Munich Startup: What motivated you to start a company?
Nora Sommer, Raya Diagnostics: The most important reason for founding was a misalignment in the industry: there are more and more radiological examinations, but fewer and fewer specialists and professionals who can handle them. We’re launching Raya to ensure excellent patient care today and in the future across the board.
To do this, we’re bringing new working models and innovative technology to radiology, so we can support as a flexible partner regardless of location through telediagnostics. At the same time, we’re preserving expertise in the industry by enabling attractive and family-friendly work models.
Munich Startup: What would you have liked to know before your first company launch?
Nora Sommer: A lot was new to me. The hospital ecosystem works very differently from a growing, young company. The most important thing is to constantly remind yourself what the right measure is in the current situation to take your company to the next level. The key is to focus precisely on that and concentrate all your effort to move forward in a structured and rapid way. It’s important not to get caught up in too many ideas and projects at once.
Munich Startup: How has your company been financed so far?
Nora Sommer: We received startup assistance from private individuals and funding programs.
Raya: good momentum through a diverse team
Munich Startup: When and where do you get your best ideas?
Nora Sommer: Ideas often come to me when my thoughts are free to roam. As a founder and mom, there are few truly quiet moments – one of them is gardening. That said, many ideas also emerge from conversations with my co-founders and team. With the combination of a physician, a developer, and a business person, we have a dynamic where ideas not only emerge but can also be thought through and implemented quickly. At Raya, we follow the approach: the best idea wins. These usually come from diverse teams – from student workers as well as from management.
Munich Startup: What are your 3 favorite work tools?
Nora Sommer: As a physician, many tools and options were quite new to me. I’m fascinated by any tools that make work easier. Whether it’s Planerio for automated, digital shift scheduling for our growing team of radiologists, or Personio for personnel management – we use both tools at Raya – or cool tools that facilitate remote collaboration, like miro.
As a radiologist, Smart Reporting is indispensable for me – a medical documentation technology to efficiently capture, structure, and process clinical data. It accelerates the radiological reporting routine for me and my colleagues at Raya while simultaneously improving the quality of reporting.
“Authenticity is key”
Munich Startup: Your top tip on “pitching”?
Nora Sommer: The elevator pitch has to be solid. Often you have limited time (and limited attention span from the other person) to present your story. Your USPs need to be clear, understandable, and convincing. Moreover, authenticity is key: as a physician, I like to explain enthusiastically how our service makes the clinical everyday life of colleagues on-site easier and why telediagnostics and telemedicine will play such a central role in the future of healthcare. When it comes to numbers and tech, I step back for my co-founders Christoph and Tobias.
Munich Startup: Does it seem like a good time to found a company right now? Why?
Nora Sommer: Yes! Because even if the capital market situation is becoming more challenging, I’m confident that good ideas, products, and services will always find advocates and support.
Healthtech has enormous potential
Munich Startup: Which technology or industry would you focus on in your next company?
Nora Sommer: For me, the healthcare sector remains a natural fit given my background, and we currently have several ideas we want to develop with Raya Diagnostics. Particularly in the healthtech space, I see enormous potential around digital solutions and digital transformation of processes. Artificial intelligence is also advancing in medicine and will revolutionize the industry. But in my view, disease prevention in Germany is also far too neglected and has huge room for expansion.
Munich Startup: What could be improved at the Munich startup location in your view?
Nora Sommer: I think that especially in the founding and early phase of a startup, intensive exchange within the team is super important. Even though much can be done remotely today, brainstorming, working things out, and joint work sessions on-site are important. But where? Expensive rents and the availability of office space with the individually needed and fitting infrastructure are certainly a particular challenge for founders in Munich.
Munich Startup: Which founder would you like to meet in person someday? And what would you ask them?
Nora Sommer: Through Raya, I gained access to software development and I’m amazed every day when we can directly implement requests from our radiologists technically. Ideally, you develop understanding for each other to understand each other better. I would love to exchange ideas with Reshma Saujani. She originally came from a different field too – law – and really immersed herself in it. And as a side note, of course she’s also encouraging girls and women to code themselves. I’d ask her if she knows a good developer who wants to code for Raya.
