PRESS RELEASE
SurFunction GmbH honored in KfW’s business competition
Saarbrücken-based company was honored with the KfW Award as state winner. With its renowned competition, KfW recognizes business ideas from all over Germany that are characterized by a particular degree of innovation, creativity, sustainability and social added value. An experienced jury honored SurFunction and its patented technology in a multi-stage process. This makes it possible to create highly functional surfaces based on nature and opens new markets and competitive advantages for a wide range of industries.
Saarbrücken, November 8th, 2024 – SurFunction GmbH, a DeepTech and CleanTech company based in Saarbrücken and Dresden, was honored yesterday in Berlin as the state winner of Saarland at the KfW Awards. The company, represented by Managing Directors Dominik Britz and Ralf Zastrau, accepted the award at a festive event. The award, which is presented annually to outstanding young companies from all over Germany, recognizes excellent business ideas and awards prize money to one company from each federal state.
Stefan Wintels, CEO of KfW, emphasized the importance of the winners: “With the KfW Entrepreneurs’ Award, we have been honoring the courage and innovative strength of founders for over 25 years and offering these role models a stage. Their creative solutions are indispensable for the transformation of the economy and society and are essential for employment and prosperity. By promoting these entrepreneurs, KfW is contributing to strengthening entrepreneurship in Germany.”
SurFunction GmbH supports customers throughout the whole value chain, including series production, with the aim of achieving a high level of profitability and rapid industrialization. In line with the motto “Nature knows best”, the company offers new opportunities to create highly functional and sustainable surfaces.
Thanks to contactless surface functionalization using laser interference technology, SurFunction is a leading system provider with a cross-industry and cross-material platform. The ELIPSYS® technology (Extended Laser Interference Patterning System) offers a wide range of possible applications, such as improving electrical systems, reducing friction, protecting against wear, reducing energy requirements, improving biocompatibility, enabling special design effects and protecting against counterfeiting.
Industrial implementation takes place both at the customer’s site and in our own technology centers. This opens new possibilities for numerous industries such as automotive, medical technology and mechanical engineering. SurFunction’s surfaces are convincing due to their high material freedom (including polymer, metal, ceramic, glass) and the option of being able to implement almost any periodic structure based on nature.
Co-founder Dr. Dominik Britz: “Sustainability is directly anchored in SurFunction’s DNA. All our expertise is aimed at creating environmentally friendly surface structures modeled on nature, which simultaneously improve the efficiency, service life, reliability and eco-balance of products. We are delighted to receive this award, as it shines a spotlight on a new, sustainable technology and thus contributes to making it more visible in the public eye.”