TOP 100 Award: Ranga Yogeshwar celebrates Wibu-Systems

Lots of reason to cheer at the Deutsche Mittelstands Summit: Ranga Yogeshwar congratulated Wibu-Systems from Karlsruhe for the company’s successful bid for the TOP 100 Award. The award ceremony was hosted on 23 June as part of the summit proceedings in Augsburg and brought together representatives from all small to medium-sized companies that had been selected in the exclusive group of the top one hundred innovators. The popular science communicator works as a mentor for the coveted innovation award, now presented for the 30th time. The jury’s careful selection went with Wibu-Systems for its prowess in the “Innovation Success” category among companies employing between 51 and 200 members of staff.

For this anniversary edition of the TOP 100 award, no fewer than 550 companies had entered the competition – another record in the award’s history. 300 proud winners (one hundred companies each in three size categories) received the TOP 100 seal already at the start of the year. Wibu-Systems had a particularly strong performance, with its innovation management performance rated as A+, compared with a straight A for the average TOP 100 company. And that was not all: in three of the four categories, Wibu-Systems outperformed its peers.

At the German SME Summit, hosted at Augsburg’s Kongress am Park venue, Ranga Yogeshwar personally met and congratulated the top innovators of Germany’s fabled Mittelstand. “With the challenges we are facing today, the time has passed for the old keep-on-keeping-on mindset. We now need a completely new way of thinking: Sharpen up and dare to change! These TOP 100 companies have what it takes: They are small and nimble. They are decisive and responsive”, the science communicator said during his opening remarks. Their innovations benefit all of society, especially in the face of climate change and the exploitation of our world’s resources. Professor Nikolaus Franke, scientific director of the TOP 100 process, added: “Investing into innovations today means reaping rewards tomorrow. The top innovators understand that simple equation, and creating something new is in their system.”

For more than three decades, Wibu-Systems has been equipping its clients with the solutions they need to protect and license software. Since its foundation, the company has been committed to innovating and has invested heavily into research and development. Industry 4.0 and the digital revolution need a different approach to security than conventional software development: Wibu-Systems was quick to realize this fact and prepare effective and powerful solutions for their market. Companies across the economy can use the CodeMeter technology to encrypt their digital assets and create new business models that monetize software functionalities, perfectly tailored for the end user’s needs. Cutting-edge technologies like post-quantum cryptography, 3D printing, or artificial intelligence are just some of the many challenges of today’s digital world that the people of Wibu-Systems are already helping to protect. Winning the TOP 100 Award shows that Wibu-Systems walks the talk when it comes to getting innovations into the market that bring real added value for their users.

Oliver Winzenried, founder and CEO of Wibu-Systems, is excited about winning the company’s first TOP 100 Award: “Winning the award in the 'Innovation Success' category shows that we are on the right track and that our commitment to innovation is paying off. It is down to the creative ideas of our people and our cooperation with our partners and research institutions that we have managed to be part of the vanguard for innovations in our field. Innovations will continue to be a key part of what we do at Wibu-Systems. I loved the great atmosphere at the award ceremony and the change to meet and share insights with other innovation leaders at the Deutsche Mittelstands Summit.”