Aero One from Evangelisch Stiftisches Gymnasium Gütersloh Named “Germany’s Best Student Company 2026”
At the national final of the IW JUNIOR competition in Cologne, the five-student team from Gütersloh takes the national title with professional drone footage and will represent Germany at the Gen-E 2026 European finals in Riga — while Managing Director Jonathan Kreutzheide (16) also receives the Leadership Award from JA – Junior Alumni Germany.
Translated from the German original.
Gütersloh / Cologne. The student company Aero One of Evangelisch Stiftisches Gymnasium (ESG) Gütersloh is Germany’s best student company. At the national final of the IW JUNIOR competition on June 16, 2026 at the Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (German Economic Institute) in Cologne, the five-student team won over the eight-member jury and brought the title “Best Student Company 2026” home to Ostwestfalen-Lippe — prevailing in the final against 13 other winning teams from 12 German states, judged on business idea, pitch deck, stage presentation and jury interview.
Professional aerial footage — fast, digital and fully legally compliant
Aero One delivers professional drone footage of buildings — photos and videos — for real estate agents, architecture firms and construction projects. What sets the concept apart: the finished footage is delivered within 48 hours, and all media can be accessed centrally through a digital platform. The team also handles the entire legal side itself — from flight permits and drone insurance to the required declarations of consent, for instance with the German Federal Aviation Office (Luftfahrt-Bundesamt).
“Many people simply don’t know that in most places you’re not allowed to fly a drone without a permit, or that drone insurance is required — in case it ever crashes, for example.”
From school project to national champion — how it all began
Aero One has its roots in the elective course “Wirtschaft-Medien-Kultur” (Business, Media, Culture — WMK), which introduces ESG students from grade 9 onwards to building a company of their own. In autumn 2025, classmate Linus Held approached Jonathan Kreutzheide with the idea of doing “something with drones”. Researching the market, Jonathan came across an average industry response time of around three weeks — and decided to be significantly faster. That is how the brand promise of 48-hour delivery was born.
In December, the team pitched its idea at “Höhle der Stifter” — an ESG format modeled on the TV show “Höhle der Löwen”, Germany’s version of “Dragons’ Den”, in which external entrepreneurs and advisors assess the students’ concepts. The idea became a company with real clients: Aero One has already completed five projects, including for the Gütersloh real estate agency Kaup and for Concept GT, the city’s corporation for economic development, real estate and urban development.
How quickly the concept caught on surprised even the team itself: on her very first sales outing, Head of Sales Freya Knight came back with two clients. “We never expected that,” says Kreutzheide.
A managing director at 16 — with a holding company of his own
Aero One is not Jonathan Kreutzheide’s first venture: at just 14, he set out on his own with a production company for commercial films. Today, at 16, he heads the holding company STG Medien, which comprises two further companies alongside Aero One. This is possible because a court declared him to have full legal capacity. “Once a court has formally granted you full legal capacity, you can run a company like any adult,” says Kreutzheide — a path that demanded patience: “For three months there was no response at all to my application to the local court.”
The team
- Jonathan Kreutzheide – Managing Director & Co-Founder
- Linus Held – Drone Pilot & Co-Founder
- Freya Knight – Head of Sales
- Amy Thomalla – Sales
- Friedrich Grüninger – Marketing & Drone Pilot in Training
The team is supported by its supervising teachers, Ms. Milse and Johannes Leiskau.
What sets this team apart
“This team has earned the win: Jonathan Kreutzheide, who also brings home the Leadership Award, Amy Thomalla, Linus Held, Friedrich Grüninger and Freya Knight. What impresses Johannes Leiskau and me most about this team cannot be measured in grades: five very different minds who listen to each other, challenge each other and keep growing together. They forged their own paths instead of working through prescribed ones, took on responsibility even when it hurt, and earned themselves a voice that others listen to. That is exactly what I want school to be: a place where teachers are guides and companions, enablers rather than instructors — and where we ourselves, together with our students, always remain learners.”
Voices from the jury
The jury had already made its verdict clear at the state final. “The best student company in NRW comes from Gütersloh!” announced jury member Timm Helten-Hildwein at the award ceremony. Tanja Nackmayr, Deputy Chief Executive of unternehmer nrw, emphasized: “The project combines entrepreneurial thinking with career orientation and supports the students’ personal development.” Host Dr. Wasilios Rodoniklis simply called the presentation of the drone footage for real estate, construction and architecture “world class”.
Next stop: the Gen-E 2026 European finals in Riga
With the national title, Aero One has qualified for one of Europe’s largest entrepreneurship festivals: from July 7 to 10, 2026, the team will represent Germany at Gen-E 2026 in Riga, Latvia — a festival with around 1,200 participants from all over Europe. There, Aero One will compete for the title of “JA Europe Company of the Year 2026”.
In a FIFA World Cup year, the competition took on a sporting flavor: IW Director Michael Hüther sent the team off to the European finals in Riga with a clear mission.
“Aero One, bring the cup home to Germany!”
“Coming out on top against Germany’s best student companies still feels unreal — and we can’t wait to compete for Germany in Riga.”
The IW JUNIOR competition is organized by IW JUNIOR gGmbH, a subsidiary of the Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (German Economic Institute). The program gives students hands-on experience of real entrepreneurship — from founding a company through production and sales to the annual financial statements.
A role model for the region — an invitation to get involved
When a team from Gütersloh represents Germany in Riga, it shows what is possible in Ostwestfalen-Lippe. The supervising teachers are therefore campaigning to further expand the “Netzwerk Entrepreneurship und Bildung im Kreis GT” (Entrepreneurship and Education Network in the Gütersloh District), launched by Jörg Rodehutskors and IMA Innovationsmanufaktur Gütersloh GmbH. Companies from the region can get involved — by giving students a few hours of insight into their day-to-day work, acting as mentors for pitch and start-up projects, or providing real-world assignments for student companies like Aero One. Along the way, they may well meet their future employees. Anyone who would like to be part of it is invited to contact the team directly.
About Aero One
Aero One is a JUNIOR student company at Evangelisch Stiftisches Gymnasium Gütersloh, specializing in professional aerial photography and videography by drone. Its services are aimed at real estate, construction and architecture clients as well as companies that want to present projects and locations effectively. In 2026, Aero One won both the NRW state title and the national title of the IW JUNIOR competition; Managing Director Jonathan Kreutzheide was additionally honored with the Leadership Award from JA – Junior Alumni Germany.
Press contact
Aero One
Freya Knight (Head of Sales)
Feldstraße 13, 33330 Gütersloh
Photos, video footage and interview soundbites are available on request.