Operations1
Founded 2017 · 56 employees on LinkedIn · 4 known investors
Industrial corporate resilience with real-time data and automated operational workflows.
Also known as cioplenu · cioplenu GmbH
Investors · 4
Also in the syndicate · 2
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Operations1 is a cloud software company for manufacturing companies, offering a platform for digital shopfloor execution. The software supports operational processes along the value chain, including guided assembly instructions, digital maintenance plans, setup processes, and automated audit and quality logs. Work instructions are created centrally and delivered into manufacturing in interactive, variant-specific and multilingual form, with knowledge from documents and systems translated into digital instructions used at the point of value creation.
The company describes its offering as an AI-powered B2B SaaS solution that consolidates operational processes on a single platform. According to the company, customers reduce training time for new employees by an average of 70% and cut documentation effort by up to 60 minutes per machine. In its 2022 Series A announcement, the company positioned the platform as providing processual knowledge, gathering real-time data and automating administrative tasks across operational workflows, thereby supporting the resilience of industrial operations amid product individualization requirements, documentation demands and skilled-labour scarcity.
Operations1 was formerly branded cioplenu; press kit materials are attributed to cioplenu GmbH. The management team includes Daniel Grobe (Co-CEO, also listed as Co-Founder & CEO), Anian Ziegler (Co-Founder & CTO) and Benjamin Brockmann (Co-Founder, previously listed as Co-CEO), alongside heads of product, engineering, people and culture, marketing, customer success and customer service.
Founding story
Benjamin Brockmann, Anian Ziegler and Daniel Grobe met at the Technical University of Munich, where research work led them to identify that manufacturers were constrained by outdated processes limiting efficiency and adaptability. Brockmann contributed consulting and industry experience of operational workflows, Grobe a strategic and technology perspective, and Ziegler product and engineering capability. They founded the company in 2017 out of a research project at TU Munich.
Business model
B2B software-as-a-service: a cloud platform delivered to manufacturing companies with individually selectable functions and software modules, configured rather than custom-coded, and supported by a Customer Success team, support portal, knowledge base and regular success meetings.
Subscription-based cloud software (SaaS) sold to industrial companies; the company reported having tripled revenue in the year preceding its January 2022 Series A announcement.
Traction
Customers include Bosch, ThyssenKrupp and Trumpf, which the company says have achieved efficiency gains of up to 20% and error-rate reductions of up to 55%. The company reported tripling revenue in 2021 and winning a large number of medium-sized companies as well as two DAX corporates. Company materials cite average 70% reductions in new-employee training time and up to 60 minutes less documentation effort per machine, and a workforce of 50+ employees.
Latest developments
Company materials describe an AI-powered B2B SaaS platform consolidating operational processes, an expanded management team including a Co-CEO, Head of Product, VP Engineering, VP Marketing and heads of people and customer success, and continued hiring through its careers site.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
Positioned as a provider of shopfloor execution software for industrial digitization. Investor Cherry Ventures characterized the software market for the deskless workforce as large, estimating around 10 million potential software users in the DACH region, and OpenOcean described Operations1 as a pioneer in enabling continuous, data-based process innovation in the industrial sector.
The company cites an intuitive user interface, seamless system integration and end-to-end digital process guidance; a single code base with modular, configurable functionality rather than code-level customization typical of bespoke IT-service solutions; EU/German data residency; use of standard file formats with high export capability; and coverage of multiple operational use cases on one platform.
Technology
Cloud-based SaaS delivered on the Microsoft Azure cloud with data stored in Microsoft's German data centres. The architecture is modular with a single shared code base configured per customer rather than customized in code, with release-on-demand rollout control. Data is exchanged in JSON and stored in PostgreSQL databases, with export available in CSV, XLSX or JSON; delivery uses encrypted TLS 1.3/HTTPS connections. The company describes its current platform as AI-powered.
Go-to-market
Direct enterprise sales supported by guided software tours and non-binding demonstrations for individual use cases, customer success and support services, press and field marketing activity, and event presence such as the London appearance marking UK market entry.
Manufacturing and industrial companies, including mid-sized firms and large corporates; named customers include Bosch, ThyssenKrupp and Trumpf. End users are operational, deskless shopfloor workers in assembly, maintenance, quality and audit processes.
Geography
Headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, with offices at THE DOCKS on the Main; software developed with partners and customers in Germany and Europe and all data stored in German data centres. The company has an international team and entered the UK market with a London presence; Series A proceeds were designated in part for international expansion.
History
Founded in 2017 following a research project at the Technical University of Munich, the company originally operated as cioplenu and later rebranded to Operations1. It raised a $12.5 million Series A led by OpenOcean announced on 31 January 2022, with the funds earmarked for doubling team size, international expansion and product development. Other milestones publicized by the company include a move into THE DOCKS offices in Frankfurt on the banks of the Main and entry into the UK market with a presence in London on 28-29 June.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Competitors · 5
by search overlap
Companies competing with Operations1 for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline · 4
launches, deals, and filingsThe company announced entry into the UK market, with a presence in London on 28 and 29 June.
The Frankfurt-based company relocated to new offices at THE DOCKS on the banks of the Main.
A company press release announced the rebranding of cioplenu to Operations1; press kit materials remain attributed to cioplenu GmbH.
Operations1 announced a $12.5 million Series A led by European venture capital firm OpenOcean, with participation from existing investors Cherry Ventures and 42cap and business angels including Kulpreet Singh (former Managing Director at UiPath) and Michael Füllemann (former President and Chairman at Schindler). Proceeds were earmarked for doubling team size, international expansion and product development.
$12.5M source ↗
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- About Operations1 - From an idea to the foundationoperations1.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Operations1 do?
- German B2B SaaS provider of a shopfloor execution platform that digitizes work instructions and operational processes for manufacturers.
- Who are Operations1's investors?
- Operations1's investors include 42CAP, OpenOcean.