The Munich-based startup KiwiHR has set out to create truly simple software for human resources. The startup, headquartered in Münchner Technologiezentrum (MTZ) works with 18 employees on this all-in-one HR platform for SMEs. Co-founder Reza Madjidi answers our 7 questions.
1. Who are you and what do you do?
We are KiwiHR, a smart HR software that optimizes and digitizes daily administrative tasks in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups. Our 18-person team works at two locations to simplify HR management for SMEs and startups. In doing so, KiwiHR creates pleasant and contemporary work environments.
My name is Reza Madjidi, and I'm a co-founder of KiwiHR. After completing my studies and working for large corporations, I founded Yooniq Solutions in 2008 together with my then-colleague and current business partner, Sacha Taghavi. We now have more than ten years of experience in the software and HR sector, which greatly helped us develop our second software, KiwiHR, which we launched in 2018.
KiwiHR is already the second startup of the founding team
2. But that's been around for a long time!
There are several HR solutions on the market—and some are currently significantly more well-known than KiwiHR. That's absolutely true. Most of these systems also describe themselves as being particularly simple. But not everything that says "simple" actually means it's simple.
Our goal is to become the simplest, most cost-effective, and most comprehensive HR platform for SMEs in Europe. To achieve this ambitious goal, we are constantly evolving KiwiHR in close collaboration with our customers. Our greatest focus is on the user interface and usability. We want to give our users the ability to use KiwiHR intuitively—without expensive configuration or complicated product training.
Over the last few years, as our company has grown continuously, we have realized that there is no simple solution for SMEs that effortlessly simplifies daily HR work.
They're either too expensive or include features that are simply not needed in the early stages of a company's development. Therefore, we developed our own simple and lean HR software for the specific needs and challenges of SMEs.
100% Bootstrapping and a clear vision
3. What are the three main ingredients for your recipe for success?
The absolute key ingredient in our recipe for success is our many years of experience in software and HR, which we have gained since founding Yooniq Solutions. This experience has helped us significantly in developing KiwiHR. As a small company, we understand the needs of this target group particularly well, so we knew which features we wanted to start with. From the very beginning, we had a clear vision of how we wanted to simplify these features.
Another key aspect of our success is that KiwiHR 100% is bootstrapped. While this fact isn't always seen as an advantage, we believe it gives us the freedom needed to ideally address the needs of small and medium-sized businesses. We don't feel pressure to catch the big fish as quickly as possible. Building a successful company is a marathon, not a sprint. Ultimately, we offer what many other HR software companies promise: the perfect solution for SMEs.
HR solution for the German, English and French-speaking markets
The final ingredient for our success is — as the cliché goes — the most important resource of any company. We have a great, international team that works together to make KiwiHR a great system. We currently offer our software and associated support in German, English, and French. Thanks to our experience in various target markets, KiwiHR also meets the needs of these markets from an employment law perspective.
4. Let’s get to the point: How is business going?
To put it bluntly: business is going very well. The response and interest in KiwiHR exceed our expectations. To meet demand, we are naturally also planning to expand our staffing levels at our locations. Since launching a year ago, several thousand users have been using our software to, for example, record their working hours daily or request long-awaited vacation time. We have a clear vision that we pursue and against which we measure ourselves every day.
“Munich’s startup scene is dynamic and tech-savvy”
5. What does Munich mean to you?
Munich's startup scene is highly dynamic and tech-savvy. We find everything we need to successfully start a business here: excellent infrastructure, fantastic networking opportunities, and numerous universities that annually deliver a steady stream of outstanding talent. For several years now, the Technische Universität München has been offering an Entrepreneurship degree program, making it the second university alongside Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich to produce new, well-trained startups annually. In addition, there are other universities and research institutes that ensure a broad pool of skilled professionals just waiting to support and advance companies.
Munich's business community focuses on research and innovation, making it an ideal location for technology startups and founders like us. In addition to the obvious advantages of the city of Munich, we already had one foot in family life at the time of our founding and, given the numerous local advantages, saw no reason to question Munich as a location for our startup.
6. Will your startup become the next unicorn? Or will we see you soon at Epic Fail Night?
Becoming a unicorn isn't our goal, but if it does happen, no one from us would complain. We know the enormous potential of our target market, and we're going to take a big slice of the pie. We've only just begun our journey with KiwiHR. We're sure you'll be hearing a lot more from us.
7. Beer or Prosecco?
As a Munich-based company, we'd like to take this opportunity to express our love for beer. Cheers, and thank you for the lovely interview!
