Wuppertal, July 2024 – Last Friday, Nexaro GmbH was honored at the German SME Summit in Weimar: Ranga Yogeshwar congratulated the Wuppertal-based tech start-up on being awarded the TOP 100 seal. For more than three decades, the TOP 100 seal has been one of the highest distinctions honoring innovative strength in German SMEs. Throughout the scientific selection process, Nexaro impressed in the size class up to 50 employees, particularly in the category "Innovative Success".
"Top innovators want to shape the future, not preserve the past. They are moving forward full steam ahead," says Ranga Yogeshwar, science journalist and mentor of the innovation competition, which this year celebrates its 31st anniversary.
In view of the far-reaching changes in the field of commercial building cleaning and the increasing pressure on margins, higher wages and a growing shortage of skilled workers, autonomous solutions are becoming increasingly relevant. This is exactly where Nexaro comes in with its cobotic system solution, which aims to create true collaboration between people and the most advanced autonomous robot technology in the professional cleaning industry: "The most significant challenges in the cleaning industry can only be overcome through innovative and forward-looking approaches. We share this vision with the TOP 100 jury, which is why we are very honored to have been recognized as a TOP 100 Innovator. This is also proof of our innovative strength," adds Dr. Henning Hayn, General Manager at Nexaro.
Image: KD Busch / compamedia
IIn honor of the award, the TOP 100 company profile published the following about Nexaro:
"The Wuppertal experts developed their collaborative vacuum robot based on the lean start-up method and as a spin-off from vacuum cleaner manufacturer Vorwerk. Among other things, they used the design thinking method and boldly relied on the Pareto principle."
TOP 100: the competition
Earlier this year, the award-winning companies already received the TOP 100 seal. The innovative management and success of the applicants were examined based on more than 100 criteria, divided into five categories. At its core, quantifying innovation seeks to determine whether these innovations are the result of a planned approach and can therefore be repeated, and also whether an innovation is successful on the market. Since 1993, compamedia has been awarding the TOP 100 seal to SMEs for exceptional innovative strength and above-average innovative success. Since 2002, scientific management has been in the hands of Prof. Dr. Nicholas Franke. He is the founder and director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. With 26 research awards and over 200 publications under his belt, he is one of the leading innovation researchers worldwide. The TOP 100's mentor is science journalist Ranga Yogeshwar. Project partners are the Fraunhofer Society for the Promotion of Applied Research and the SME association BVMW. Magazine manager magazin and impulse follow the competition every step of the way as media partners; ZEIT für Unternehmer is a cooperation partner. More information and to register at www.top100.de.
The Cobotic Approach
The holistic cobotic system solution from Nexaro, consisting of the autonomous robot vacuum cleaner Nexaro NR 1500 and the associated Nexaro HUB software, epitomizes real collaboration between humans and the most modern, autonomous robot technology. The decisive factor for this approach is the increase in efficiency and quality while reducing costs at the same time. The flexible use of robot vacuum cleaners significantly reduces the burden on cleaning staff in their everyday work. This is achieved by eliminating the particularly strenuous dry cleaning of floors and work during off-peak times – especially at night. This will also upgrade the professional profile of a cleaning specialist.
About Nexaro
Nexaro is a start-up from Wuppertal, Germany, and part of the Vorwerk Group, which has been guaranteeing the highest quality since 1883 – and today is a globally active group with a turnover of €3.2 billion turnover and 9,394 employees in more than 60 countries (as of: Annual Report 2022). As an independent company within the Vorwerk Group, Nexaro benefits, on the one hand, from the mutual transfer of knowledge and technology and, on the other hand, has the necessary freedom to develop its business model and become a driving force in the cleaning industry with the innovative Nexaro cobotic approach. Intensive research and development work as well as collaborations with leading companies in the industry have enabled the autonomous robot vacuum cleaner Nexaro NR 1500 and the associated software solution, Nexaro HUB, to be developed. In addition to focusing on the highest quality, other priorities for Nexaro are the topics of data security and sustainability.