EXPLEO GERMANY GMBH

Their core work

Expleo Germany GmbH (operating under the Berner & Mattner brand, as indicated by their registered website) is a German engineering and technology consultancy specializing in safety-critical cyber-physical systems, embedded software development, and industrial digitalization. Their H2020 work shows expertise in two complementary areas: assurance and certification frameworks for complex systems, and the engineering of digitalization tools for industrial automation. They bring a practitioner perspective to EU research — contributing real-world engineering knowledge to consortia that need a private-sector technology integrator. Their Munich base places them at the center of Germany's automotive and advanced manufacturing ecosystem, which shapes both their technical focus and their industry connections.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their earliest H2020 project (AMASS, 2016–2019) focused on the assurance and certification side of cyber-physical systems — a compliance and methodology-heavy discipline. Their second project (Arrowhead Tools, 2019–2022) shifted toward the practical engineering of digitalization solutions, signaling a move from certification frameworks toward active tooling and implementation. The trajectory suggests they are following industry demand: as their industrial clients moved from "how do we certify this?" to "how do we build the digitalization layer?", Expleo Germany moved with them.

They are moving deeper into industrial digitalization tooling, positioning themselves as an engineering partner for companies undergoing digital transformation in manufacturing and automation-heavy sectors.

How they like to work

Expleo Germany has participated exclusively as a consortium partner — never as coordinator — across both projects, indicating they prefer to contribute specialist expertise within larger initiatives rather than lead them. Both projects involved very large consortia (Arrowhead Tools had over 70 partners across Europe), suggesting they are comfortable navigating complex multi-partner programs. With 114 unique partners across 19 countries from just two projects, they are clearly operating in high-connectivity consortia rather than tight bilateral collaborations.

Despite only two projects, Expleo Germany has touched 114 unique consortium partners across 19 countries — an unusually wide network for such a small H2020 footprint, explained by their participation in two very large ECSEL and IA consortia. Their network is pan-European with no obvious geographic concentration beyond Germany as home base.

What sets them apart

Expleo Germany occupies a niche that few academic or pure-research partners can fill: a private engineering consultancy that understands both the certification requirements of safety-critical systems and the practical demands of industrial digitalization. Operating under the Berner & Mattner brand — well known in German automotive and industrial engineering circles — they bring industry credibility and client access that pure research organizations lack. For a consortium needing a partner who can translate research outputs into something an automotive OEM or industrial manufacturer will actually adopt, this organization is a strong fit.

Highlights from their portfolio

• Arrowhead Tools
  The largest funding award in their portfolio (EUR 352,428) and part of a flagship ECSEL initiative to build engineering tools for industrial IoT — a high-visibility program with broad European industry reach.
• AMASS
  Addressed the specific challenge of multi-concern assurance for cyber-physical systems, a technically demanding area where few private companies contribute at the EU research level.