Latest / Deep Tech Germany – AI, Robotics & Frontier Innovation by Startuprad.io™ / Scavenger.ai: AI for Complex Enterprise Data Analysis
Transcript
- WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.820 Hello, and welcome, everybody. This is Joe from Startupradio dot Joe, 2 00:00:03.919 --> 00:00:07.754 your Startupradio podcast and YouTube blog from Germany. Welcome 3 00:00:07.975 --> 00:00:11.334 another guest from Frankfurt in our series, Tech Startups 4 00:00:11.334 --> 00:00:14.934 Germany, with the European Enterprise Network, Hessen. Hey, Max. How are you 5 00:00:14.934 --> 00:00:18.200 doing? I'm fine. Thank you very much for the invitation. Happy to talking to you 6 00:00:18.200 --> 00:00:22.040 today. Totally my pleasure. As I said, our enabler today is 7 00:00:22.040 --> 00:00:25.635 Hessen Trade and Invest and the Enterprise Europe Network. This 8 00:00:25.635 --> 00:00:29.475 recording was made possible by Hesen Tread and Invest and the Enterprise Europe 9 00:00:29.475 --> 00:00:33.015 Network, Hesen. These organizations have made tremendous 10 00:00:33.310 --> 00:00:37.070 contribution to helping start up businesses succeed and thrive, 11 00:00:37.070 --> 00:00:40.510 providing a range of services from helping to find friends to 12 00:00:40.510 --> 00:00:44.184 ongoing partnerships. By taking advantage of these resources, 13 00:00:44.405 --> 00:00:48.085 start up companies can network and develop innovative strategies for 14 00:00:48.085 --> 00:00:51.400 success on the international stage. The dedicated 15 00:00:51.540 --> 00:00:55.380 support of HDAI and the enterprise you work work 16 00:00:55.380 --> 00:00:59.075 Hessen is paramount in providing start up businesses with the tools 17 00:00:59.075 --> 00:01:02.915 for lasting success. You can learn more in 18 00:01:02.915 --> 00:01:06.590 the show notes down here in the show notes down here below 19 00:01:06.750 --> 00:01:10.590 wherever you will looking at this or listening to this. For everybody who's 20 00:01:10.590 --> 00:01:14.350 watching, sorry for the red eye, but allergy season is 21 00:01:14.350 --> 00:01:17.725 up on us again. Now that we 22 00:01:17.725 --> 00:01:21.405 have everything out of the way I'm sorry. That that that 23 00:01:21.405 --> 00:01:25.140 that was a lot of initial stuff. Maximilian, 24 00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:29.280 would you like to introduce yourself and how you, an Austrian guy, 25 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:32.994 ended up setting up a AI Startupradio 26 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:36.785 in Frankfurt? Yeah. Sure. Thank you very much. So hi, everyone. My 27 00:01:36.785 --> 00:01:40.385 name is Max. I'm 26, and I'm originally from Austria in Vienna, as Sir 28 00:01:40.385 --> 00:01:44.130 already mentioned. And, yeah, how we came up Menninger scavenger here in Frankfurt is 29 00:01:44.130 --> 00:01:47.729 actually I was doing an internship already more than a year ago here in 30 00:01:47.729 --> 00:01:51.189 Frankfurt where I fell in love with the city, and we got to know 31 00:01:51.525 --> 00:01:55.045 the, like, props on the stage to our very good lawyer, doctor Jan Felix 32 00:01:55.045 --> 00:01:58.805 Kumpka, who was of big help of all the bureaucracy that's going on 33 00:01:58.805 --> 00:02:02.320 around founding a Startupradio who suggested us because we really 34 00:02:02.320 --> 00:02:05.520 trusted him to set it up here in Frankfurt where he could be of help 35 00:02:05.520 --> 00:02:09.065 the whole time. So, yeah, started here and stayed here. 36 00:02:09.445 --> 00:02:13.045 As everybody can tell, not everybody from Austria need to have an 37 00:02:13.045 --> 00:02:16.565 accent like Schwarzenegger. I have to admit right now, I do 38 00:02:16.565 --> 00:02:20.230 believe his accent is kind of an act, that 39 00:02:20.230 --> 00:02:23.900 people instantly recognize. Oh, that's a kind 40 00:02:23.900 --> 00:02:27.735 of branding stuff. You studied 41 00:02:28.115 --> 00:02:31.635 in Vienna and balcony. But what I found 42 00:02:31.635 --> 00:02:34.855 very interesting, you have been a professional 43 00:02:35.315 --> 00:02:39.140 athlete for some time according to your LinkedIn profile, which, 44 00:02:39.140 --> 00:02:42.739 by the way, we are also linking down here. Can you talk a little bit 45 00:02:42.739 --> 00:02:45.400 about that, what you did here, and what kind of sports? 