Munich Startup: What motivated you to start a company?
Nelly Mathias: The impulse to found a company definitely came from the growing packaging waste in our society, for example in bakeries. At home, it became very tangible to me because my parents always kept a lot of old bread for our family dog Sunny. Of course, each piece individually wrapped in single-use bags.
Then I started researching: What does the market look like? How high are the actual costs for these bags? Who bears the costs? And what’s happening in terms of regulation over the next few years? And then it was clear: we’re doing this!
Munich Startup: What would you have liked to know before your first founding?
Nelly Mathias: Founding is learning in turbo mode – like ten semesters in one year, just without semester breaks. Focus beats every shiny side idea, and Excel is ruthlessly more honest than any pitch round. Founding emotionally pulls back your curtains: strengths, weaknesses, blind spots, triggers – it’s all there, all visible. Learn to love it!
Funding and support from business angels
Munich Startup: How has your company been financed so far?
Nelly Mathias: Of course, at the beginning we put in our own money. But we also chose to get to market quickly. First through pilot projects with bakeries, but then also quickly with paying customers. That helped.
In addition, we’ve received some smaller funding pots and, since the beginning of 2025, also support from a circle of business angels.
Munich Startup: When and where do you get your best ideas?
Nelly Mathias: Definitely not at my desk. Walks with my little dachshund are always a source of inspiration, especially when it comes to creative thoughts. From our office it’s just a stone’s throw to the Isar, that’s great.
Munich Startup: What are your 3 favorite work tools?
Nelly Mathias: Without our CRM (Hubspot), nothing would work at all. I spend most of my time with it.
Recently, we hung a large whiteboard in our office. Nothing special, really. But I had underestimated how much analog tools can support structured work.
And of course, coffee.
When pitching: Keep your audience in mind
Munich Startup: Your top tip on “pitching”?
Nelly Mathias: I try to prepare very intensively for the listeners. Who is my target audience? What triggers them? What can be a call to action? Based on that, a pitch can be completely different every time. And yet the core is of course always the same.
Munich Startup: Does it seem like a good time to start a company right now? Why?
Nelly Mathias: A good time to found a company is always when you have a good idea. It’s certainly the case that the perception of it was better at some point than it is now. But I can only recommend not letting that influence you so strongly, but instead engaging with yourself and your idea.
Munich Startup: What technology or industry would you bet on for your next founding?
Nelly Mathias: Food would definitely appeal to me. With We Carry, we’re already fairly close and yet somehow not. The question of how we want and can feed ourselves in the future already occupies me a lot personally.
Playful networking events in Munich still in short supply
Munich Startup: What could be improved at the startup hub Munich from your perspective?
Nelly Mathias: There are certainly many networking options in general. But in my perception, the “playful” options are still missing. In Berlin I’ve already been to two padel networking events. I would also really love a “Founder with dog” community. I’ve been meaning to start something here for a while.
Munich Startup: Which founder would you like to meet in person? And what would you ask them?
Nelly Mathias: I would love to meet the three Airbnb founders because they managed to build a platform out of a few air mattresses that completely redefined travel: away from anonymous hotels, towards authentic experiences in real neighborhoods around the world. I would like to ask how they managed to turn such a small, almost crazy idea into a global product and which brave decision on this path turned out to be the most important in retrospect.
