Munich Startup: What does your startup do? What problem do you solve?
Daniel Ulman, STM Cars: We at STM Cars dream of a better life in a livable city – of a future where you no longer need to own a car to be mobile. A city where existing vehicles are used instead of sitting around. However, there is currently a lack of a stress-free alternative to owning a car, for example for a trip to the countryside, skiing, or a trip to the lake. This is exactly where STM Cars comes in. STM Cars offers a platform for the daily rental of electric vehicles with an end-to-end solution – convenience first!
Jakob Scherübl: The electric car is booked via app and then delivered to your doorstep within 150 minutes. Electricity, fully comprehensive insurance, and 200 kilometers per day are included with the booking. After use, the vehicle can be easily parked within Munich city limits; we take care of the rest.
Munich Startup: But that's been around for a long time!
Daniel Ulman: The concept of renting existing vehicles already exists and is fundamentally nothing new. However, its implementation is often inadequate. It usually fails due to the lack of a marketplace, cumbersome processes on the owner and user side, and a lack of trust between the individual parties. Furthermore, the combination of technical hardware and software, logistical processes, and communication with a wide variety of stakeholders has so far made efficient scaling difficult.
With our interdisciplinary team consisting of operations experts and techies, we are optimally positioned to perform this balancing act.
“We decided very early on to focus exclusively on electric vehicles”
Munich Startup: What is your founding story?
Daniel Ulman: The company was founded with a simple question: "Why should I own a car in the city? What would an alternative look like to replace my own vehicle?" In the first year (2021), the focus was on getting to know the market – alongside my (full-time) studies. We founders, Jakob and Daniel, personally carried out each of the first 200 handovers, talked to almost every tenant, and always sought feedback. This enabled us to create a service that is very similar to owning a car – and many more features are still in development. Very early on, we decided to focus exclusively on electric vehicles to facilitate the transition to a sustainable future and support our vision of a livable city.
Many of our tenants told us that they weren't quite ready to give up their own car, but only used theirs one or two days a week. So, in addition to our own fleet, we decided to help existing, unused vehicles—initially exclusively company vehicles—increase their usage.
In our second year (2022), we brought our company to a level that made this business model scalable. Our third co-founder, Sebastian, joined us. While Jakob and I, Daniel, primarily bring operational and business-related experience, Sebastian rounds out the team with his tech expertise. 2023 kicks off with a financing round and big expansion plans!
Munich Startup: What have been your biggest challenges so far?
Daniel Ulman: Our biggest challenge in recent months has been developing a seamless booking process via app. Unlike traditional companies, we wanted to enable digital and user-oriented booking from the very beginning – without any tedious paperwork. Implementing a virtual fleet and purely digital processes took us quite a while and certainly resulted in more than one sleepless night.
Mindset shift away from owning a car
Munich Startup: Where would you like to be in one year, where in five years?
Daniel Ulman: In one year, we want to be a prominent part of Munich's changing mobility landscape. This should be reflected in a larger fleet, which we provide to our users. We want to achieve a mindset shift – away from the necessity of ownership to conscious use. We see further product development and the increased expansion of B2B services as further steps in this implementation.
True to the motto 'The sky is the limit,' we're approaching our plan for the next five years. We aim to conquer Germany's major cities and expand internationally.
Munich Startup: How have you experienced Munich as a startup location so far?
Daniel Ulman: Personally, I see the Munich startup ecosystem as incredibly valuable for the success of a startup. As an active member of the student initiative Start Munich As a regular participant in events like Inspire & Dine (CDTM), Royal Jungle, Bits & Pretzels, and UnternehmerTUM events, I'm exposed to the ideas of other founders on a daily basis. In such an environment, you're practically forced to be innovative and quickly try out new things. Furthermore, I've always perceived the Munich startup ecosystem as well-educated, open-minded, and supportive.
Munich Startup: Hidden champion or shooting star?
Daniel Ulman: Since we've just entered our scaling phase, I'd still call us a hidden champion, but I see us as a fast-growing startup in an enormously large market. So, we're clearly on the path to becoming a shooting star. Feel free to follow our journey!
