Munich Startup: What does your startup do? What problem do you solve?
Kertos: Compliance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) presents companies with significant operational challenges. Personal data is distributed across countless systems, the manual effort required for even the simplest requests (e.g., "Please delete my data") is immense, and the processes are improvised, error-prone, and not scalable.
Kertos is a no-code SaaS solution that connects an organization’s entire infrastructure to manage personal data and fully automate data protection processesFrom automating data subject requests to implementing deletion concepts and maintaining process inventories – with Kertos, manual data protection processes are a thing of the past. This saves companies time, money, and stress, allowing them to focus on their core business.
Kertos is “one of the first European solutions in the field of automated data protection”
Munich Startup: But that's been around for a long time!
Kertos: Yes and no. In the US, there are (initial) solutions in the area of technical data protection automation. However, these do not comply with EU data protection requirements. Thus, Kertos is one of the first European solutions in the field of automated data protection. Kertos follows existing solutions in the value chain – these are primarily consulting services or documentation solutions – and automates operational data protection processes within companies.
Munich Startup: What is your founding story?
Kertos: Kilian holds a doctorate in law and was responsible for operational data protection at various scaleups (e.g., Home24, Tier Mobility, Gorillas) for almost 10 years. He was the main victim of manual, improvised processes and, at the same time, increasing regulatory requirements in the area of data protection.
Alex and Johannes have a long history of shared R&D experience, developing dozens of products for large corporations and medium-sized companies. At the time they met (mid-2021), Johannes and Alex were running a software development agency focused on data-driven innovation.
It quickly became clear that the combination of strong expertise in the domain (Kilian), product (Johannes), and technology (Alex) was an ideal mix for this major challenge. However, this wouldn't have been possible without the software agency's existing employees believing in the solution and being on board for the new challenge from the very beginning! A huge thank you to the team!
“Processing millions of sensitive customer data”
Munich Startup: What have been your biggest challenges so far?
Kertos: Our challenges are certainly similar to those of other startups: building a strong team, developing a scalable product, and acquiring the perfect first customers.
What makes Kertos unique is that we process millions of sensitive customer data in the area of data protection automation. This requires not only a fully data protection-compliant infrastructure but also high IT security standards. This enables us to ensure transparent, secure, and error-free handling of personal data.
Munich Startup: Where would you like to be in one year, where in five years?
Kertos: In addition to automating data subject rights, we are currently integrating additional functions such as implementing deletion concepts, data mapping, creating a process directory, and vendor management. Thus, we are developing Kertos into an all-in-one solution for data protection processes.
First, due to the uniform legal framework of the GDPR in the EU, we are aiming to scale within the EU. Coming from Germany, the home of data protection and the GDPR as the basis for global data protection guidelines, we have an ideal foundation for further expansion in the future.
Part of the Munich startup scene
Munich Startup: How have you experienced Munich as a startup location so far?
Kertos: Johannes and Alex have been part of the Munich startup scene for a long time and both work closely with the UnternehmerTUM as one of the driving forces of the Munich startup scene. Kilian, who is at home in the Berlin startup scene, was quickly brought on board, and Munich as a startup location has therefore always been central to us at Kertos. Here, we are well connected with many startups and scaleups from the scene. This means we are always in close contact with other founders and support each other on the rollercoaster ride of being a founder.
Munich Startup: Quick exit or long breath?
Kertos: Definitely a long-term solution. The combination of B2B SaaS and data protection compliance requires not only a strong product, but also a long-term sales process. The good news: once integrated, solutions in this area aren't easily replaced.
