Worldmaker

Why did you found your start-up, what problem are you addressing and how are you solving it?

Our Düsseldorf-based company Weltenmacher was initially founded in 2017 as a virtual reality agency. We quickly switched to virtual reality training software. Today, we mainly focus on the medical market, helping nurses and patients to learn all critical dialysis procedures.

How did you come up with the idea of founding your start-up?

Once our team was ready, we decided to implement something we called "Vision of the Month". In this framework, we evaluate new ideas for interesting products and markets and build on them with a prototype and a short business plan. The original idea for our dialysis training was brought to us by a friend of ours, Dr. Panagiota Zgoura, who later joined us as our medical advisor.

What is special about your business model, what do you do differently?

Our work can be thought of as the "democratization of the flight simulator", which is achieved by making training simulations accessible to everyone. This new form of training is being used more and more in many industries, such as the automotive, aviation and medical sectors. Our secret sauce is a virtual trainer that uses AI to help users with their individual training needs.

What were the biggest challenges you had to overcome at the beginning?

One of the biggest challenges in the medical market is overcoming barriers to entry. For Weltenmacher, it is of great importance to have the right partners to help us understand and address this very specific market.

What has been your biggest success so far?

We have just gone through a clinical evaluation within Europe and managed to educate patients between 30 and 83 years old. It was great to see very different people with different needs and abilities using our application without hesitation because of the technology.

What's the next challenge for you?

Bringing your product to market is always the biggest challenge. Obviously, there are a lot of pieces that need to fit together for that to happen: Growing the team, implementing your strategy, finalizing the product, finding the right partners and of course: having enough funding on hand.

Why are you on Startbase?

We are currently looking for strategic partners to join us for the next phase.

What would you recommend to other founders?

Stay focused and adapt to the changes!

Where did you meet?

The two founders used to work together and have been friends for many years. They managed to recruit the team from their professional network and through their guest lecturers at Rhein Main, Rhein Sieg and Düsseldorf Universities of Applied Sciences.

What has really gone wrong since you founded the company?

To this day, we have been wrong about how long it really takes to reach the next step. That won't change, no matter how hard you try.