Founder of the month: n.able

25.03.2020 Gründerschmiede Founder of the month

What does your company stand for?

With MARA, we help companies better understand consumers by automatically evaluating vast amounts of customer feedback. With the help of deep learning, we analyze online customer reviews, for example, and derive deep insights into the topics that move consumers.

In addition, as a team we stand for open interaction with each other, a strong desire to learn – something you do automatically every day when you start up – and the will to build a company where everyone feels comfortable.

Where and how did you come up with the bright idea to found the company?

Our foundation is essentially based on Tobias’ dissertation. During his doctoral process and even directly in his defense, the point kept coming up that you could “make something out of it”. However, Tobias first joined a top tier strategy consulting firm as a data science consultant right after his doctorate, and that’s where he met Ingo. About one and a half years after Tobias, Max completed his doctorate at the same chair – that’s how the two of them knew each other – and with the support of our joint PhD supervisor and the KIT, we applied for the Exist-Gründerstipendium and were accepted. Now, since April 2020, we are in the process of turning Tobias’ prototypes from the dissertation into a product, have already come quite far on this path and have been able to win our first customers.

How did the founding team come together?

We have been working together for many years when we were doing research in the Dip-Pen Nanolithography (DPN) group at the Institute of Nanotechnology (INT) of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). As the idea to develop the printer grew, we decided to leave our scientific positions and bring our passions and interests into the start-up.

What do you see as the advantages of being your own boss?

The main advantage is that we do what we really enjoy and what we find interesting.

What qualities do you think a founder should have?

You should be determined to be able to manage the company well. You have to be a problem solver and have enough resilience to go through difficult times.
Also, one should be open to learning new skills that may be quite different from your original background (like finance, basic law). You have to become quite a jack of all trades.

What do you see as the hurdles to becoming a successful business? Where did you go for support?

The biggest challenge with a startup is financial stability. Since orders from customers come in irregularly, you have to be prepared for financial uncertainties. Our startup had a slightly easier entry into the business because we received support from the Helmholtz Association in 2018. This funding helped us to successfully complete our product development and bring it to market right after the startup.

How did you deal with the increased workload during the startup phase?

We shared the workload and distributed it according to our competencies. This helped a lot in moving things forward in a timely manner.

Do you have any tips for other young startups?

Our main advice is to validate your idea with people outside your comfort zone. This will validate it and make you explain it in a different way – which often opens your eyes to other aspects of your idea.

Info:

Company: n.able Ltd.
Founders: Dr. Sylwia Sekula-Neuner, Dr. Uwe Bog
Foundation: 05.2019
Homepage: www.n-able-innovation.com
E-mail contact: info@n-able-innovation.com

Industry: Electronics, Precision Mechanics & Potics