Founded in 1994 – 30 years of headsets in Austria and Europe!

In May 1994, our founder Franz Drnek began preparations to establish a sole proprietorship. The founder had previously worked for four years at the renowned and then publicly traded Viennese company AKG Akustische- und Kinogeräte AG. AKG Acoustics headphones and microphones are still used worldwide in studios and are highly regarded by musicians.

Since 1992, Drnek had been expanding sales in Austria and the Eastern European market for headsets manufactured by the German company Ceotronics AG, based in Rödermark/Urberach. AKG Vienna had a stake in this company. Unfortunately, as is so often the case, there were few synergy effects, and so the collaboration between AKG and Ceotronics came to an end after a few years. However, Drnek, then 27 years old, wanted to continue this business and therefore decided to start his own company.

The start was almost classic: but not in a garage, but in a small, 5m2 office in the founder’s former home, which was located in an allotment garden. There was room for a desk, an office chair and a shelf for file folders. The office was so small that everything was within reach of the office chair. Due to space constraints, the fax machine had to be moved to the front room of the house.

In September 1994, the trade licence was obtained and the company was officially founded under its original name, “ing. franz drnek communication products”. The company had to become profitable quickly in order to avoid private financial difficulties. 

His father, Walter Drnek, was a great support, not only helping to expand the office, but also providing very positive support for the establishment of the company itself. With a little luck, the first shortened financial year ended with a small profit.

Since then, there has not been a single negative year in 30 years. On the contrary, there have been impressive growth rates, and the last financial year 2023 of the now “headsets.at – Imtradex Communications GmbH” was concluded with an exceptionally good record year.

Despite all its successes, it was unable to keep up with another company that was also founded in 1994: Amazon, but that’s another story… 🙂