KfW honours outstanding start-ups with the KfW Entrepreneurs’ Award

• 16 state winners and one national winner awarded
• The national award goes to Qdrant Solutions GmbH from Berlin
• Special prize awarded to Schreinerei Hodapp from Saarbrücken
• KfW Capital Award in the categories Best Female Investor, Best Impact Investor and VC Game Changer

Frankfurt am Main, 7 November 2025: For the 28th time, KfW has honoured outstanding start-ups from across Germany with the “KfW Entrepreneurs’ Award”. This year’s winners were announced at yesterday’s ceremony in Berlin.

One company from each German state received the state award and prize money of 1,000 euros.

"Through the KfW Entrepreneurs’ Award we honour entrepreneurs who, with creative ideas, great dedication and a clear vision, are forging innovative paths and providing significant impetus for the economy and society. Congratulations to this year’s award-winning start-up teams. By awarding these prizes, we are showcasing their outstanding projects and fostering entrepreneurial spirit as well as a vibrant start-up landscape in Germany,”

said Stefan Wintels, Chief Executive Officer of KfW.

At the same time, the 16 state winners competed to become the national winner of the competition. Qdrant Solutions GmbH from Berlin won the national award and the prize money of 10,000 euros. The company made a strong impression with its open-source vector database, which processes unstructured data contextually, thereby offering a key technology for more accurate AI searches and more intelligent applications.

This year, the special “Succession” prize and the prize money of 5,000 euros went to Schreinerei Hodapp, a carpentry company based in Saarbrücken. This traditional company manufactures customised kitchens, furniture and interior fittings for private and commercial customers. Under the leadership of Hannes Seidel, Hodapp has successfully navigated the generational shift into the digital age through digital design, semi-automated manufacturing and sustainable production.

The KfW Capital Award was also presented at the event: Dr Carolin Gabor (caesar.) won in the “Best Female Investor” category, while Miki Yokoyama received the award for “Best Impact Investor” with Aurum Impact. The special prize for “VC Game Changer” was awarded to Prof. Helmut Schönenberger, CEO of UnternehmerTUM and Vice President Entrepreneurship at the Technical University of Munich (for further information, visit www.kfw-capital.de).

An overview of the KfW Entrepreneurs' Award state winners:

Baden-Württemberg: hTRIUS GmbH

Bavaria: Reverion GmbH

Berlin: Qdrant Solutions GmbH

Brandenburg: CanChip GmbH

Bremen: Flucto GmbH

Hamburg: MonsterShack UG (limited liability)

Hesse: dianovi GmbH

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: HALM GmbH

Lower Saxony: Nature Robots GmbH

North Rhine-Westphalia: bandOlution André Vois

Rhineland-Palatinate: ODeCon engineering GmbH

Saarland: Hezo Sports GmbH

Saxony: HolyPoly GmbH

Saxony-Anhalt: ECOMENT GmbH

Schleswig-H.: encentive GmbH

Thuringia: migohead Flora Mirzoyan & Roman Golovkov GbR

All state winners are also nominated for the people's choice award. Up to and including Sunday, 30 November 2025, people can vote for the people’s choice award at www.fuer-gruender.de/kfw-award-gruenden-publikumspreis (in German).

n-tv reported on the award ceremony in its Startup Magazine on 7 November at 6.40 p.m. All winners are also supported by a PR agency in their public relations work.

The prize winners were selected by an experienced jury, which assessed the degree of innovation, creativity and social and environmental responsibility of the business ideas.

Photos and further information on the 2025 award winners can be found at www.kfw.de/award or KfW Entrepreneurs’ Award 2025 – PEPERONI (in German)

KfW Entrepreneurs’ Award press contact:

Daniela Bäumler, KfW Entrepreneurs’ Award c/o Peperoni Kommunikationsagentur für gesellschaftlichen Wandel GmbH, Friedrichstraße 23A, 10969 Berlin, Tel. +49 30 25 77 17-96, kfw_award@peperoni.berlin

KfW Capital Award press contact:

Sonja Höpfner, KfW Capital, Bockenheimer Landstrasse 98–100, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, Germany Tel. +49 69 7431 4306, sonja.hoepfner@kfw.de