46 00:02:46.694 --> 00:02:50.375 Sure. Of course. Very happy to. So, yeah, I was playing, hockey 47 00:02:50.375 --> 00:02:54.080 from a very young Joe, actually, from 4 years on. And, yeah, I 48 00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:57.760 went through, like, on the national level to an international level and 49 00:02:57.760 --> 00:03:01.485 was captain of the Austrian youth hockey national team here. Played couple 50 00:03:01.485 --> 00:03:05.005 of European championships, won I think in the end, there was 4 51 00:03:05.005 --> 00:03:08.765 championships of the Austrian in the Austrian level. Yeah. 52 00:03:08.765 --> 00:03:12.000 It was a really great time looking back into it. And, yeah, I'm busy from 53 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:15.520 time to time. And we're talking about here field 54 00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:19.200 hockey, not ice hockey. Right? We're talking about field hockey. For me, it's always clear, 55 00:03:19.200 --> 00:03:22.615 but for someone who didn't play field hockey, obviously, ice hockey is the first thing 56 00:03:22.615 --> 00:03:26.155 that comes to mind. Okay. You did a 57 00:03:26.215 --> 00:03:29.740 few internships, including at Deloitte where we did not 58 00:03:29.800 --> 00:03:33.560 met, and you have been at 59 00:03:33.560 --> 00:03:37.265 the Financial Times Challenge. What was this all about? 60 00:03:37.725 --> 00:03:41.084 Yes. It was actually a very cool initiative by the Financial Times. Back then, it 61 00:03:41.084 --> 00:03:44.790 was supposed to be in London. And luckily, obviously, it was COVID, and I was 62 00:03:44.790 --> 00:03:48.550 doing it back from my living room. Nevertheless, the challenge was really, really 63 00:03:48.550 --> 00:03:52.310 cool. It was for 3 days on where you had to basically, the 64 00:03:52.310 --> 00:03:56.015 Financial Times gave you the most pressuring issues of the time, and you 65 00:03:56.015 --> 00:03:59.375 were supposed to build a Startupradio it that more or less solves those 66 00:03:59.375 --> 00:04:03.050 issues. So I would say it was, totally cool. You were 67 00:04:03.050 --> 00:04:06.030 given, experts and access to a lot of knowledge, 68 00:04:06.730 --> 00:04:10.545 from experts from the Financial Times and could build, in a nutshell, the start up 69 00:04:10.545 --> 00:04:13.285 in 3 days that then got accessed by XUEZ. 70 00:04:14.225 --> 00:04:17.765 Mhmm. Mhmm. What what was your start up idea? 71 00:04:18.410 --> 00:04:22.029 Our idea was actually back then because it was the time a detector that detects 72 00:04:22.089 --> 00:04:25.705 particles in the air to make, like, an early detection 73 00:04:25.784 --> 00:04:28.205 system for transmittable diseases like COVID. 74 00:04:29.465 --> 00:04:33.289 I I assume they will still be useful in the future. And 75 00:04:33.289 --> 00:04:36.430 then you started your own company in January 2020, 76 00:04:37.210 --> 00:04:40.970 stopped that and started with scavengerai according to your 77 00:04:40.970 --> 00:04:44.295 LinkedIn profile. Can you take us through this journey? Because, 78 00:04:44.775 --> 00:04:48.155 you stop Joe company and then you instantly start with another 79 00:04:48.375 --> 00:04:52.000 in an AI company. How did you meet your cofounder? How how 80 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:55.300 did you get started with the idea? Definitely. So 81 00:04:55.840 --> 00:04:58.319 back then, I like my background is a bit of a