About
A small engineering house with a consortium-scale reach.
Founded in Leipzig in 2009, InnoTec21 works where research funding, embedded engineering and technology transfer meet. We are the partner that writes the proposal, builds the hardware, and is still on site when the sensors go into the soil.
Our story
InnoTec21 started as a private R&D outfit for wireless sensing and embedded control — including a patented tinnitus-masking device that remains a reminder of how we work: a real engineering problem, taken to a certified product.
EU research programmes became the vehicle. Across iKaaS, HIGHTS, WAZIUP and WAZIHUB we moved from partner to technical lead, then to coordinator — first for HUBiquitous, now for KijaniSpace. Each step widened the same mission: make deep-tech research usable outside the lab, on both continents.
Today the team is deliberately compact: senior engineers and project managers who run funding and delivery in the same room, supported by a standing network of universities, hubs, SMEs and startups from Leipzig to Dar es Salaam.
At a glance
- Founded
- 2009, Leipzig, Germany
- Legal form
- GmbH, privately held
- Focus
- Applied R&D, IoT, Earth observation, technology transfer
- Programmes
- FP7, Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe, EUSPA
How we operate
Funding and engineering in one team
The people who write the work packages are the people who deliver them. Nothing is promised in a proposal that our engineers have not signed off.
Build for the field, not the demo
Hardware is designed for dust, heat, patchy connectivity and local maintenance. A deployment that cannot be repaired locally is not finished.
Leave capacity behind
Open-source stacks, trained local teams and hubs that keep operating after the final report — this is how our project results survive.
Services
From funding strategy to hardware in the field.
Engage us for one capability or the whole chain. Most partners start with a funding question and stay for the engineering.
R&D project management & funding consulting
We identify the right call, shape the concept, build the consortium and write the proposal — then run the administrative machine once the grant is signed. Because we coordinate our own projects, the plan we write is one we know can be delivered and audited.
Included
- Funding strategy and call screening
- Proposal writing and consortium assembly
- Grant agreement and contract negotiation
- Financial controlling, reporting and audit readiness
Technology & system design
Senior engineers design and build the systems: low-power embedded nodes, LPWAN and mesh sensor networks, gateways that tolerate intermittent connectivity, and data pipelines that fuse ground measurements with Copernicus satellite products.
Capabilities
- Embedded firmware and low-power hardware
- Wireless sensor networks and LPWAN deployment
- Earth-observation data fusion and analytics
- Field-grade prototypes through to pilot operation
Innovation scouting & market deployment
We scout technologies and partners, assess maturity and fit, and design the transfer path: licensing, joint development or spin-out. The emphasis is on what happens after the research — who manufactures, who maintains, who pays.
Typical work
- Technology and partner scouting
- Maturity, IP and exploitation assessment
- Business-model and go-to-market design
- Spin-out and licensing support
Digital Innovation Hubs & training
From HUBiquitous and WAZIHUB we know how to stand up a hub and keep it running: governance, service portfolio, trainer-of-trainers programmes and matchmaking between African and European ecosystems.
Programmes
- Hub design, governance and service portfolio
- Engineer and entrepreneur training curricula
- Africa–Europe matchmaking and mobility
- Community building around open technology
A typical engagement
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01
First conversation
You describe the idea and the deadline. We say honestly whether we are the right partner.
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02
Concept & consortium
We shape the concept note, map the missing partners and confirm the call fit.
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03
Proposal & submission
We write, cost and submit — and handle the letters, forms and portal work.
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04
Delivery
Once funded, the same team runs the work packages, the reporting and the field deployment.