plus10 among Top 3 Startups at Factory of the Year
plus10 is one of the three best startups at the renowned industry competition Factory of the Year in the category "Startup Challenge". With an innovative AI optimization software for automated production, the young company from Augsburg and Stuttgart was able to convince the expert audience.
Felix Georg Müller
June 22, 2021
At one of the most prestigious industry competitions in the context of factory planning and operation in Europe, the company plus10 won over the audience with its AI-based software tools Darwin and Shannon® for automated production optimization and made it into the top 3 startups. In his pitch, Felix Georg Müller (CEO and Co-Founder of plus10) convinced the audience, which consisted of production experts, plant managers and decision-makers from the industry. In the final of the Startup Challenge, which took place on Tuesday, were also the companies Additive Marking and MotionMiners. MotionMiners took first place in the final vote.
Felix Georg Müller (plus10) convinced with his pitch in the final of the Startup Challenge of the Factory of the Year competition. Image source: SV Veranstaltungen GmbH.
Letting machines learn from each other - the plus10 recipe for success
plus10 was founded in 2019 by three ex-Fraunhofer employees Felix Georg Müller, Pablo Mayer and Thomas Hilzbrich. They have made it their mission to ensure that even complex machines and plants can be operated at maximum productivity at all times through their continuous data-based optimization. To do this, they use AI algorithms and let machines learn from each other. The production software is already being used in various industries and achieves 5 - 15% output increases in ongoing multi-shift operations. The team now consists of 15 employees who combine expertise from the fields of software development, data science, and automation and control technology.
Factory of the Year annually awards outstanding solutions for production
Every year, the Factory of the Year benchmark competition honors outstanding companies that use innovative technologies and digitization to increase their own competitiveness. Other categories in which companies are honored include "Securing a location through digitization" or also "Outstanding production network". The competition and congress of the same name are organizedevery year by Süddeutscher Verlag Veranstaltungen and the management consultancy Kearney.
As part of the UPSHIFT network, ten companies are combining their technologies into a cleanroom-compatible end-to-end solution for medical technology, which was unveiled for the first time as a joint demonstrator at Fakuma 2026. Within this solution, plus10 uses its self-learning AI software, Hopper, to ensure GMP-compliant process stability in real time.
The Recommender Hopper parameter from plus10 is fully integrated into the ARBURG GESTICA control system: It detects the risk of scrap in real time and recommends appropriate parameter adjustments within validated process windows—resulting in up to 20% less scrap. Demonstrated live at TechXellence 2026 in Rocky Hill (USA); the next TechXellence event will take place on November 11 and 12 in Irvine, California, again featuring a presentation and live demo.
At Fakuma 2026, ARBURG will introduce the Hopper AI tool from plus10, which is integrated into the Gestica control system: The self-learning software analyzes quality-relevant process data in real time and automatically suggests appropriate parameter adjustments to the machine operator to prevent scrap from occurring in the first place. On display at ARBURG in Hall A3, Booth A3-3101.
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