Teenage founders sell start-ups – “We don’t have to worry about income anymore”
They had already started developing a kit for native content apps at the age of 16: Oskar Neumann (left) and Jürgen Ulbrich
Those: Appful
Even before they graduated from high school, Oskar Neumann and Jürgen Ulbrich founded their start-up Appful. Now the two young founders have successfully sold their app forge – without any investors on board. They now want to use their money for other things.
BTheir start-up would almost not have existed, at least not under the name: After the former high school graduates Oskar Neumann and Jürgen Ulbrich had entered their software company Appful in the trademark register in 2015, a letter from Apple was in the mailbox shortly afterwards.
The iPhone group saw its trademark rights violated. However, the two young entrepreneurs were not deterred. Neumann and Ulbrich wrote a letter appealing to Apple’s values.
With success: the group withdrew its opposition to the Appful brand. Neumann and Ulbrich (then 18) were allowed to officially set up their company under that name.
At the age of 16 they had already started to develop a construction kit for native content apps. Marketing departments, for example, could use it to create magazine-style apps themselves and without programming knowledge. Customers included Greenpeace, the sports manufacturer Vaude and the animal welfare organization Peta.
According to their own information, Neumann and Ulbrich already made six-figure sales in 2017. “These have not only grown almost annually since then, we have also been able to significantly increase profitability,” says Ulbrich (24) today.
Appful goes to two content companies
Obviously, this also aroused interest among buyers. As can be seen in the commercial register, the owners of the Berlin content operator Wakeup Media and the Vienna marketing agency Wordsmattr have jointly acquired around 95 percent of the shares in Appful. Ulbrich himself continues to hold a five percent stake in his start-up, while his partner Neumann (25) has sold all of his shares.
When asked about the purchase price, Ulbrich kept a low profile from “Gründerszene”. Judging by the company’s growth and the “very attractive business model in the commercial software-as-a-service sector”, however, they were paid a “very fair multiple” on sales. “This means that we no longer have to worry about an income in the next phase of life,” says Ulbrich.
In fact, in the software sector, a multiple of sales is often paid as the purchase price. So there should have been at least a medium to high six-figure amount for Appful.
In addition, Ulbrich and Neumann previously held 100 percent of the shares in their company. According to their own statements, investors had previously canceled the two founders despite offers.
The next project has long been launched
According to Jürgen Ulbrich, both want to use their money in the future to make smaller angel investments or to finance new start-ups out of their own pockets. Ulbrich has even started with the latter: Last summer, he started his new company Sprad, which is developing a software tool for employee recommendations.
“It should become the central tool in the fight against the shortage of skilled workers,” the young entrepreneur explains his vision. The first customers, from start-ups to DAX corporations, are already using the software.
His former co-founder Oskar Neumann, on the other hand, is taking it easy for the time being: He is now working at Amazon.
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