different one. Like, I 82 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:01.755 actually studied business law, which has way more of a law focus than a business 83 00:05:01.755 --> 00:05:04.555 focus, which is also Joe reason why I worked first at Deloitte because I said 84 00:05:04.555 --> 00:05:08.075 I wanted to get a bit of a background more into business and then also 85 00:05:08.075 --> 00:05:11.860 started the first company, which back then was called Walking Art, and 86 00:05:11.860 --> 00:05:15.300 it was more yeah. My first steps into entrepreneurship, I would say, together with a 87 00:05:15.300 --> 00:05:18.825 colleague of mine. What we saw during COVID that, like, the art sector is 88 00:05:18.825 --> 00:05:22.665 struggling a lot because artists don't have access to art, 89 00:05:22.905 --> 00:05:26.070 or, like, to exhibitions anymore and they're art fans. So we said, okay. We're more 90 00:05:26.070 --> 00:05:29.750 or less in a nutshell to an online art gallery where they can host online 91 00:05:29.750 --> 00:05:33.565 exhibitions and so on, which was very nice. But 92 00:05:33.565 --> 00:05:37.005 then I joined because it was actually a case that I was way more interested 93 00:05:37.005 --> 00:05:40.630 in the business side, and I joined Bocconi University in Italy to 94 00:05:40.630 --> 00:05:44.150 study management there. And as then, the work required a lot of 95 00:05:44.150 --> 00:05:47.450 personal meetings with the artists. It was a local business focused in Vienna. 96 00:05:47.945 --> 00:05:51.705 It was not possible anymore. But, luckily, in Bocconi, I had 97 00:05:51.705 --> 00:05:55.085 my lovely cofounder Felix, who is leading the tech part at 98 00:05:55.380 --> 00:05:59.140 Scavenger, who I reached out to to very, very early 99 00:05:59.140 --> 00:06:02.965 on. And, Yeah. 100 00:06:03.764 --> 00:06:07.225 He was a fan of the idea. We talked to it a lot. And 101 00:06:07.845 --> 00:06:11.570 yeah. So over long nights and early mornings, we talked in coffee chats 102 00:06:11.650 --> 00:06:15.270 at Macquarie University about it and, in the end, decided to fund together. 103 00:06:18.050 --> 00:06:21.895 I see. So, basically, you're an Austrian guy and your cofounder 104 00:06:21.895 --> 00:06:24.875 is German? Yes. My cofounder is German. He's from Aachen. 105 00:06:25.975 --> 00:06:29.470 From From from Aachen and from Austria, and you end up setting up 106 00:06:29.610 --> 00:06:33.050 a company in Frankfurt. That is pretty 107 00:06:33.050 --> 00:06:36.895 interesting. How did you get started? Can we first 108 00:06:36.895 --> 00:06:40.735 talk about what scavenger does and then how he got the idea 109 00:06:40.735 --> 00:06:44.550 to do actually something like that? Because for me, personally, to 110 00:06:44.550 --> 00:06:47.930 have, a business lawyer 111 00:06:48.150 --> 00:06:50.729 doing AI is is quite a stretch. 112 00:06:51.955 --> 00:06:55.555 Definitely. So Felix and me both, before doing our masters, we worked in big 113 00:06:55.555 --> 00:06:59.315 corporates first. And we were basically coming back from our summer internships 114 00:06:59.315 --> 00:07:02.740 where we worked in big corporates before, and we saw a problem that all of 115 00:07:02.740 --> 00:07:06.500 the companies say that data is super important, yet nobody really likes to deal with 116 00:07:06.500 --> 00:07:09.965 it. So you end up that all of the companies have tons of data. They 117 00:07:09.965 --> 00:07:13.245 create more and more data every day, but they lack the time and they lack 118 00:07:13.245 --> 00:07:16.525 the resources to actually draw any insights out of it. And that was a problem 119 00:07:16.525 --> 00:07:20.110 that I'm sure your listeners, like, also know of that. It's really difficult if in 120 00:07:20.110 --> 00:07:23.390 a company you have to take a decision but do not have the necessary insights 121 00:07:23.390 --> 00:07:27.070 into your data to actually take that decision. So, yeah, long