Bonn, Germany — As of July 1st, 2020, Frank Henningsen has taken over the CEO position at HYPE Innovation from his co-founder Enno Scholz, allowing Enno to take a 12-month break from work and to focus on parenting.
Frank and Enno founded the company in 2001 and have been leading it together ever since. During this period, the company grew to its current size of approximately 120 employees. HYPE Innovation supports its 230+ corporate clients around the world with software and services for innovation management.
Since the introduction of its flagship product HYPE Enterprise in 2004, the company has grown its revenues every year for 15 years in a row, at a clip of 21% annually. In the first half of 2020, despite the effects of the Corona pandemic, HYPE Innovation continued to be profitable, and its revenues and order entry hit new all-time highs, with order entry growing by 22% year over year.
Dr. Frank Henningsen (Co-Founder of HYPE Innovation): “It’s a real pity that Enno is stepping down. I would have liked to continue with him in the current setup, which has worked so well for so many years. But as a friend, I respect his reasons. I can rely on a strong management team and I am looking forward to working with them closely. Ralf Pollack, HYPE’s CFO of seven years, has joined me as managing director of HYPE in the role of COO. Dr. Dirk Räbiger (with HYPE since 2007) has stepped up into the CTO role. HYPE alumnus Tim Woods (with HYPE from 2011-2017) will rejoin HYPE on October 1st in the role of VP Product. And last but not least, with Colin Nelson (Chief Consulting Officer), Anne Knipp (VP Professional Services) and Armin Wehn (VP Sales), key management positions are held by managers who each have approximately a decade of experience at HYPE."
Dr. Enno Scholz (Co-Founder of HYPE Innovation): “I am extremely grateful to Frank, my Flensburg high-school friend of more than 40 years, and to Sven van Berge Henegouwen, with whom I built up a lot of trust over the last six years, that together we managed to engineer a transition that works for all HYPE’s stakeholders and ensures that HYPE will continue to be a unique workplace for its employees, and a leader in the space of innovation management.”
Sven van Berge Henegouwen (Partner at Main Capital): “Given HYPE’s continued growth and profitability, the strength of its recent product releases, and the promising pipeline of add-on acquisitions, I am very confident that HYPE will continue to thrive under Frank’s leadership. We at Main Capital will continue to support HYPE’s growth momentum.”
Note for the editor:
For more information, please contact:
Michel Meisterjahn (Director of Marketing)
HYPE Innovation, Trierer Str. 70-72, 53115 Bonn
Tel: +49 228 2276 0
michel.meisterjahn@hype.de
www.hypeinnovation.com