They see a problem and want to solve it. In logistics, there are many things that “have always been done this way” and that can be done better. This is also the case for Felix Paul Czerny and Markus Hartung. Yet the two, who know each other from the University of Nuremberg-Erlangen, are strangers to the industry. Czerny, a native of Franconia, recounts his visit to the container terminal in Nuremberg with an appropriate twist of the tongue: “There I was amazed at the line of truck drivers with papers in their hands.” They either wanted to bring a container into the terminal or pick one up. So Czerny, as a business economist, and Hartung, as a computer scientist, said to themselves that this had to work better. Now they have developed an app for truck drivers – in 24 languages.

The app has only two points to click on the start page: Deliver and Pickup. The idea is to save drivers the time of manual check-in and paperwork. In the terminal, the app directs the driver exactly where to drop off the container or where to pick one up. All the necessary documents are stored in the app and in the web solution behind it. The developers say Conroo can integrate with any terminal operations system.

TRAIN ATTENDANT SELECTS COMPANY NAME

They came up with the name Conroo during a train ride. Hartung says, “We had several names to choose from, then the train conductor came to check the tickets. We then asked him which name he liked best. He decided on Conroo. A few minutes later, he came back extra again and said that Conroo was clearly the best name.” For those who can’t immediately remember the name, Czerny adds as a mnemonic: “It could also be the Franconian pronunciation for kangaroo.”

They founded their company just last year. They are already working with Conroo’s solution at 13 rail terminals. With ten employees, the company is now based in Nuremberg, Munich and Duisburg. In the future, however, Czerny can imagine that another location will be added in the north at some point. Additional employees are also to be added soon.

LOGISTICS EVENT BROUGHT TO BREMEN

Andreas Jahnke, managing director for freight and logistics at management consultancy Accenture, praised the young entrepreneurs: “With your solution, a Hamburg port might not have been so crowded.” Accenture invited seven other logistics start-ups to Bremen in addition to Conroo. Actually, the event was planned for Frankfurt am Main together with Bundesvereinigung Logistik at the very beginning. But Accenture managing partner Sarat Maitin, being from Bremen, advocated that such an event should take place in Bremen after all. After internal clarification and a brief discussion with Sparkasse board member Thomas Fürst, it was clear that the venue would be the new Campus Space in the Sparkasse’s administration building at the Technology Park. Here, the consultancy brought the start-ups together with established companies such as the Otto Group or Lufthansa so that they could exchange ideas. Accenture itself, by the way, is involved in 24 start-ups.