Comate is Belgium's company of the year

Development with an eye for design...that is the mission of Comate. This has earned the Leuven-based company the title of 'KMO van het Jaar' (SME of the Year). New devices and aids are invented, developed and designed from A to Z into a workable prototype. The jury was particularly impressed by the extra attention paid to the most optimal design, on top of the purely technological and other functional aspects. The strong personnel policy and an eye for new opportunities and markets did not escape the jury's judgement either. Comate also sets up its own spin-offs to bring its own developments to the market. Medical Device is an example of this, accounting for 35,000 artificial hips in the past year. Or also: the Snowblower, which was specially developed for the daily removal of the metre-high piles of snow in the north of America and Canada.

Comate was founded in 2010 by product developer Wouter Foulon. Six years later, Sander Van den Dries joined the company as co-manager. Today, the number of employees has risen to the 50 mark. The strong growth of 30% per year with a net profit of 10% completed the picture for the jury, which also took into account the international success of Comate.

Wouter Foulon, founder and CEO of Comate, is satisfied with the award. "Our customers come from different sectors but what they have in common is a dream about the life of tomorrow. To achieve this, they need technical expertise and design skills to transform their idea into a real product. And that's exactly why we're here." Sander Van den Dries, Director Comate Engineering & Design, is also happy, but especially praises the staff. "I would like to change the title from SME of the year to team of the year. The speed with which they can reinvent themselves in a world in which the technology goes so fast is unbelievable."

Original source: HLN