Düsseldorf/Bonn/Munich, 25th of March 2021
HYPE, one of the world’s leading providers of innovation & idea management solutions, has acquired INNOSPOT, a state-of-the-art, AI-based start-up scouting platform. Both teams are highly enthusiastic about the combination, which will allow customers to manage not only their internal innovation processes but also peek beyond the boundaries of the own organization and identify future leaders & emerging new technologies.
Founded in 2017, with headquarters in Munich, INNOSPOT has quickly evolved into one of the premier start-up discovery platforms worldwide. Based on a state-of-the-art, AI-driven scraping and interpretation system, the platform now covers around 550,000 active companies and identifies on average around 4,000 new start-ups per week. The start-up profiles are then enriched with information from their websites as well as a plethora of public & external data sources. Using a dynamic search engine, users can explore a variety of topics and find specific solutions from upcoming competitors or potential new partners. Next to its start-up discovery platform, INNOSPOT also offers individual start-up scouting services to clients. The company currently serves a diversified, Tier-1 client base across several industries such as Allianz, Beiersdorf, Siemens Healthineers, Audi and Linde.
Due to the shortening product lifecycles and the rapidly increasing globalization of supply chains, more and more companies are looking internationally for new technologies they are missing in-house. INNOSPOT’s extensive database and dynamic search engine provides a cost-efficient way for companies to scan the global market for promising new partners. The search results offer an easy-to-use overview in a range of topics and sub-segments, for instance in the areas of healthcare, food, cyber security, AI, sensoring, 3D-printing, batteries, blockchain, and many more.
Both HYPE and INNOSPOT as well as the majority shareholder Main Capital are very enthusiastic about the combination. The platform of INNOSPOT offers a natural extension to HYPE’s innovation management platform – in particular, we see a strong fit with HYPE’s Partnering solution, a cloud-based partner relationship tool. Scouting the best potential partners in certain segments early-on – before your competitors – provides a pragmatic way to add real value to customers. Of course, INNOSPOT customers will still have the option to use the platform stand-alone.
INNOSPOT marks the third strategic acquisition by HYPE after the combination with HLP in December 2020 and Viima earlier in March 2021. With close to €20 million in revenues and a team of 170+ employees, the HYPE Group has seen strong growth in recent months. All managers are still on board and are joint shareholders of the HYPE Group, working actively together to create the best-possible, modern, cloud-based innovation ecosystem for clients.
Partnership HYPE – INNOSPOT – Main Capital
Dr. Frank Henningsen (CEO of HYPE):
“All of us at HYPE are very excited to welcome INNOSPOT into our team. We have frequently received requests by customers for a start-up & technology scouting solution such as INNOSPOT. Thus, we are happy to join forces with Daniel, Josef, and the rest of the team to offer exactly these features in one integrated, cloud-based platform.”
Daniel Buschmann & Josef Seidl (Founders of INNOSPOT):
“The most innovative companies in the market have all learned to make use of both internal as well as external ideas to improve their products and offerings. Together with HYPE, we are now in an extraordinary position to provide a management tool for both of these sides to foster innovation on a larger scale. Frank and the rest of the HYPE team have made a strong impression on us and we are really excited to become part of the Group.”
Sven van Berge Henegouwen (Partner & Head of DACH at Main Capital Partners):
“In all of the 45+ add-on acquisitions that we have facilitated over the last years we always prioritized a selective approach, making sure the products of both companies are a strong fit and complement each other. Furthermore, it is important to us that there is a good personal connection between both management teams. As such, we were very happy to see the great click between HYPE and INNOSPOT.”
About INNOSPOT
Established in 2017, INNOSPOT is a quickly-growing SaaS business offering a fully cloud-based start-up scouting platform. By employing an AI-driven scraping approach, INNOSPOT’s platform has become a comprehensive tool for customers looking to identify new partners & technologies for a competitive edge. Based in Munich with a team of 10 people, INNOSPOT services a client base of ca. 70 customers comprised of corporates, VC funds and accelerators.
About HYPE
Founded as a DaimlerChrysler spin-off in 2001, HYPE Innovation has grown to a leading software specialist in the fast-growing enterprise innovation software market. With its approx. 160 employees, HYPE Innovation’s offering supports customers harnessing the collective intelligence of employees, customers, and partners by supporting their innovation ecosystem from early trend scouting and road mapping all the way through to concept creation and innovation portfolio management. The company currently serves a well-diversified and global blue-chip customer base with 300+ customers across various industries.
About Main Capital
Main Capital is a strategic investor with an exclusive focus on the software sector in the Benelux, DACH and Nordics. Main has a long term horizon around successful partnerships with management teams, with the aim of building larger software groups together. Main has approximately € 1 billion in assets under management for investments in mature and growing software companies. Within the software sector, Main is the most specialized player in management buyouts and later-stage growth capital for acquisitions. An experienced team of professionals manages these strategic investment funds from offices in The Hague, Düsseldorf and Stockholm.
Main Capital’s current portfolio includes fast growing software and SaaS-software companies such as FOCONIS (DACH, control systems for financial institutions), Relyon (NL, field service management), Perbility (DACH, HR software), Pointsharp (SE, Security Software), MACH AG (DACH, government software), Textkernel (NL, HR software), Exxellence (NL, government software), WoodWing (NL, ECM/DAM software), Alfa (SE, healthcare/government software), Optimizers (NL, SCM software), Assessio (SE, HR software), GBTEC (DACH, BPM/GRC software), Onventis (DACH, procurement software), HYPE Innovation (DACH, innovation management software), cleversoft (DACH, RegTech), Enovation (NL, healthcare software), SDB Group (NL, healthcare HR software), JobRouter (DACH, BPM/WFM software), GOconnectIT (NL, GIS/FSM software), Inergy (NL, BI software), KING Software (NL, ERP/accounting software), Artegic (DACH, marketing software), OBI4wan (NL, social media monitoring software), b+m Informatik (DACH, financial services software), ChainPoint (NL, SCM software) and Sofon (NL, CRM/CPQ software).
Successful former companies that grew significantly under Main’s leadership include Connexys (NL, HR software), Roxit (NL, government software), Axxerion (NL, facilities management software), Ymor (NL, APM software), OnGuard (NL, credit management software), TPSC (NL, healthcare GRC software) and RVC (NL, healthcare software).
Note for the editor
This press release is issued by Main Capital. For more information, please contact:
Sven van Berge Henegouwen (Partner)
Main Capital Partners GmbH, Rathausufer 17, 40213 Düsseldorf
Tel: +49 (0) 211 7314 9339 / +31 (0)70 324 34 33
sven@main.nl
www.main.nl
Dr. Frank Henningsen (CEO)
HYPE Softwaretechnik GmbH, Trierer Strasse 70-72, 53115 Bonn
Tel: +49 (0) 228 2276 0
frank.henningsen@hype.de
www.hypeinnovation.com
Daniel Buschmann & Josef Seidl (Managing Directors)
INNOSPOT GmbH, Landshuter Allee 52, 80637 Munich
Tel: +49 (0) 89 2153 82681
db@innospot.de
js@innospot.de
www.innospot.de
