qbound is one of five Techfounders startups recommended by our visiting editor Miki Yokoyama for helping companies make progress in digitization.
© Andre Schweizer

Startups Show How It’s Done: The Digitization Solutions Companies Need Now

The spread of the coronavirus is currently holding a mirror up to many companies as it makes clear how much progress has been made in digitization in each company and where improvement is needed. They suddenly have to send their employees to work from home, replace meetings with video conferences and find a way to keep daily business and interaction going. That requires the use of appropriate technical equipment, collaboration tools and new working methods and processes.

Miki Yokoyama
Our visiting editor Miki Yokoyama, COO von Techfounders. (Photo: Miki Yokoyama)

When it comes to flexibility, rapid adaptation to new situations and the development of innovative solutions, startups are a step ahead and are particularly supporting large corporations in digitization with their products and services. How that works is demonstrated by the five following examples of Techfounders startups.

KIProtect: Data protection for all work processes

KIProtect is a security layer for data technology and artificial intelligence and is integrated directly in companies’ data processing, where it primarily detects personal and sensible data. Depending on the business and safety requirements of each customer, the data is transformed with modern pseudonymization, anonymization and encryption technologies, making it safe to save and edit.

qbound: Cybersecurity for home office and cloud solutions

qbound offers companies an innovative solution for (remote) access to applications, cloud services and IoT devices. The startup has developed what is known as a Zero Trust approach, which protects devices and applications that are online and makes them inaccessible to users without successful authorization – “never trust, always verify.” That makes qbound’s solution safer and more user friendly than conventional VPN or firewall systems. IT system administrators are also given a straightforward solution to monitor, evaluate and adapt access rights to the network. 

Ondewo: Dialog between humans and machines

The Austrian hightech startup has developed an AI system that completely automates discussions between people and machines. The platform for natural language understanding can be customized to suit each customer to achieve the highest possible accuracy for specific cases of application. With the platform, customers can digitize business models, develop innovative digital products and services and make those that already exist smarter. A further advantage: Automation significantly reduces costs.

H.U.H. Corporate: Training — as unique as every employee

H.U.H. Corporate develops AI learning solutions for professional training. AI-guided tutors chat with users daily through a mobile app and send them personalized learning content. The algorithms adapt the goals of the program to suit the attributes and characteristics of every user. The platform is designed so it can be easily integrated into employees’ everyday lives without requiring any major effort or complex implementation processes.

Retorio: Recruiting with artificial intelligence

Retorio analyses applicant videos and helps find the right candidates for open job positions. The software combines artificial intelligence and machine learning with scientific insights from psychology and organizational research. Just a short application video is enough for Retorio to reliably recognize a person’s communication behavior and important personality traits. Talents can be recognized more effectively and reliably as a result and can be compared with different job profiles. Retorio is currently offering free use of their software for two months to help companies keep their recruiting processes up and running.