story short, we came 122 00:07:27.070 --> 00:07:30.715 back from that summer internship. We exchanged that idea. And 123 00:07:30.715 --> 00:07:34.555 luckily, you got very early on on initial funding. Like, I was still then working 124 00:07:34.555 --> 00:07:38.120 with my internship in Frankfurt at a venture builder with focus on software and 125 00:07:38.120 --> 00:07:41.800 AI, where I got more in touch with that. Felix was working before 2 years 126 00:07:41.800 --> 00:07:45.240 as a lead in software development, so he also had a bit of more experience 127 00:07:45.240 --> 00:07:48.905 in that field. And so, yeah, Felix built a short POC overnight. We reached 128 00:07:48.905 --> 00:07:52.425 out to early investors, Scott from Catelligent and Volker Ford and 129 00:07:52.425 --> 00:07:56.070 Ashkara, a very early investor early on that believed in the 130 00:07:56.070 --> 00:07:59.190 idea, where back then, it was just Felix, me, and the pitch deck and the 131 00:07:59.190 --> 00:08:02.950 POC that he built overnight. And, yeah, then 132 00:08:02.950 --> 00:08:06.055 we quit our jobs because we thought it might make more sense to work on 133 00:08:06.055 --> 00:08:09.835 this full time than before work and after work. And, yeah, here we are. 134 00:08:11.660 --> 00:08:13.100 It is quite interesting. 135 00:08:15.900 --> 00:08:19.740 If I wrap it up, my understanding is from what you 136 00:08:19.740 --> 00:08:22.995 guys are doing is you have 3 137 00:08:23.135 --> 00:08:26.675 distinct AI tools that help you analyze 138 00:08:26.815 --> 00:08:30.490 data you have from your own company, Menninger 139 00:08:30.490 --> 00:08:34.030 up data, doing statistical analyzes, and 140 00:08:35.210 --> 00:08:38.765 generate an output in in 141 00:08:38.765 --> 00:08:42.385 simple language. In which languages 142 00:08:42.845 --> 00:08:46.410 is this available? And can you take us a little bit through the 143 00:08:46.410 --> 00:08:50.250 journey? Is, like, 22 of those tools, are they for 144 00:08:50.250 --> 00:08:54.085 cleaning, for aggregating data, or how does it work? Yeah. 145 00:08:54.085 --> 00:08:57.685 Definitely. So in the end, what we wanna do is offer customers a one stop 146 00:08:57.685 --> 00:09:01.445 solution. So they can upload as you mentioned before, they can upload any kind 147 00:09:01.445 --> 00:09:05.180 of data. Any kind of data sounds generic, but it's on purpose. It is generic. 148 00:09:05.240 --> 00:09:09.000 So you can imagine you can upload 27 excels, free PDFs, a 149 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:12.515 word, whatsoever, or connect your company databases to it. 150 00:09:13.455 --> 00:09:17.055 Yeah. Once you've done that, you can ask a very simple question. Like, normally, you 151 00:09:17.055 --> 00:09:20.800 would always ask yourself like, okay. How can I improve my profit? From a 152 00:09:20.800 --> 00:09:24.240 user perspective, that's everything you need to do. And then as you mentioned before, we, 153 00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:28.079 in the back, actually have developed 3 different AI tools that are connected 154 00:09:28.079 --> 00:09:31.915 together in one workflow to solve the problem of the user in less than 10 155 00:09:31.915 --> 00:09:35.355 seconds, but you can also only use 1 out of the 3 tools if you 156 00:09:35.355 --> 00:09:38.990 want to. And, yeah, actually, very correct, as you mentioned before. The first 157 00:09:38.990 --> 00:09:42.670 tool, it all starts with data clean, where we have a tool that automatically detects 158 00:09:42.670 --> 00:09:46.190 anomalies inside the datasets, also does all of the statistical data 159 00:09:46.190 --> 00:09:48.904 cleaning, and separates the numerical from texture data. 160 00:09:49.765 --> 00:09:53.445 2nd, we save the texture data. We forward the numerical data to the next tool, 161 00:09:53.445 --> 00:09:56.930 which is more or less the key of scavenger dotai, which first has