AEROCOMPACT GROUP, specializing in the development, production and distribution of innovative substructures for photovoltaic systems, has enjoyed extremely dynamic growth in recent years. Founded in 2014 in Schlins, Vorarlberg (A), the highly profitable company in the solar tech industry reached annual sales of around EUR 30 million in 2021. For the current fiscal year, sales are expected to more than double to around EUR 70 million. In 2023, growth is expected to exceed the EUR 100 million mark.
With its innovative solutions and its digital platform AeroTOOL for planning and calculating solar systems, which is available to installers all over the world, AEROCOMPACT sees itself as a pioneer of the energy transition worldwide. The foundation of AEROCOMPACT's dynamic business development is a combination of the engineering expertise of the innovative development team, the AeroTOOL platform and AEROCOMPACT's global market access.
Realignment of corporate structures – establishment of a management board
The company already has subsidiaries in Austria, Germany, the USA and India, as well as its own sales presence in nine countries. AEROCOMPACT products are regularly installed in over 50 countries worldwide. In order to take full advantage of global growth opportunities, the AEROCOMPACT GROUP is realigning its corporate structures. From now on, a five-member management board will lead the innovative company. From the holding company, strategic growth initiatives will be developed to broaden market access by expanding the business model and developing new customer target groups. Thanks to continued innovations in the product portfolio and further internationalization, the operating business is expected to grow well above the industry average in the future.
Dirk Morbitzer becomes Group CEO – Founder Mathias Muther takes over as Chairman of the Supervisory Board
As of August 01, 2022, Dirk Morbitzer will become Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the holding company and Group CEO. We are very pleased to have Dirk Morbitzer on board, a highly competent expert in the global solar industry and a successful manager with extensive experience in the management of dynamically growing, global technology companies," explains Mathias Muther, who will accompany the further development of the company as Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Muther will also set up the charity project "Solar Power Aid", which aims to restore the power supply in crisis regions hit by environmental disasters as quickly as possible using photovoltaic and battery storage packages.
Digital business model enables additional growth
Dirk Morbitzer's focus will be on the strategic development of the company: "We want to continue to be a pulse generator of the solar tech industry and dynamically expand our leading role in the global market. AEROCOMPACT not only has an extremely innovative product portfolio, but also, through AeroTOOL and the business processes it integrates, a digital business model that enables us to develop new services. I am very pleased to be able to develop this potential together with our competent and extremely committed team," says Dirk Morbitzer, CEO of the AEROCOMPACT GROUP.
Further organic growth, open for strategic acquisitions
The holding company of the AEROCOMPACT GROUP will change its name from a GmbH (limited liability company) to a Aktiengesellschaft (stock corporation) in the next few days. In this way, the company is creating the conditions for increasing its market share through strategic acquisitions in addition to further organic growth: "We are operating in a market that is still highly fragmented and we certainly see opportunities to strengthen our market position through strategic acquisitions in selected regions or by expanding our product portfolio. We will continue to finance our growth from current business, but we can also imagine working with new partners," explains Gustavo Edinger, member of the holding company's Management Board and Group CFO.
Further increase in workforce and expansion of production and logistics capacities
Other members of the Management Board are Manfred Ganahl, CSO (Chief Sales Officer) and Managing Director of AEROCOMPACT Europe GmbH, Christian Ganahl, CTO (Chief Technology Officer), and Stefan Schäfer, COO (Chief Operating Officer); all three have held management responsibility for AeroTOOL's high-growth core business and ongoing development for several years. By the end of this year alone, the team is to be expanded from around 115 employees at present to 140 worldwide. The increase in staff will primarily take place in international sales, research and development, and production.
It is planned to invest around EUR 3 million in an additional office building with a training center and test laboratory at the headquarters in Satteins, Vorarlberg. The annex is to provide space for around 100 new jobs. Production in Nüziders, which currently has two production lines, will be converted from a two-shift to a three-shift operation starting in September. Warehouse capacity in Austria is to be quadrupled by the end of the year and global logistics, which are operated via external partners, will also be further expanded.
"We are experiencing enormous momentum in our core business in the current fiscal year. The task now is to set the course in such a way that we can continue to optimally serve the increasing global demand. Our committed employees are our most important success factor here. They are the ones who inspire our customers in over 50 countries worldwide with their profound industry knowledge, technological expertise and outstanding service," says Manfred Ganahl, CSO of the AEROCOMPACT GROUP. And CTO Christian Ganahl adds: "Our innovative strength and digital competence are further important growth drivers for the global business. That's why we will double our engineering team in Vorarlberg and Vienna over the course of the year and bring on board additional colleagues for research, standardization, software development and global product management."
