Innovation Hub seeks to partner with international startups and businesses in four main areas:
Machine economy – Includes the “Internet of Things,” artificial intelligence, and decentralized blockchain-based models
Smart & Connected – Includes innovation in the fields of safety, security, management, maintenance, climate, convenience, building automation, and redefining the office
Disruptive Digital – Includes identifying and fostering new business models to revolutionize energy generation, trading, grid, and retail sectors
Cyber Ventures – Includes ventures that take on global cyber security challenges and seek to create significant shifts in the cyber market

Brief History

Innovation Hub was founded in 2014 by Innogy, a European energy company that generates energy from renewable sources and provides innovative solutions in the fields of storage technologies, electromobility, and energy sufficiency. Since its inception, Innovation Hub has generated a multimillion-dollar portfolio and has provided opportunities for 90 startups and scale-up companies to collaborate.

Geographically

Innovation Hub is headquartered in Essen, Germany and has outposts in Silicon Valley, Tel Aviv, London, and Berlin. Its global presence is in congruence with its mission of encouraging innovation through people of all backgrounds.

Significant Investments

Innovation Hub has invested in a number of pioneering companies in its four main areas of focus. In March 2019, Innovation Hub added FirstPoint Mobile Guard to its portfolio. FirstPoint is a cellular cyber-security-as-a-service company that protects mobile devices from hidden vulnerabilities. In April 2019, Oriient joined the ranks of Innovation Hub investments as a company listed under its Smart & Connected focus area. Oriient is a groundbreaking startup that offers GPS-like service indoors. In May 2019, Innovation Hub announced that it was investing in GreenCom Networks, an energy IoT company that has a flagship product, the Energy Information Brokerage Platform (EIBP), that creates revolutionary energy business models.

Since 2017, Innovation Hub has been a partner of the Free Electrons program, which takes place annually and allows startups in the field of energy to compete for a cash prize and the opportunity to work with 10 Global Energy Utilities (the Free Electrons consortium) for a year. The connection with Greencom Networks was actually made through this program, as Greencom was one of the 12 finalists selected out of 450 companies that competed.

News

Innovation Hub is an accelerator that never ceases to look for new partners and investments. In April 2019, Innovation Hub and F2 Capital pledged $4 million in seed funding to Oriient in order for the company to bring its product to world-leading retailers. In June 2019, Innovation Hub and Intertrust Technologies co-hosted Transforming Transformers, the first thought leadership conference on the convergence of energy and internet technologies. The conference was held in Dusseldorf and more than 200 guests attended to hear industry experts discuss the future of data-driven energy.