an 162 00:09:56.930 --> 00:10:00.769 algorithm that detects based on the question you asked, based on the data that got 163 00:10:00.769 --> 00:10:04.585 uploaded, what's the right mathematical numerical test to run. But then 164 00:10:04.585 --> 00:10:07.965 we don't stop there. We don't run 1. We run, like, 100 of tests simultaneously, 165 00:10:08.265 --> 00:10:11.945 choose the one which has the highest statistical fit, also safe that where 166 00:10:11.945 --> 00:10:15.399 already the textual data is waiting. And lastly, we have an interpretation 167 00:10:15.459 --> 00:10:19.300 agent that enriches all of it with industry data, looks at the question, looks at 168 00:10:19.300 --> 00:10:23.140 what outcome we've generated, and translates all of it into a nice looping dashboard 169 00:10:23.140 --> 00:10:26.605 that answers the question that the user asked before. That is pretty 170 00:10:26.605 --> 00:10:30.444 interesting. How far along are you? You guys 171 00:10:30.444 --> 00:10:33.800 just straight erased. By the way, that was the trigger, 172 00:10:34.420 --> 00:10:38.260 while we're talking today. You raised €1,100,000 in pre 173 00:10:38.260 --> 00:10:41.985 seed funding. Investors includes HTGF, the 174 00:10:41.985 --> 00:10:45.505 high-tech, By the way, everybody who like to, 175 00:10:46.225 --> 00:10:50.019 get to know the CEO down here in the show notes, we link our interview 176 00:10:50.019 --> 00:10:53.480 with him and Camp Storm Ventures from 177 00:10:53.540 --> 00:10:57.045 Vienna. So you're in pre 178 00:10:57.045 --> 00:11:00.745 seed, how far along are you and what kind of 179 00:11:00.885 --> 00:11:04.645 data can you work with, and how do your clients look like? 180 00:11:04.645 --> 00:11:08.350 Is it like the handyman from around the corner, or is it like the big 181 00:11:08.350 --> 00:11:11.410 international banks? Definitely. So, 182 00:11:12.430 --> 00:11:15.490 both, actually. All of the options you mentioned below. 183 00:11:16.713 --> 00:11:20.095 Joe, yes, all all of 184 00:11:20.095 --> 00:11:23.694 them, basically. So the way what we say at the moment, we 185 00:11:23.694 --> 00:11:27.220 launched our 1st MVP back in November 2023. And this 186 00:11:27.220 --> 00:11:30.820 MVP, we're at the moment trying out and testing out with pilot partners. Why are 187 00:11:30.820 --> 00:11:33.875 we doing that? Because we say, okay. We wanna be as close as we can 188 00:11:33.875 --> 00:11:37.715 in development to our potential and future customers while we 189 00:11:37.715 --> 00:11:41.235 already generate from that, value for them. So, actually, a win win situation, 190 00:11:41.235 --> 00:11:45.020 ideally. How are our customers look like? I'm actually unlikely not allowed 191 00:11:45.020 --> 00:11:48.620 to do some big name dropping here, but we're working with big 192 00:11:48.620 --> 00:11:52.055 enterprises, Joe, like, the big ones that you actually know to, like, the 193 00:11:52.055 --> 00:11:55.735 classical SMEs in Germany. And, yeah, based on that, 194 00:11:55.735 --> 00:11:59.170 because in the end, the software itself is very, very flexible. It's a very 195 00:11:59.170 --> 00:12:03.010 mathematical software that with the LLM layer that we put on top make 196 00:12:03.010 --> 00:12:06.790 it accessible for also people who don't necessarily studied 197 00:12:06.930 --> 00:12:10.775 statistics or mathematics to understand it, which then I would 198 00:12:10.775 --> 00:12:14.455 say in, big enterprises, we always talk to head 199 00:12:14.455 --> 00:12:18.260 ops and depart head of departments, and in smaller companies, SMEs, we always talk 200 00:12:18.260 --> 00:12:21.900 to the c level executives. And yeah. 201 00:12:21.900 --> 00:12:25.660 Because you also asked before, and I totally forgot to answer it, like, the 202 00:12:25.660 --> 00:12:29.405 software at the moment is available in English, but it's no problem to 203 00:12:29.405 --> 00:12:33.185 switch language. It also works in Italian, German, French, and Spanish, 204 00:12:33.565 --> 00:12:37.230 if I remember correctly so far. But we're happy to add another language if the 205 00:12:37.230 --> 00:12:39.730 language barrier should not be covered by that yet. 206 00:12:40.829 --> 00:12:44.635 Mhmm. There is right now 207 00:12:44.695 --> 00:12:45.915 a lot of 208 00:12:48.215 --> 00:12:51.820 tools out there. There's like a sea of tools in data 209 00:12:51.820 --> 00:12:55.180 analytics and AI. How are you guys different 210 00:12:55.180 --> 00:12:58.620 here? Definitely. I mean, we are obviously in a client. 