Munich Startup: What does Trail do? What problem do you solve?
Anna Spitznagel, Trail: Trail is the AI governance platform for companies that want to develop or deploy AI safely, efficiently, and in regulatory compliance. The software integrates and automates governance across the AI lifecycle – developer-friendly and innovative, complemented by expert consulting for individual implementation or certification.
Our “copilot for AI governance” addresses the lack of transparency, the high manual effort for documentation and compliance, as well as the risk of regulatory penalties (for example through the EU AI Act) and uncertainty in governing AI systems. Our platform automates processes, reduces compliance costs, and facilitates compliance with legal requirements like the EU AI Act, thereby strengthening AI innovation in companies.
AI governance: gap in the system meets innovation
Munich Startup: But that already exists, doesn’t it?
Anna Spitznagel: Many companies are still struggling with inefficient, manual compliance and governance processes. The existing problems become even more serious in the context of AI and lead to significant inefficiencies.
Existing solutions are often too generic, complicated, and not sufficiently tailored to dynamic AI systems. Trail was developed as a copilot for AI governance and differs by integrating AI governance directly into existing workflows, leveraging automation, and providing an efficient solution.
This saves companies up to 80% of compliance time, improves documentation quality, and significantly reduces their costs. Automated AI governance across the entire AI lifecycle – this doesn’t exist in this form yet!
Munich Startup: What’s your founding story?
Anna Spitznagel: Trail was founded in 2023 with the vision of creating an efficient solution for AI governance. We founders – Sven Hölzel, Nikolaus Pinger, and I – got to know each other through CDTM and the Munich startup ecosystem.
Our company emerged from the realization that organizations struggle with high manual effort, unclear regulatory requirements, and lack of transparency in AI development.
We see the need to automate and structure this process to help companies comply with new regulations like the EU AI Act and ISO 42001. We enable companies to implement AI use cases innovatively and securely. After one year of EXIST founder funding through TUM, we secured 1.45 million euros in pre-seed financing in 2024 from international investors.
Trail: Rapidly growing market with increasing regulatory pressure
Munich Startup: What have been your biggest challenges so far?
Anna Spitznagel: One of the biggest challenges was certainly tapping into a still young and dynamic market where awareness of AI governance and regulatory requirements is gradually developing.
Especially at the beginning, we had to do a lot of educational work to make the problem tangible and convey the relevance of our solution to decision-makers.
At the same time, it’s a major challenge to adapt deeply rooted compliance processes that have grown over decades in companies to meet AI requirements. We’ve developed a solution that is not only innovative and automated but also integrates seamlessly into these existing structures.
Munich Startup: Where do you want to stand in one year, and where in five years?
Anna Spitznagel: We’re in a rapidly growing market because, on the one hand, the use of AI in companies is steadily increasing, and on the other hand, regulatory pressure is rising due to short implementation deadlines. This dynamic creates high demand for our solution because companies want to be prepared. And we help them set up governance workflows efficiently and future-proof. In five years, we see Trail as the leading platform for AI governance in Europe – as the standard solution for companies that want to deploy AI safely and in compliance with regulations.
Munich as an attractive location for B2B innovation
Munich Startup: How have you experienced Munich as a startup location?
Anna Spitznagel: Munich has developed extremely positively over the last ten years – we experience the location as cool and dynamic with a great startup community. We were able to draw on a strong network and many support offerings, including UnternehmerTUM, CDTM, and AI+ Munich, who helped us with knowledge and valuable contacts.
Additionally, for a B2B startup like Trail, Munich is particularly attractive because many large companies have their headquarters here.
Munich Startup: Risk or security?
Anna Spitznagel: Clearly: risk! Anyone who founds a startup consciously chooses the unknown and takes on great responsibility.
The whole team genuinely enjoys facing new challenges every week and developing creative solutions. For every problem there’s also a solution, and nothing ventured, nothing gained!
