WorkFlex wins the VDR Innovation Award 2026

^{Dresden, April 2026}

WorkFlex has been named winner of the VDR Innovation Award 2026 at the annual conference of the VDR – The German Business Travel Association, Germany's largest and most respected business travel industry body. The award was presented in Dresden before an audience of 500+ travel and mobility professionals, with WorkFlex selected by an expert jury and industry peers for its fully automated compliance platform for international workforce mobility.

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Why this award matters

The VDR Innovation Award is not a technology beauty contest. It recognises innovations that make business travel measurably more efficient, sustainable, and forward-looking - and that are already delivering real value to companies and travellers in the market today.
For HR, Travel, and Global Mobility teams, the compliance burden around cross-border work has never been heavier. A single international business trip can trigger A1 certificate requirements, Posted Worker Notifications, visa obligations, and tax exposure - across multiple jurisdictions, often simultaneously. Most organisations are still managing this through a patchwork of external consultants, manual processes, and email chains. The result: missed filings, compliance gaps, and fines of up to €500,000.

WorkFlex was built to eliminate exactly this. Rather than offering guidance and leaving execution to HR, the platform handles it - automatically generating required documents, filing notifications, and maintaining audit-ready records across 1,000+ country combinations. No manual chasing. No juggling multiple systems. Compliance that runs in the background while teams focus on the trip itself.

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"Winning the VDR Innovation Award means a great deal to us - not because of the recognition itself, but because of who voted for it: the HR professionals, travel managers, and mobility leaders who live this problem every day. They know what good looks like. Being chosen by that audience is the strongest validation we could ask for. This award reflects thousands of hours of listening to clients, building solutions that actually solve their problems, and refusing to ship anything that doesn't make their work genuinely easier."
‍— Patrick Koch, Co-Founder & Managing Director, WorkFlex

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Why the VDR jury chose WorkFlex

The VDR confirmed WorkFlex as winner of the Innovation Award 2026, describing the platform as a "fully automated compliance platform for international workforce mobility" - selected from a competitive field that included eco.mio, SAP Concur, and Travelin.AI. The award was judged by a volunteer expert jury composed of senior business travel and mobility professionals.

"The VDR Innovation Award recognises companies whose ideas and developments make the business travel industry more sustainable, efficient and forward-looking — whether it's a process, product or service. We're looking for market-ready innovations that drive the industry forward, open up new perspectives and offer real added value to both companies and travellers."
— VDR – The German Business Travel Association

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What this means for WorkFlex customers

The VDR award is another external signal of what WorkFlex clients already experience day-to-day: compliance that works without the administrative burden. For organisations currently managing cross-border work through consultants, spreadsheets, or fragmented systems, the recognition reinforces what the platform delivers in practice - not just in principle.

WorkFlex's investment from Spectrum Equity earlier this year is already accelerating product development, with expanded country and compliance use case coverage, deeper HRIS integrations, and enhanced duty of care capabilities in active development. The platform continues to scale to meet the demands of organisations whose international workforce mobility is growing faster than their HR teams can manually manage.

For HR and Global Mobility leaders evaluating compliance automation: this award was voted for by the people who buy and use travel technology every day. That's the endorsement that matters.

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About VDR

The VDR – The German Business Travel Association is Germany's largest network for business mobility management, with more than 600 member companies spanning SMEs, corporations, and mobility providers. For over 50 years, VDR has represented the interests of German businesses in dialogue with industry and politics — driving standards, shaping policy, and advancing innovation in corporate travel. The VDR Innovation Award is one of the industry's most respected recognitions, voted for by business travel professionals and an expert jury.

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About WorkFlex

Founded in 2022 by Pieter Manden and Patrick Koch, WorkFlex is a European technology platform for business travel and workforce mobility compliance. The company provides structured digital technology that enables enterprises to manage cross-border compliance obligations in a scalable and audit-ready manner.

Through the WorkFlex platform, employers and employees are supported in managing key cross-border compliance requirements including tax and social security obligations, A1-Certificates and Certificates of Coverage (COC), Posted Worker Directive (PWD) notifications, and visas. WorkFlex’s recently launched SOS solution further helps organisations fulfil their duty-of-care responsibilities by keeping travelling employees informed and enabling companies to respond quickly when situations escalate.

As regulatory enforcement increases and international workforce mobility becomes more complex, organisations face growing exposure across immigration, tax and employment law. WorkFlex replaces fragmented manual processes with centralised workflows and compliance visibility, enabling governance teams to manage mobility-related risks systematically.

A fully-remote company registered in Amsterdam, WorkFlex serves enterprise customers across multiple industries worldwide. The company is backed by Spectrum Equity, Visionaries Club, s16vc and a number of successful technology founders. WorkFlex’s vision is to build a world where global business knows no borders - where compliance is effortless, so growth has no limits.