211 00:12:58.620 --> 00:13:02.095 We do look at the competition, and we see that it's a very crowded space. 212 00:13:02.315 --> 00:13:06.074 Yet one thing we've always tried to mention is, like, we really wanna 213 00:13:06.074 --> 00:13:09.030 live by that, is that in the end, you have a technology, like, at the 214 00:13:09.030 --> 00:13:12.550 moment, it's artificial intelligence that you want to use not for the sake of using 215 00:13:12.550 --> 00:13:16.345 artificial intelligence, but to actually solve the problem of the user, which in the 216 00:13:16.345 --> 00:13:19.625 end is the good thing. How you solve it, the user doesn't care. So the 217 00:13:19.625 --> 00:13:22.105 way that we say it is, like, yeah, we have developed, in the end, its 218 00:13:22.105 --> 00:13:25.810 free AI tools that are AI powered, which are, at the moment, the best possible 219 00:13:25.810 --> 00:13:29.570 way to solve the problem for the user. But as described before, we have 220 00:13:29.570 --> 00:13:32.725 developed this one stop solutions that is powered by the free tools where the user 221 00:13:32.725 --> 00:13:36.485 literally doesn't have to do anything else than throw all of the data in, ask 222 00:13:36.485 --> 00:13:40.024 the questions, and we do all the analytics more or less like a consulting project 223 00:13:40.084 --> 00:13:43.590 on a click for them. You're not permitted 224 00:13:43.650 --> 00:13:47.330 to drop names, but can you drop industries? And what kind of 225 00:13:47.330 --> 00:13:50.575 industries are your customers right now working? Yes. Definitely. 226 00:13:51.595 --> 00:13:54.714 So we're working a lot in the food and beverage sector. We're working a bit 227 00:13:54.714 --> 00:13:58.550 in the, in the sports sector as well because 228 00:13:58.550 --> 00:14:02.070 also there, there's a lot of data available. And we're working also with the 229 00:14:02.070 --> 00:14:05.830 classical, I would say, like, German hidden champions, let's say it 230 00:14:05.830 --> 00:14:09.404 like that. Mhmm. Scalability is 231 00:14:09.404 --> 00:14:13.165 often a challenge for AI startups. How do you guys plan 232 00:14:13.165 --> 00:14:16.390 to scale in terms of operations and infrastructure? 233 00:14:17.649 --> 00:14:21.410 Definitely. So in terms of infrastructure, Felix and the tech team here did a 234 00:14:21.410 --> 00:14:25.235 really, really great job and set everything up in a very modular structure. In 235 00:14:25.235 --> 00:14:28.295 tech terms, it's called microservices, which allows us 236 00:14:28.675 --> 00:14:31.735 to have a very, very scalable approach of the software. 237 00:14:32.650 --> 00:14:35.610 Also at the moment, like, which is one of the few of the reasons why 238 00:14:35.610 --> 00:14:39.310 we got the cool investment is that we're really set up for scalability, 239 00:14:39.450 --> 00:14:43.295 and our costs in that case are very, very low. So that's very 240 00:14:43.295 --> 00:14:46.815 nice. In operational levels, like always, it's something you have to do with time. We 241 00:14:46.815 --> 00:14:50.570 are gonna grow. Like, with the investments, we're gonna grow up to 20 people 242 00:14:50.570 --> 00:14:54.410 because, obviously, operational load is getting heavier. But, like, we're also covered 243 00:14:54.410 --> 00:14:57.790 with the investment to, to lift that definitely. 