Renowned corporations such as EDEKA and TIER are among the clients of the company that was supported by the startup service of Humboldt University in Berlin and funded by the EXIST scholarship upon its spin-off: key2contract GmbH INHUBBER, founded in 2019 by Dr. Elena Mechik, a PhD holder in geosciences and economics, along with her husband and brother. The company offers its clients a digital contract management and e-signature solution that ensures improved contract overview, increased transparency, and deadline compliance.
Learn about how their contract management software is connected to rainforest protection, what makes it unique globally, and what experiences Elena has had as a woman with a migration background in the startup scene.
How did you come up with this business idea?
My story begins with a trip to Brazil, a newfound love for the tropical forest, and a commitment to combat illegal logging. After my trip, we stumbled upon statistics linking paper consumption to deforestation, showing that paper products are responsible for 16% of deforestation. This sparked the idea of fighting this issue from Germany by founding an economic yet sustainable company.
We then considered how to save paper and set the goal of paperless offices. This led to the idea of digital contract management and signatures. We wanted to give companies the ability to operate completely paperless while working more effectively and efficiently.
Your product helps companies save paper and take a step towards sustainability. How else do you help companies become more sustainable?
When talking to companies, paper savings are a secondary concern. Primarily, they are interested in increasing efficiency. Clients often come to us with the problem that they cannot immediately find certain contracts. There is a lack of centralized oversight of all contracts, and especially in today’s financial crisis, every company wants to save. Without a central overview of all contracts, it is very difficult to decide where savings can be made.
But this is exactly what we offer our clients: a central overview. Additionally, we provide the ability to never miss a termination deadline with automatic reminders. This is immensely important, as I often see with our clients. Recently, I spoke with a company that had booked VIP tickets for Hertha. However, Hertha played at a different venue than expected, and they missed the cancellation deadline for the very expensive tickets, resulting in a loss of 20,000 euros for a year. They then approached us to ensure such a mistake would never happen again.
What role did Humboldt University’s startup service play in the development of your company?
We started in the startup incubator of Humboldt University. They believed in us and we were intensively advised by Professor Lessmann, which was very important for the EXIST scholarship. During the year we were funded by the scholarship, we worked in the Humboldt Innovation founder’s house, developing our idea to combine blockchain and AI technologies for a secure contract management and e-signature solution. We also had our first office there and maintained close communication with the HI startup service. Today, we continue to engage with HI, using, for example, the startup alumni network offerings and benefiting from contact with other startups.
Moreover, I tell the story of our roots at Humboldt University to clients almost every day. I find it a beautiful story. We started as students, as researchers, received support from Humboldt University, and have now grown into a stable company with major clients.
Are you unique in the world with your business idea?
There are many different solutions for contract management, hence a lot of competitors. What makes us unique is our encryption. We offer a highly secure solution that we initially researched at Humboldt University. Security was very important to us because we knew from the start that no one would entrust us with their contracts if we couldn’t manage them securely.
Once the software was fully developed, we realized that we were unique in the market with our continuous encryption. Our digital signature is based on blockchain technology, providing a unique capability to sign any file format, such as an Excel spreadsheet. Normally, it would have to be converted to a PDF first. With us, it’s possible to sign the Excel spreadsheet directly. Additionally, we use artificial intelligence, which sets us apart from other competitors. AI allows us to quickly read specific contents from contracts, enabling faster contract processing.
What were your key learnings during the founding phase?
Before my time at INHUBBER, I had never really learned how sales work. This was something I had to learn from scratch. I think it’s incredibly important for founders to get involved in sales as well. It was the same with marketing. I never had to engage in marketing before. These were areas I wanted to improve in and now I have. I sought support from various consultants and watched numerous videos.
The advantage of founding a company is that you can apply what you learn the same day. This still happens often today. Another important topic I delved into was investments and investor search. I learned about all the termsheets, investment rounds, and relevant terminology. It’s a science in itself. You need to know this well, otherwise, you can’t negotiate effectively and it can be dangerous for the company.
How did your entrepreneurial drive come about and did your immigration experiences influence this?
I’ve had the drive to change and improve the world for as long as I can remember. For instance, I participated in “Youth Researches” several times.
During university, we also started an initiative with students to create a sustainable company. “Arboreal” was about the sustainable processing of non-timber products related to tropical forests. We didn’t pursue this further. Later, I founded an association, also with the aim of looking at ways to mitigate climate change and protect tropical forests. Then I pursued my doctorate. At the end of my doctorate, I spoke with my supervisor and he said, you are an entrepreneur, you belong in business, not purely in research. It’s probably in my nature that I’ve been seeking ways to make the world a little better throughout my life.
What experiences have you had as a woman with a migration background in the startup scene?
It’s difficult to say because I can’t easily compare myself to a German man. But I do think that because all three of us founders are not of German origin, we faced some hurdles. We also didn’t have a large network to rely on initially. We had to build that from scratch. I believe some potential investors withdrew because of our migration background and having a woman as their primary contact, which was me.
Recently, we were selected by AWS for the Female Founders program and participated in it for three months. There was a lecture on how to communicate with investors as a woman. It’s a science in itself, with several articles and papers published on the topic. A researcher compared the questions investors ask men and women.
Women are often asked questions that inherently have a slightly negative connotation. I could recall similar situations from my work life. You can ask about potentials or obstacles, and investors may not even realize they’re treating men and women differently. Studies also show that investors prefer to invest in projects by people similar to themselves. Given that 80-90% of all investors are male, the chances for women or people with migration backgrounds are naturally more challenging.
But despite these obstacles, we managed to convince investors with our technology, an excellent team, and major clients like EDEKA, OECD, etc. There are exceptions to every rule.
You founded the company with your husband and brother. What significance does your family relationship have for the company?
There are pros and cons, as with everything. The advantages are that we can completely trust each other. We know each person’s motivation and always stand together. Additionally, there is always open communication without barriers.
There are also disadvantages: Many investors view a family business as a risk and thus a threat. Some see potential issues in a possible divorce, for instance. Moreover, our company includes a married couple, my husband and I, and a sibling pair, my brother and I. Some investors see this as another risk. On the other hand, major successful companies in Germany, like Otto or Aldi, are family businesses. In my experience, family businesses operate differently from other corporations, with more concern for employees and the future.
But these are the challenges. We now speak completely openly about this and do not hide it. For us, it is very advantageous to work this way and we can’t change it.
Your team is very diverse and international. Why do you think this could be a key to success?
I believe that the more diverse the team is, the more innovative ideas can emerge because everyone brings a completely different knowledge base and thought structures due to various cultures and educations. This can only benefit a company.
