Where we come from

iCOGNIZE was founded in 2007, with a purpose the commercial register still records in those words: systems for the visual recognition of objects. It began with real-time digital image and video processing — the question of how a machine recognises what it sees, in the moment it sees it.

That question led to an answer to another one: how a person can identify themselves without carrying anything they might lose or pass on. The company has been based in Dietzenbach since 2012.

The hand as the key

Our scanners read the vein pattern of the palm — without contact, in the moment someone holds their hand above the device. The pattern lies beneath the skin. It cannot be put down like a badge, passed on like a number, or lifted from a surface like a fingerprint.

It builds on Fujitsu PalmSecure technology, one of the most secure biometric methods available today, certified to BSI standards. How that biometric data is stored is a question of its own — in 2021 we filed a patent application on a method that splits the template and leaves what remains worthless.

What we build

The ScanVein range covers everything from indoor use to weatherproof outdoor mounting: Design fits into a standard flush-mounted wall box, Compact can be flush- or surface-mounted, indoors and out, and Rugged is a robust version in V4A stainless steel, built for outdoor use as far as coastal air.

Alongside them come the iC-Reader for cards, NFC and QR codes, controllers, and PLEXUS — the software that grants rights, controls doors, and keeps access accountable. Developed and manufactured in Germany.

The founders

Dr. rer. nat. Alexander W. Lenhardt founded iCOGNIZE and has led it ever since. The focus on real-time image processing, out of which palm vein recognition grew, is his.

Helmut Wörner founded Controlware in Dietzenbach in 1980 and built it into a group of companies over four decades. He co-founded iCOGNIZE and accompanied its course. Helmut Wörner died on 5 April 2023, aged 81.

Milestones

• 2007Founded; entered in the commercial register at Offenbach am Main.
• 2010Move to Dreieich.
• 2011The first project: securing the data centre of the Deutsche Bundesbank with iCOGNIZE systems.
• 2011Swiss door manufacturer Frank Türen AG and iCOGNIZE agree a partnership.
• 2012Registered office in Dietzenbach, Justus-von-Liebig-Strasse 9.
• 2018Controlware Holding takes over Helmut Wörner’s shares and joins as a shareholder.
• 2018Funding under LOEWE research line 3 for BioBiDa — biometrics and big data: efficient multi-biometric identification in large-scale databases, together with Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences (Prof. Dr Christoph Busch) and the German Federal Criminal Police Office.
• 2018The ICOGNIZE word mark is registered.
• 2019Dr Alexander W. Lenhardt transfers his shares to ALENcor Holding GmbH.
• 2019Berlin’s capital airport is equipped with palm vein biometrics from iCOGNIZE.
• 2020ScanVein Compact is introduced — among the smallest professional palm vein systems available.
• 2021Growth funding in the millions; new shareholders join.
• 2021ZIM funding together with Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences (Prof. Dr Christoph Busch) for an in-house solution for multimodal biometric recognition.
• 2021Together with Bosch, iCOGNIZE equips the Prime Tower in Zurich throughout with palm vein biometrics.
• 2021iCOGNIZE becomes a Legic partner.
• 2021Patent application on the split-template method for securing biometric data.
• 2023iCOGNIZE joins the Bosch SASAM project as a partner.
• 2024iCOGNIZE and b2 Business Solutions GmbH of Braunschweig agree a comprehensive cooperation.
• 2026The new portfolio is presented.

What comes next

Until now iCOGNIZE has been a specialist: one method, mastered thoroughly. The next step is breadth — from the single device to a complete supplier for physical security. Readers, controllers and software from one source, fitting together without translation work, whether at the factory gate, the office door or the server cabinet.

Alongside that comes the industrial internet of things. A door that knows who is standing in front of it is already a networked device — and from there it is not far to cabinets, machines and plants asking the same question. So we are building the platform open: identity, access and device should speak one language rather than talk to each other by detour.

We will present the new portfolio in 2026.

Where we are

We are based in Dietzenbach, near Frankfurt am Main. Which system suits a site depends on that site — how many doors need securing, what is outdoors and what is in, and what is already in place. We prefer to work that out in conversation.