and therefore the foundation of our prosperity,” says Ranga Yogeshwar, TOP 100 mentor. “Tesvolt has leapt into the ranks of the top innovators for 2020 – and did so with its first entry in the competition.”
Scientific selection procedure
TOP 100 honours businesses for their successful innovation, examining every stage of the innovation process as well as the climate of innovation and the extent to which management promote innovation. In total, the jury considers 120 parameters when selecting the winners. The panel is made up of experts from business, academia, the media and politics – including consultant Roland Berger and politician Gregor Gysi, for example – and selects an “Innovator of the Year” in each of the three size categories. The competition is led by Nikolaus Franke from the Vienna University of Economics and Business, one of the world’s leading innovation researchers.
Impressive company growth
In explaining its verdict, the jury said: “The founders of Tesvolt were quick to recognise the demand for powerful energy storage systems in commercial and agricultural applications, and they developed the first prototypes literally in their garage. Tesvolt has now moved to series production at Europe’s first gigafactory for commercial storage systems. Over 1,000 customers worldwide are now using the patented energy storage systems – impressive company growth within a few short years.”
Technological USP
The jury was also impressed by the intelligent battery management system developed by Tesvolt’s engineers, which delivers exceptionally high efficiency of over 92% and a long expected lifetime of 30 years. “With this Tesvolt has achieved a technological USP in the marketplace,” the jury’s statement continued.
A climate of innovation at the company
Two years ago, Tesvolt opted for an agile organisational form. Since then, the company has dispensed with a bottleneck of managerial staff so that all decisions are now taken as a team. This allows each individual to maximise their contribution and unleash their potential without restrictions. The jury takes the view that “this unusual organisational form allows for a high degree of innovation.”
“We’re incredibly proud to have won this demanding competition! Our agile organisation means that all of our staff ultimately contributed to this victory. The success of Tesvolt is based on the commitment of every single individual, and I would like to thank the entire team for their efforts,” explains Daniel Hannemann, CEO and co-founder of Tesvolt. “But it is not simply a desire to innovate that motivates us.
Rather, we’re driven by the vision of bringing affordable, clean energy to every corner of the world with the help of efficient storage technologies – and innovation is the foundation for doing so.”
About TOP 100
In 1993, compamedia began awarding the TOP 100 seal of approval in recognition of exceptional innovation and outstanding innovative success in SMEs. Since 2002, scientific management of the award has been in the hands of Prof Nikolaus Franke, who is the founder and Director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. The mentor for TOP 100 is the science journalist Ranga Yogeshwar, and the project’s partners are the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (Fraunhofer Society for the Advancement of Applied Research) and the BVMW (German Association for Small and Medium-sized Businesses).
TESVOLT AG is a leading European full-service provider of innovative energy storage system solutions for commerce and industry. We are driving the energy transition and empowering companies with free, decentralised energy use and profitable electricity trading. We combine advanced battery storage technology with intelligent software and a flexible retail strategy - for maximum cost efficiency and data security made in Germany. Our solutions liberate companies from fossil fuels and economic constraints. We manufacture the commercial storage system solutions in series production in a carbon-neutral gigafactory at our headquarters in Lutherstadt Wittenberg.
TESVOLT was founded in 2014. The group includes the subsidiary TESVOLT Energy GmbH, which enables profitable energy trading for commerce and industry, and the joint venture TESVOLT OCEAN GmbH, which provides maritime shipping companies with high-performance battery storage solutions for challenging conditions at sea.
Ingo Valldorf
Corporate & Financial Communications
Phone: +49 3491 8797-234
E-mail: ingo.valldorf@tesvolt.com
by Cicero Design
German