Originally published by Wayra Germany on December 5, 2022
Munich, 05 December 2022 - Wayra Germany, the open innovation and investment hub of the telecommunications group o2 Telefónica, is investing 350,000 euros in the Munich-based start-up enna. The goal of enna is to make the "internet for all" possible and to minimise the hurdles for older people in particular to participate in the digital world.
The Munich-based start-up was founded in 2020 by Jakob Bergmeier, Tim Haug and Moritz Kutschera. The digital applications from enna enable older people who are not very tech-savvy to be online. Senior citizens can easily make video calls, receive photos and video messages, share photo albums, listen to podcasts and watch YouTube videos. For this, you need any Apple or Android tablet running the enna app, the enna Cards, and the enna Dock.
In addition to Wayra Germany and the technology company TQ Group, the Osnabrück-based family office zwei.7 is acting as lead investor, backed by entrepreneur Karsten Wulf. The seed financing round with a seven-digit amount was accompanied by the business law firm ARQIS led by Prof. Dr. Christoph von Einem.
With its investment in enna, Wayra Germany wants to promote connectivity among older people. Katrin Bacic, Chief Strategy Officer of Wayra Germany, explains: "The pandemic in particular has shown us how important it is to be connected. But older people are often unable to do this because they are unfamiliar with the technology. Applications like enna are promising precisely because they involve all people and promote connections among them."
Jakob Bergmeier, co-founder of enna, on the closed funding round: "We are very proud and happy that we were able to successfully close our seed round and have such strong new partners on board for the future. The lack of digital participation in our society is a very relevant problem that we want to solve with enna. I built my first prototype for my grandma back in 2016. The fact that it has developed into a company together with Moritz and Tim since 2020 makes me particularly proud. The trust placed in us by investors shows us that we are on the right track. We see it as a mission to build the bridge across the digital divide with enna and look forward to the time ahead."
The start-up enna supports o2 Telefónica's goal of enabling connectivity for all and, above all, creating digital participation for seniors: "Digital mobil im Alter" is an initiative by o2 Telefónica and the Digital Opportunities Foundation that reached around 2.6 million people in 2021. The initiative is committed to bringing older people closer to digitalisation and educating them in using the internet. What started as a pure tablet rental with free flat rates has continued to develop over the years: for some years now, innovative formats such as digital walks, online game rounds or technology experience courses have also been offered.
About enna
enna is a start-up from Munich founded in 2020 by Jakob Bergmeier, Tim Haug and Moritz Kutschera. enna opens the window to the digital world for people who have difficulties using smartphones or tablets. enna is a particularly low-threshold, haptic operating concept for tablets. By placing an enna Card on the enna Dock, the corresponding command is immediately executed on the connected tablet. From "call Tim" to "listen to an audio book" or "weather today", every digital service can be mapped on the enna Cards. The enna Cards are ordered in the enna App by digitally affine caregivers and reconfigured again and again. Every digital content can thus be made accessible to non-digital target groups with enna. enna thus creates more closeness within the family and digital participation for all sections of the population.