Entrepreneur

During my studies, I co-founded and later became CEO of innominate. Here is a short timeline and profile of the company. Further information about the company can be found here.

May 1997 Founded innominate with a fellow student; idea to develop products and services for Linux and other open source software for businesses.

April 1998 Awarded first-prize and €25,000 in the Berlin start-up competition from McKinsey; acquired first clients and hired first employees.

May 1999 Rapid development of the acceptance of open source software; first Linux company in Germany to receive venture-capital financing (€1.75m); 15 employees and an annual turnover of €160,000; named “System Integrator of the Year” by the renowned magazine Computer Reseller News.

June 1999 Elected one of the managing directors of the German Linux Association LIVE.

Jan 2000 Added a finance director and a marketing/sales director to the board; 25 employees at three German offices. Led the merger & acquisitions operations, responsible for acquisition and integration of three companies with 35 employees and turnover of €1,25m. Sale of parts of my shares to private investors.

May 2000 Responsible for second VC round (€8.1m) with international investors (among others, Capital Research and Management, with $500 billion under management the third largest independent mutual fund in the USA) to facilitate European expansion.

End 2000 115 Employees at 10 offices in Germany, Switzerland und Italy (acquired company); annual turnover of €2.3m; clients included Bundesdruckerei, German Ministry for Economics, Bosch, Toshiba and the German parliament; second-largest Linux company in Europe.

Sep. 2001 In the aftermath of the worldwide financial crisis, closed offices and sold parts of the company. Decision to found a new, debt-free company under the same name. The new company focuses successfully on the former core area, Open Source based security solutions.

April 2008 The company is sold in a trade sale to a market leader in the industry automation space.