Kiel Start-up Spotlight: anymize makes AI safe to use

Kiel is small enough that you know the people who matter. You’re not sitting anonymously in a co-working space with 500 other start-ups. If you need someone, it’s usually just one or two contacts away.

It works well for us. We don’t need the fast pace of Berlin. We need solid customer relationships, and those are easier to build in Kiel because everything is more personal.

We are based at the Kiel Innovation and Technology Centre (KITZ). We make use of the services and events offered by KiWi, KI.SH, WTSH and DiWiSH – primarily to engage with potential customers and other start-up founders.

GLXY supports us with infrastructure and investment. This makes things much easier, as we don’t have to start from scratch. What’s more, our team has a combined total of over 50 years’ experience in developing tech products. This saves us from having to take a few detours.

Our first customers came through contacts in the Kiel scene. Not through cold calling or adverts, but because someone knew someone who had exactly the problem we solve. That’s the advantage of a close-knit network – the lines of communication are short.

The team itself brings a wealth of experience from previous companies. That helps less with “How do we build this?” and more with “What do we leave out?”

Entirely self-funded. No venture capital, no funding schemes.

Our approach: First, demonstrate that people actually want the product. Then decide whether external capital is even necessary. With today’s tools – particularly in the AI sector – you can quickly build a prototype and test whether there is a market for it.

Once there’s traction, the question often shifts: do you really need VC funding? Or is a loan or revenue-based financing enough?

Bootstrapping has one major advantage: you build what customers need. Not what investors want to hear.

Our target audience is broad. Really broad. From chimney sweeps and tax advisors to law firms and auditors. Every industry speaks a different language and has different requirements. That makes marketing and sales a complex undertaking.

On top of that, many potential customers don’t even know what they can do with AI yet. Or they’ve heard that ‘you’re not allowed to do it for data protection reasons’. So we don’t just have to explain our product, but often AI itself first.

So far, we haven’t sought external funding, so we haven’t encountered any difficulties in that regard. The challenge lies more in becoming visible organically – in companies approaching us because they’ve heard of us, not because we’ve called them.

Start by building something and get feedback early on. As soon as you see initial traction, that’s a good sign. But we would never build anything on a larger scale before we’ve received feedback on it.

Especially with AI, you can build prototypes incredibly quickly these days to test whether there’s any demand at all. And once there’s traction, the question often arises as to whether you need external funding at all – or if there’s another way.

The most important thing: really talk to your target audience and understand their needs. It’s not about what you think they need – but what they actually need.