ZENIT GmbH was established in 1984 to help small and medium-sized enterprises in North Rhine-Westphalia in the development and introduction of future-oriented innovations with proficient advice and active assistance and thus to support the urgently needed structural change in the region. The original shareholders of this organisation, which was unique in Germany at that time, were the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the ZENIT e.V., an association of enterprises from a wide range of sectors, and the Westdeutsche Landesbank, each holding one third of the shares. With the consortium of banks, which has since been extended and includes a private group of banks and the Westdeutsche Genossenschafts Zentralbank (WGZ-Bank), together with the other two shareholders, ZENIT has direct contact and access - unlike most other consulting company - not just to enterprises but also to the financial world and to politics. Since solutions to existing problems are solved on a partnership level, the model - which describes the joint activities of small and medium-sized industry, politics and the financial community in dealing with the structural change - is referred to as the "Private Public Partnership".

Some 50 qualified and experienced staff are involved in a wide variety of services tailored to the special requirements of the mostly small and medium-sized clientele. Partly with the support of the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the European Union, ZENIT prepares its clients for the European market as well as for globalisation and helps them open up new markets and establish suitable national and international co-operation partnerships. ZENIT makes an important contribution to this by organising successful joint stands at international exhibitions, intensive coaching before, during and after the events, mediation of interesting company contacts via international networks of consultants or via its highly diversified programme of informative seminars and workshops. In the framework of its role as official Euro Info Centre and Innovation Relay Centre of the European Commission, ZENIT also provides support in applications for public funding at European level and helps in the Europe-wide marketing of innovative technologies. Since the development of innovative products, processes and services alone is however not sufficient to guarantee long-term success in the marketplace, assistance - tailor-made to the needs of SMEs and practice-oriented - in dealing with a wide spectrum of management tasks is part of our comprehensive service offer.