When Arineo GmbH was founded in December 2019, it was already clear that, after an initial phase supported by internal investors, the company would be fully transferred to the stewardship of its employees. Now, just over six years after its founding and four years earlier than initially planned, the transition has been completed: Arineo GmbH is now owned by the Arineo foundation, whose governing bodies consist exclusively of employees. Even the supervisory board is composed of 50% employees. As a result, the workforce now has indirect control over the company.
“We developed our corporate structure with the help of an interdisciplinary advisory team of tax consultants, auditors, and lawyers. It guarantees us the highest level of stability. A sale of the company is impossible – and the profits benefit the company exclusively,” explains Dr. Marko Weinrich, CEO of Arineo GmbH. The best part: thanks to the innovative corporate structure, Arineo GmbH did not have to wait for the announced corporate form of a limited liability company with tied assets. “If this corporate form had been available, we would have considered it. But we didn’t want to wait any longer. Our goal is clear: maximum stability to ensure our employees want to stay,” says Weinrich. Ultimately, there is a direct correlation between service quality and the workforce quality. The lower the turnover, the better the service – because consultants are familiar with their customers, processes, and history.
The Arineo employees’ association, whose board is also the foundation’s executive committee and thus represents the owner, is enjoying great popularity. “Almost half of our employees signed up for the waiting list to become association members on the very first day of our employee-owned company implementation. Since implementing our corporate structure, we have been receiving new membership applications daily,” reports Wibke Jellinghaus, Chairwoman of the Arineo Employees’ Association. There are already enough candidates for the upcoming board elections. “We are delighted that our employees are so committed to the company and are bringing the concept to life,” Jellinghaus adds.

Association board members Wibke Jellinghaus and Daniel Piekorz
According to Weinrich, another significant advantage of an employee-owned company is its solution to the succession challenges many companies face. The ownership of Arineo GmbH is sustainably secured and anchored within the employee-controlled foundation – only the management team needs successors. To address this, the Göttingen-based company has initiated an internal qualification program. It systematically prepares motivated young professionals step-by-step for management responsibilities. They learn the trade and can find out if they are truly suited for this role. “This ensures that future management understands, supports, and upholds the principles of the employee-owned company,” says Weinrich optimistically. “Through the Arineo Foundation, we will support other companies in adapting our concept to their needs. The interest is already there!”
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About Arineo
Die Arineo GmbH begleitet mittelständische Unternehmen auf dem Weg der Digitalisierung – von der Wahl der passenden Lösungskombination, deren Implementierung bis hin zum Betrieb und Support. Dabei setzt das Unternehmen auf Technologien von Microsoft und SAP und unterstützt seine Kunden in den Bereichen Digital Transformation, ERP und CRM, Customer Experience, Modern Workplace sowie Data Analytics. Es nutzt dafür auch die Vorteile von künstlicher Intelligenz, Big Data sowie IoT-Technologien und ist zudem mit zwei Forschungsprojekten zur Entwicklung von künstlicher Intelligenz Partner des Bundesministeriums für Bildung und Forschung.
Die Arineo GmbH ist eine Employee Owned Company (EOC) mit Sitz in Göttingen und weiteren Standorten in Deutschland, Österreich, Dänemark, Bulgarien und China. Das erwirtschaftete Kapital bleibt komplett im Unternehmen und wird in die Fortbildung der Teams, die Erweiterung des Leistungsspektrums und den Ausbau von Innovationen und Forschung investiert. Zudem ist das Unternehmen kollegial organisiert und wurde im Jahr 2023 mit dem Siegel berufundfamilie sowie dem Deutschen Personalwirtschaftspreis in der Kategorie Leadership und Kultur ausgezeichnet.
More about our
business model
Employee-owned company
We founded Arineo as an employee-owned company to make the company unsellable and to ensure that the earned capital stays within the company.
Organizational development
We want people to want to stay with us – this is a meaningful guiding principle for our company, not only in times of skilled labor shortages.