Which driving school is right for me? — The Munich-based startup drivolino wants to help with this question. Its online service for driving schools and students is designed to help. One of the founders, Boris Müssig, explains exactly how this service works in our 7 questions.
1. Who are you and what do you do?
We are Dr. George Kerschbaumer, 49, who is responsible for finance and strategic partnerships and is a serial entrepreneur, and I, Boris Müssig, 33, who is responsible for product management and sales to driving schools. Together we are drivolino: drivolino is the number one contact for driving students in Germany and is the portal for finding the right driving school and booking and paying for driving lessons digitally. We also work with strategic partners such as BMW and Aral to develop customized solutions for the very specific and interesting target group of driving students (and driving schools).
“We digitize the contact between driving school and student”
While a lot has happened in driver training in recent years – key words are learning apps, driving simulators, the use of VR glasses, etc. – the interaction surrounding the training often still takes place as it did in the last millennium.
Here, drivolino offers the opportunity to use digital services that are already standard in other areas, such as booking taxis, hotels, or takeaway food. On drivolino, you can choose from over 17,000 German driving schools and filter or compare them based on a variety of criteria—from distance and language of instruction to instructor photos. We also offer an app that allows students and driving schools to access the same calendar, allowing students to book driving lessons and pay online.
2. But that's been around for a long time!
Interestingly, not! While there are still a few "address portals" for driving schools dating back to the early 2000s, a performance comparison of schools like ours, or anything comparable to our "drivolino book&pay" app, doesn't exist in Germany or—to our knowledge—in any of our neighboring European countries.
Sales: a real challenge
3. What has been your biggest challenge so far?
Sales. Driving schools and students are very specific target groups, often with rather small budgets and often with very different technical skills (average student driver: 21 years old, driving instructor approximately 50 years old). Developing and selling solutions that work for both target groups can be quite a challenge.
4. Let’s get down to business: How is business going?
We've become the leading website for students to choose driving schools in Germany, with several hundred paying customers and some cool partnerships with companies like BMW and Aral. Nevertheless, there's still plenty of room for improvement in all areas, whether visibility, product development, or internationalization!
5. What does Munich mean to you?
drivolino is and remains a Munich Kindl! From our office space in Werk1 in the Kunstpark Ost (thanks to funding from the Ministry of Economic Affairs), to the support of the BayStartUp and the Munich business angel scene in past financings to the partnership with a large local automobile manufacturer, we benefit in many ways from Munich as a location!
“We will be satisfied if we reach a similar scale to MyTaxi.”
6. How will your startup become the next unicorn? Or will we see you soon at Epic Fail Night?
We'll be satisfied if we reach a similar scale to MyTaxi, which has achieved a decent valuation in a similarly sized market—just under three billion euros in Germany—with comparable services and partners. We'll see what happens next.
7. Helles or Prosecco?
Since we go to the Schützenzelt rather than the Weinzelt at Oktoberfest: Helles!
