Your startup in one sentence?
DEVITY uses digital identities to reduce the commissioning costs of IoT devices in industry by up to 90% while increasing protection against cyberattacks.

How did your business idea come about?
The idea came about when our co-founder Sven Uthe experienced how difficult and expensive it is to retrofit IT security while digitizing a sensor and setting up an IoT cloud—we wanted to combine IT security and efficiency right from the start.

How big is your team, who is in it, and how did you find each other?
We are currently eleven employees focusing on IT security, cryptography, and IoT. The founding team consists of Sven Uthe (CTO, 16 years of experience in IT security and software architecture) and Christoph Milder (CEO, business administration/MBA with experience in research and consulting). As a university spin-off, we combine in-depth technical knowledge with business expertise.

Who profits from your product/your solution, and why?
Manufacturers, system integrators, and operators benefit: KEYNOA strengthens trust within the supply chain, reduces device configuration and maintenance costs, increases IT security in IoT/OT environments, and efficiently ensures compliance with NIS-2, CRA, and IEC 62443.

What are your next steps?
We are currently scaling projects in the energy sector, industrial automation, and intralogistics. In addition, we are establishing further licensing and channel partnerships and developing self-service functions for integrators and OEMs.

Why are you convinced that you will be successful?
Because we have developed a unique product for the Industrial IoT that combines open interfaces and standards, digital sovereignty, and zero-trust security—and because we have already proven that our solution works on a large scale.

What have been the biggest successes and hurdles/low points so far?
Successful rollout of industrial devices with KEYNOA: partnerships with device manufacturers, major integrators, and cloud providers; technical articles with over 100,000 readers; and winners of the OWL 23/24 Innovation Award and the SpeedUpSecure Innovation Award 2023. The biggest challenge was to develop a scalable product and business model based on research results.

Why did you apply for the ATHENE Startup Award UP25@it-sa?
Because IT security is our core topic, it-sa is the leading trade fair for the industry, and we can present our goal—European digital sovereignty in the IoT—to a relevant audience here.

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