(openPR) - Munich, Germany, June 30th, 2009; During the award ceremony in Berlin, Nanion was announced winner of the Deutscher Gründerpreis 2009. The Deutscher Gründerpreis is the most important award for outstanding entrepreneurs in Germany. The prize includes a coaching by Porsche Consulting and a mentorship for Nanion. The mentor for Nanion is Dr. Jürgen Heraeus, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Heraeus Holding.

The Deutscher Gründerpreis is the most important award for outstanding entrepreneurs in Germany and recognizes entrepreneurial role models whose companies are at various stages. The Deutscher Gründerpreis is awarded each year in the Schools, StartUp, Climber and Life’s Work categories. Nanion Technologies did win in the Climbers category, which is awarded to company founders whose company has achieved extraordinary growth and also shows market leadership potential.
The eighth Deutscher Gründerpreis was awarded on 30 June 2009 in Berlin at a ceremony attended by high-profile political and business figures including Germanys Minister of Economy and Technology, Dr. Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg. Both “stern” magazine and German public TV channel ZDF carry reports on the nominees and prize winners.
As part of the prize, Nanion will receive individual, specially tailored coaching from Porsche Consulting GmbH. In addition, the Deutscher Gründerpreis’s Board of Trustees provides a mentorship to support Nanion with expertise essential for business success. The mentor for Nanion is Dr. Jürgen Heraeus, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Heraeus Holding GmbH. Heraeus is a globally active precious metals and technology Group with firm roots in Germany, headquartered in Hanau near Frankfurt. The company has been family-owned for more than 155 years.

“We are delighted to receive the Deutscher Gründerpreis for our entrepreneurial achievement. This award is an outstanding compliment and reward for the whole team of Nanion and it clearly spurs and fosters our efforts to continue with Nanions successful growth path” says Niels Fertig, CEO and Co-Founder of Nanion. “The great strength of this award is its network and the support it provides to the young companies. We are extremely lucky to have Dr. Jürgen Heraeus as our Mentor for the next two years. His preeminent background and enormous experience is of tremendous value for Nanion and we are of course also very much looking forward to the coaching by Porsche Consulting.”
Nanion is located in the centre of Munich, where a team of 30 highly qualified employees develops and manufactures sophisticated instrumentation for the analysis of ion channels proteins in living cells. Nanions automated patch clamp platforms increase the efficiency of drug discovery and are used by pharmaceutical companies and leading academic institutions globally.
About The Deutscher Gründerpreis:
The Deutscher Gründerpreis is awarded by four partners: stern, the savings banks (Sparkassen), ZDF and Porsche. This award, the most important of its kind for outstanding entrepreneurs in Germany, recognises
entrepreneurial role models whose companies are at various stages – from a simulation game to a life’s work. The aim of the Deutscher Gründerpreis is to create a positive climate for start-ups in Germany and to give people the courage to be independent.

For more information about the award, please visit: www.deutscher-gruenderpreis.de

About Nanion:
Nanion Technologies GmbH is a German Private Limited Company and was founded in 2002 as a spin-off from the Center for Nanoscience (CeNS) of the University of Munich. Nanion’s team has developed and globally established two highly successful automated patch clamp instruments as enabling tools for sophisticated and high throughput applications for ion channel research and drug discovery. Nanion's instruments use planar patch clamp chips which replace the traditional glass pipette used in the technique of patch clamping.

Contact details:
Niels Fertig, CEO, Phone: +49 89 2189 97972, Email: info@nanion.de, Web: www.nanion.de