Founder of the month: zebrafant.ai
What does your company stand for?
zebrafant is a software startup from KIT. We stand for the modernization of logistics processes in waste collection. With our first product, the Smart Waste Collection System, we are digitizing glass recycling collection, thereby reducing the workload for drivers and dispatchers. This not only makes glass recycling collection digital and highly efficient for waste disposal companies, but also child’s play.
Where and how did you come up with the idea to start the company?
The trigger was a hackathon in cooperation with KIT, where we evaluated fill level data from glass recycling containers. It quickly became clear that existing solutions were neither comprehensive nor economically viable. So we decided to tackle the problem at its root.
How did the founding team come together?
Philipp and I have known each other since our first week of our bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering at KIT. Later, we studied business informatics together in our master’s program. While Philipp worked in tech startups, I was involved in business development and IT consulting. This means we have complementary profiles and can still discuss topics from both areas very well.
What is your big vision?
We want to make waste collection processes so efficient that the industry can master demographic challenges without supply and disposal bottlenecks. Our goal is to establish digital and robust collection as the new standard – starting with glass recycling and expanding to other processes.
Where do you see significant hurdles in the startup process?
A major hurdle is the bureaucracy and the sheer volume of tasks at the beginning. Added to this is the learning curve as a startup team with no previous startup experience, because you only learn a lot as you go along. Structure, prioritization, and good sparring partners have helped us a lot here.
Where did you get support?
We received support from KIT, in particular from Prof. Neumann and the Chair of Autonomous Learning Robots, as well as from Prof. Lindstädt from IBU. We were also supported by the state of Rheinland-Pfalz, UnternehmerTUM and TUM Venture Labs. In addition, we completed the AI Founders programs offered by Campus Founders and XPRENEURS.