244 00:14:58.635 --> 00:15:02.235 Mhmm. You talked about investments. After pre 245 00:15:02.235 --> 00:15:05.995 seed, it usually suggests that you want to do a 246 00:15:05.995 --> 00:15:09.839 siege round. What are you guys' long term goals? 247 00:15:09.839 --> 00:15:13.459 And, when when you go to the website, you can basically register 248 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:17.665 to be a test client. Do you have any guesstimate when 249 00:15:17.665 --> 00:15:21.285 you'll be open to all clients out there? 250 00:15:21.665 --> 00:15:25.480 Yes. That's a very perfect concession. Love to love to tease it out here 251 00:15:25.480 --> 00:15:29.160 at this at this point. So, yeah, actually, at the end 252 00:15:29.160 --> 00:15:32.765 of Q2 2024, so, like, in end of June, we're 253 00:15:32.765 --> 00:15:36.605 gonna launch the whole software live. So from then on, you 254 00:15:36.605 --> 00:15:39.964 can actually you don't need to be a test partner anymore, which obviously also has 255 00:15:39.964 --> 00:15:42.660 its advantages. Joe if you still want to be a test partner, happy to work 256 00:15:42.660 --> 00:15:46.420 with you. Yet from end of June 2024, your whole software 257 00:15:46.420 --> 00:15:50.185 is gonna go live. Mhmm. I see. I 258 00:15:50.185 --> 00:15:54.024 see. What other 259 00:15:54.024 --> 00:15:57.590 plans do you have? We're now drifting a little bit into into the 260 00:15:57.590 --> 00:16:01.290 outlook area, in terms of geography, but 261 00:16:01.910 --> 00:16:05.654 I would believe everybody from the European Union is pretty safe 262 00:16:05.875 --> 00:16:08.834 in throwing your data into the, 263 00:16:09.235 --> 00:16:11.975 analytics tool because you're based in the European Union. 264 00:16:13.230 --> 00:16:16.130 Do you plan to expand for international clients? 265 00:16:17.230 --> 00:16:20.910 Yes. Definitely. Like, first grade that you mentioned it, like, at the moment, which is 266 00:16:20.910 --> 00:16:24.464 very, very important for all our customers that we have so far, is that all 267 00:16:24.464 --> 00:16:28.225 our servers, our databases are in actually in Frankfurt in Germany 268 00:16:28.225 --> 00:16:31.960 as well and are 100% GDPR compliant, which 269 00:16:31.960 --> 00:16:35.720 obviously is is huge. So I would say, like, also due to, as mentioned before, 270 00:16:35.720 --> 00:16:39.275 the language variant because we're already set up very, very well in terms of 271 00:16:39.275 --> 00:16:43.115 data security, which in Europe obviously is way more protected than when you look 272 00:16:43.115 --> 00:16:46.940 to the Asian market or the American market. Joe I would say, like, also in 273 00:16:46.940 --> 00:16:50.640 case of those crucial issues, we're already set up for expansion here. 274 00:16:51.820 --> 00:16:55.654 Mhmm. You already have 275 00:16:56.035 --> 00:16:59.475 4 investors. Mhmm. I I was 276 00:16:59.475 --> 00:17:03.070 wondering, and for most people who are listening to this are 277 00:17:03.070 --> 00:17:05.650 wondering, are you open to talk to new investors? 278 00:17:06.670 --> 00:17:10.510 Yes. Definitely. I mean, like, before the round, after the round, and vice versa, I 279 00:17:10.510 --> 00:17:14.195 would say. So we're always open to talking to new investors. 280 00:17:14.195 --> 00:17:17.555 Actually, like, straight after the free seed round, straight after the closing, we 281 00:17:17.555 --> 00:17:21.290 already went into talks with new investors for the seed round, which 282 00:17:21.290 --> 00:17:24.730 we still is far away. Like, should be closed at the end of 283 00:17:24.730 --> 00:17:28.425 2025. But it's also always great to 284 00:17:28.425 --> 00:17:31.945 talk to investors and interesting people during times where there is not the regular 285 00:17:31.945 --> 00:17:35.540 fundraising chaos. So, yeah, very happy to also get in touch now. 286 00:17:36.560 --> 00:17:39.780 The regular fundraising chaos. Ah, yeah. I see. 287 00:17:41.445 --> 00:17:45.285 Usually, a lot of people are out here, looking for 288 00:17:45.285 --> 00:17:49.045 potential employers. Are you guys also looking for new 289 00:17:49.045 --> 00:17:52.810 people out there for new hires? Yes. Definitely. 