In summer 2016, we received a funding commitment from the Federal Ministry for the Environment and Construction within the framework of the Environmental Innovation Programme. This positive decision from Berlin was delivered to us in person by State Secretary Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter (MdB). In the end, we were able to fully use the promised funding for our successful company development.

On 5 December 2016, the STEP Award was presented at a gala ceremony at the Commerzbank headquarters in Frankfurt am Main. The prize, which is being awarded for the eleventh time by the F.A.Z. publishing house, honours innovative, forward-looking companies in the DACH region. It is intended to support growth companies in particular that are at the next threshold of their corporate development. After a comprehensive reorientation in 2016, this year the STEP Award for the first time honoured not only companies in the science sector, but also young companies in the tech and ICT sectors with a sector prize each. In addition, a sustainability theme prize and a special prize for energy and resource efficiency were awarded, and we had the pleasure of accepting this special prize for energy and resource efficiency.

Year after year, start-up companies and their business models are awarded prizes by expert juries in various competitions. In 2016, there were over 750 participating start-up companies. The website 'Für-Gründer.de' analysed all competitions and the associated award winners from the calendar year 2016 in a study and selected the top 50 start-ups of 2016: The basis of the evaluation was the number of awards and prizes in various competitions, the amount of prize money as well as the type and size of the competition. And our company was among the top 50 this year!

For outstanding and innovative products and processes in environmental technology, the Ministry of the Environment had already awarded the Environmental Technology Prize Baden-Württemberg for the fifth time in 2017 - and our company won 2nd prize in the category 'Material Efficiency'. In the justification it says: "Although there are many recycled products made from used tyres, these mats stand out due to their high-quality technical properties and the numerous application possibilities. They meet the high technical requirements of rubber products and can therefore be used in industrial environments. At the same time, they themselves are 100 per cent recyclable again, which allows for a true closed-loop recycling of the product."

Our company was honoured by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Environment as one of 50 Baden-Württemberg companies for resource efficiency. Environment Minister Franz Untersteller personally handed over the certificate. The 50 awarded companies are part of the state initiative '100 Companies for Resource Efficiency', which the Ministry of the Environment founded together with business associations and chambers in 2014. To present and publicise the companies and their efficiency measures, a book '100 Companies for Resource Efficiency - Practical Examples from the Manufacturing Industry' was even published.

In November 2017, we were awarded the 'StartGreen Award' by an expert jury. The presentation took place at the Federal Ministry for the Environment in Berlin. This award meant that we were allowed to take part in the world's largest competition 'Cleantech Open' for ideas from the field of environmental technology as a 'German Champion'. In February 2018, we flew to Los Angeles (USA) and took second place in the 'SeedTrack' category. What a success!