US-listed industrial conglomerate 3M has won the Best Innovator award in Germany for its innovation management and corporate venturing programme.
3M New Ventures picked up the award selected by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, strategy consulting firm AT Kearney and Wirtschaftswoche magazine.
Stefan Gabriel (pictured via Flickr), president of 3M New Ventures, said: "Our global 3M organization with top-notch technology platforms, research facilities worldwide, extensive sales network and many other capabilities are attractive to up-and-coming entrepreneurs.
"We identify and acquire minority shares in these innovative and fast-growing small to mid-sized companies across the globe, from outside-in, to bring outstanding innovative technologies and highly scalable business models from relevant mega trend areas or new ways of working with customers to 3M."
He added 3MGTG, a digital out-of-home media company had been one of its first and best investments.
George Buckley, head of 3M, added: "The birthplace of 3M’s corporate ventures was not originated to see how much money we could make in venture investments. It was about searching for a new future; finding new units that would ultimately comprise the elements of a new 3M."
Recent investments made by 3M New Ventures include minority stakes in Perceptive Pixel, a developer of multi-touch services; Printechnologics, a printed electronics specialist on paper or foil; Txtr, an electronic reading technology company; Ecovative Design, a leader in polymeric materials that replace conventional petrochemical foams; and GoNano Technologies, a developer of high surface area nanomaterials for pollution control.