290 00:17:52.870 --> 00:17:55.910 Always. Like, we know that one of the key assets we have at the moment 291 00:17:55.910 --> 00:17:59.590 is great people, and our product and our company is only as good as the 292 00:17:59.590 --> 00:18:03.175 people that we have on board. So, yes, 100%. We are 293 00:18:03.175 --> 00:18:06.935 actually trying to as said before, we're trying to grow from 10 to 294 00:18:06.935 --> 00:18:10.730 20 people this year, meaning that we have still 10 spots available, 295 00:18:11.350 --> 00:18:15.190 if you're hearing this. Still, there's a bit of a focus on the 296 00:18:15.190 --> 00:18:18.515 tech team, yet we're also slow and steady trying to set up the business 297 00:18:18.815 --> 00:18:22.415 side. So, actually, no matter which background, we're always happy. We also have a 298 00:18:22.415 --> 00:18:25.935 spontaneous application field at the moment on the website. So always happy to 299 00:18:25.935 --> 00:18:29.760 receive application from bright people. Everybody who'd 300 00:18:29.760 --> 00:18:33.300 like to talk to you, we do have the LinkedIn 301 00:18:33.360 --> 00:18:37.165 profile of your LinkedIn, our blog post, as well as 302 00:18:37.165 --> 00:18:40.625 your career website in our show notes here. 303 00:18:41.245 --> 00:18:44.945 Since this is an interview with Hessen Trade and Invest, 304 00:18:45.950 --> 00:18:49.330 you would be, if you would like to address 305 00:18:49.710 --> 00:18:53.390 the decision makers here in the state by, like, one 306 00:18:53.390 --> 00:18:56.815 question, one idea for improvement, something like 307 00:18:56.815 --> 00:19:00.175 that. What what will you say to them? What would 308 00:19:00.175 --> 00:19:04.015 your, what what would be your wish for the 309 00:19:04.015 --> 00:19:07.520 future? Definitely. So first of all, I think that's 310 00:19:07.600 --> 00:19:11.040 actually, there are a lot of cool things going on right now in Frankfurt with 311 00:19:11.040 --> 00:19:14.735 the lately founded AI Hub, the Kaee Hub, also has CNEI and 312 00:19:14.735 --> 00:19:18.414 so on. Yet I do think that especially in the early stage of a 313 00:19:18.414 --> 00:19:22.060 start up, like, the less bureaucracy you have, the better. As also 314 00:19:22.280 --> 00:19:25.960 in the tech market, speed to market is absolutely crucial. And I 315 00:19:25.960 --> 00:19:28.995 remember we as well, we were sitting in front of a lot of applications that 316 00:19:28.995 --> 00:19:32.695 back then, like, it takes a lot of time. You're not allowed to be funded, 317 00:19:32.915 --> 00:19:36.455 like, officially incorporated back then. So I think those 318 00:19:36.595 --> 00:19:40.039 bureaucratic hurdles are quite steep at the moment still. 319 00:19:40.340 --> 00:19:44.179 So reducing that and making it actually easier for start ups to catch 320 00:19:44.179 --> 00:19:47.925 up with competition as fast because, as mentioned before, speed is one of the most 321 00:19:47.925 --> 00:19:51.545 important things in during this phase. Mhmm. 322 00:19:52.005 --> 00:19:55.799 I see. So get more speed. But but I have to admit 323 00:19:55.799 --> 00:19:59.240 that could be something I say, although for 324 00:19:59.240 --> 00:20:02.460 Germany, not sure what they can do about it here. 325 00:20:03.265 --> 00:20:06.865 Maximilian, it was again a pleasure to have you here. Thank you for 326 00:20:06.865 --> 00:20:09.845 Hessen Tried TO Invest and Enterprise Your Work Network 327 00:20:10.304 --> 00:20:14.100 for sponsoring this podcast. It was a pleasure to have you here. Thank 328 00:20:14.100 --> 00:20:17.020 you. Thank you very much for the invitation. It was really fun. Thank you. Have 329 00:20:17.020 --> 00:20:18.200 a good day. Bye bye.