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Innovation Ranking

North Data publishes the most innovative companies and research institutions in Germany every year. The number of registered patents, the number and volume of research projects and also trademark registrations are used to calculate the ranking. All of these key figures are indicators of the innovative strength of large and established companies, which includes the ability to manage research projects, to obtain funding for them, to secure a market position through patents and finally to establish new products on the market, which can be seen in the trademark registrations.

Below we present the winners of the year and the top 50 in the table for the two categories of business and research. Finally, we explain the calculation basis and offer the raw data for free download.

All countries
Germany
France
United Kingdom

Winners

Winners Commercial
2025
Airbus Operations SAS Thales SA Stellantis Auto SAS
Winners Research
2025
Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Agence Francaise de Developpement

Top 50

Rank Previous
Rank 		Company Patent
applications 		Funded
projects 		Funding
Amount (EUR) 		Trademark
applications 		Score Previous
Score
1
6 Airbus Operations SAS 153 11 63,508,223 0 66.40 41.56
2
3 Thales SA 242 12 6,666,436 1 53.99 46.27
3
2 Stellantis Auto SAS 304 0 0 17 45.29 48.57
4
13 Schneider Electric Industries SAS 239 0 0 36 36.00 30.19
5
16 Renault SAS 200 1 0 86 32.33 26.04
6
14 Compagnie Generale des Etablissements Michelin SCA 199 0 0 68 30.63 28.13
7
11 L'Oreal SA 111 0 0 582 26.43 33.32
8
17 L'air Liquide SA Pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude 172 0 0 3 25.51 24.63
9
1 Orange SA 145 2 1,445,610 2 24.68 54.37
10
10 Airbus SAS 112 4 1,226,875 12 22.36 34.96
11
25 SEB SA 137 0 0 5 20.37 15.04
12
33 Safran Electrical & Power SAS 43 4 14,264,417 1 18.12 8.07
13
9 Bull SAS 64 5 2,133,114 0 16.73 35.90
14
23 Sanofi SA 105 0 0 31 16.08 17.21
15
61 Safran Aircraft Engines SAS 2 2 24,806,561 2 14.55 2.79
16
29 Valeo Comfort AND Driving Assistance SAS 36 6 1,717,463 1 13.66 9.49
17
41 Safran Landing Systems SAS 39 1 12,000,000 0 12.69 5.67
18
22 Safran SA 84 0 0 2 12.47 17.44
19
20 Soitec SA 26 5 4,900,355 0 12.41 19.23
20
58 Ratier-Figeac SAS 9 3 12,076,926 0 10.79 3.11
21
19 Thales DIS France SAS 53 2 891,295 0 10.77 20.19
22
72 Soprema SAS 8 6 3,282,700 12 10.44 1.59
23
52 Liebherr-Aerospace Toulouse SAS 12 3 10,115,239 0 10.30 3.46
24
4 Airbus Defence AND Space SAS 55 1 850,825 3 9.84 45.22
25
35 Aptar France SAS 54 1 286,125 26 9.83 7.34
26
36 Nexans SA 65 0 0 10 9.79 7.25
27
5 Association Federation Handicap International 0 5 6,610,845 1 9.39 43.04
28
26 Stmicroelectronics (Crolles 2) SAS 2 3 9,986,564 0 8.76 14.10
29
31 Thales AVS France SAS 0 4 7,444,113 7 8.64 9.01
30
37 Saft SAS 22 3 3,337,959 2 8.62 7.14
31
46 Sagemcom Energy & Telecom SAS 58 0 0 1 8.60 4.70
32
15 Electricite de France SA 0 6 1,043,722 2 8.03 26.05
33
34 Stmicroelectronics Rousset SAS 33 2 524,224 0 7.63 7.70
34
7 Arianegroup SAS 24 2 2,732,528 0 7.34 36.74
35
43 Decathlon SE 35 0 0 114 7.14 5.15
36
28 Stmicroelectronics (Grenoble 2) SAS 11 3 3,005,492 0 6.80 9.81
37
55 Universite de Picardie Jules Verne 5 4 2,007,435 1 6.71 3.29
38
77 Minalogic Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes 0 5 756,293 2 6.64 1.39
39
40 Artelia SAS 0 5 266,325 3 6.43 5.69
40
47 Somfy Activites SA 42 0 0 10 6.39 4.61
41
49 Safran Transmission Systems SAS 20 1 4,090,958 0 6.14 4.12
42
44 Verkor SAS 29 1 695,625 0 5.87 5.03
43
21 Arkema France SA 0 4 1,382,469 11 5.84 18.84
44
39 Bioeconomy for Change 0 4 1,437,234 1 5.70 6.14
45
18 Eurecom GIE 2 3 3,315,183 0 5.61 20.83
46
70 Sagemcom Broadband SAS 35 0 0 14 5.42 1.74
47
12 Framatome SAS 25 1 125,000 0 5.01 30.41
48
54 Safran Aerosystems SAS 11 2 1,333,938 0 4.76 3.29
49
8 Safran Electronics & Defense SAS 29 0 0 9 4.45 36.71
50
30 L'Association Pour LA Recherche ET LE Developpement DES Methodes ET Processus Industriels Armines 1 3 1,120,351 0 4.43 9.11
Rank Previous
Rank 		Organisation Patent
applications 		Funded
projects 		Funding
Amount (EUR) 		Trademark
applications 		Score Previous
Score
1
1 Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives 738 49 50,116,768 13 64.82 78.94
2
2 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 263 147 135,383,597 0 61.04 58.13
3
3 Agence Francaise de Developpement 0 13 78,510,265 1 19.01 35.99
4
4 Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale 26 44 40,005,520 2 15.51 23.25
5
14 Metropole Europeenne de Lille 0 1 4,000,000 35 10.99 4.5
6
44 Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales 7 6 25,144,460 2 7.18 0.47
7
5 Institut National de Recherche Pour l'Agriculture l'Alimentation et l'Environnement 15 25 11,785,302 2 6.65 8.76
8
41 BRGM 2 4 24,500,000 0 5.96 0.58
9
11 Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique 5 19 9,742,276 2 4.97 4.75
10
18 Universite Claude Bernard Lyon 1 29 13 5,814,391 0 4.38 3.59
11
7 Office National d'Etudes et de Recherches Aerospatiales 10 18 6,336,550 0 3.85 7.40
12
10 Institut Pasteur 11 13 7,849,502 0 3.74 4.76
13
15 Ceske Vysoke Ucení Technicke V Praze 13 13 4,821,426 1 3.47 4.38
14
8 Universite de Bordeaux 12 11 7,076,939 0 3.42 6.40
15
12 Assistance Publique Hopitaux de Paris 8 15 4,667,355 1 3.34 4.69
16
13 Universite d'AIX Marseille 21 10 4,382,654 0 3.27 4.67
17
6 Institut Pasteur 1 13 7,849,502 0 3.13 7.97
18
9 Institut Mines-Telecom 22 4 1,240,893 0 2.02 5.63
19
20 Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble 26 1 850,000 0 1.88 3.10
20
19 Universite Cote d'Azur 2 7 2,878,430 1 1.76 3.32
21
16 IFP Energies Nouvelles 0 5 2,975,103 1 1.46 4.11
22
31 Centre Technique Industriel de la Plasturgie et des Composites 1 7 3,041,797 0 1.45 1.10
23
17 Universite de Montpellier 16 3 479,554 0 1.39 3.96
24
28 CY Cergy Paris Universite 1 4 2,720,498 1 1.36 1.50
25
36 Institut National des Sciences Appliquees de Lyon 3 7 1,847,868 0 1.31 0.86
26
25 Universite Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne 0 7 1,230,661 1 1.27 1.71
27
34 Universite de Technologie de Compiegne 4 4 2,404,920 0 1.18 0.91
28
26 College de France 7 2 2,438,750 0 1.17 1.55
29
42 Institut National des Sciences Appliquees de Toulouse 2 6 1,887,389 0 1.15 0.53
30
21 Institut Curie 3 7 1,002,233 0 1.12 2.74
31
23 Institut Gustave Roussy 1 4 2,909,375 0 1.11 1.99
32
47 Universite Lumiere Lyon 2 1 3 2,991,759 0 1.03 0.10
33
45 IRT Antoine de Saint Exupery 1 4 2,149,391 0 0.95 0.33
34
35 Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Epiniere 3 3 695,102 1 0.93 0.87
35
30 Laboratoire National de Metrologie et d'Essais 0 2 629,338 2 0.91 1.22
36
32 Agence Nationale de Securite Sanitaire de L Alimentation de L Environnement et du Travail 1 3 551,467 1 0.78 1.01
37
43 Univ Paris XIII Paris-Nord Villetaneuse 1 3 1,398,273 0 0.68 0.49
38
24 Universite de Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines 2 3 744,739 0 0.59 1.83
39
29 Universite Marie et Louis Pasteur 2 3 592,961 0 0.56 1.25
40
27 Institut Superieur de l'Aeronautique et de l'Espace 1 3 564,662 0 0.49 1.53
41
38 Centre d'Etudes et d'Expertise sur les Risques l'Environnement la Mobilite et l'Amenagement 2 3 248,839 0 0.48 0.77
42
39 Universite de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour 4 2 132,765 0 0.48 0.75
43
46 Universite de Brest 1 3 390,268 0 0.45 0.26
44
33 Institut National des Sciences et Industries du Vivant et de l'Environnement 2 2 378,750 0 0.41 0.97
45
48 Centre Hospitalier Regional et Universitaire de Brest 5 1 0 0 0.41 0
46
37 Institut de Recherche Technologique Jules Verne 3 1 375,000 0 0.37 0.79
47
22 Centralesupelec 4 1 0 0 0.35 2.22
48
40 Ecole Nationale Superieure d'Arts et Metiers (Ensam) 3 1 0 0 0.28 0.68

Calculation basis

The following four performance indicators are taken into account when calculating the score:

Indicator Sources Weight
Patents Epobase 45 %
Number of public fundings Fts Sat Hor 15 %
Total public funding Fts Sat Hor 30 %
Trademarks Euipotm Euipods 10 %

The highest value achieved for each key figure in the period under review is set as the maximum point value of 100. The two categories Economy and Research are evaluated separately. The period under review was the year 2025.

The performance indicators used are available together with financial figures as Deep Data Finance/Marketing/Tech via the North Data's Data Services.

An evaluation is required and only carried out if the respective organization is entered in the sources with the correct name and registered office. Subsequent changes are not permitted.

Data

Download
Download the data of the respective category in CSV/Excel format.
Commercial Research

Creative Commons License The innovation ranking data is provided by North Data and may be reused under the terms of the Creative Commons CC-BY license.