"Because everyone has the right to walk. Because work should not lead to herniated discs."
Orthexo was founded in 2022 by Tom Illauer. As Head of Marketing and Management Consultant at Pflege.de, Head of Marketing at a nursing home provider with 60 locations, consultant to two European exoskeleton manufacturers and startup consultant for four startups in the care and medical supply industry, Tom not only knows the market, the manufacturers and all the solutions, but has also spent years studying the needs of paraplegics, MS patients and people with mobility deficits and perceiving them in a home environment.
Thousands of conversations with exoskeleton users from the USA and Europe, as well as his own testing of dozens of exoskeletons at trade fairs or with service providers, led to the idea for a comparison website on the topic of exoskeletons in 2018. When Illauer then took over the management of marketing and eCommerce for a medical supply retail group (12 companies, 90 branches, 300 million euros in external sales), he was able to discuss his idea in private conversations with physiotherapists after work, talk to exoskeleton manufacturers about their solutions and test almost all of the products on this site himself. This means that the evaluations and information are not based on theory, but on the founder's practical experience. How long does it really take to put on an exoskeleton? Can you cook with it? "Theory wasn't enough here. We had to test everything ourselves." But to really implement the project, one more step was needed: manufacturer feedback. Thanks to his experience, Tom took on consultancy mandates with exoskeleton manufacturers, who act as sparring partners, provide feedback and offer the opportunity to test.
Tom is a qualified banker, qualified business economist, qualified investment banker, domain investor and broker, managing director of a marketing agency active in the market for 72 years, author of three books, podcaster, due diligence marketing expert, holder of the permission of Bafin according to §25c Abs. 1 to accept the mandate as a board member of a credit institution and active as an advisor. His goals? He is looking forward to further mandates such as supervisory board, advisory board, consultant, board member or honorary professor. Here you can find more information on Linkedin or Twitter.
AutomobilUmbau.de is an Orthexo brand and the second start-up by social entrepreneur Tom Illauer. In his first start-up Orthexo, Mr. Illauer supports people with disabilities in the procurement of neurological aids such as exoskeletons and employers in equipping their employees with industrial exoskeletons. AutomobilUmbau.de supports people with disabilities in obtaining their driver's license and in converting their cars to make them suitable for the disabled. In both start-ups, Mr. Illauer is trying to keep people mobile. All without investors, without funding and completely self-financed.
OrthExo.de is a play on words from orthoses and exoskeletons. We are pointedly positioned on these topics. Our supporters include orthopedic masters, therapists, the Fraunhofer Institute IPA, manufacturers and universities. The project is completely self-financed (bootstrapped). The cap table is currently not staffed with PE / VC or strategic investors. We do not have any business angels. If you are interested in a strategic investment, we are only interested if it exponentially increases customer value. Otherwise, we gratefully decline any amount from any investor and thank you for your interest in cooperation.
We cannot reinvent the health insurance and health care system, but we can optimize the access to independent, transparent and complete information for the purpose of rational decision making of one's own health in such a way that in the future nobody will miss the chance to walk, stand or move the arm again due to missing knowledge... We are Orthexo.de - Ratgeber für Neuroorthopädie und Exoskelette UG (haftungsbeschränkt). For us, these are self-evident human rights that must not fail due to bureaucracy or years of court cases with insurance companies. Technology is developing so exponentially fast that disabilities will play a subordinate role in the future, even so subordinate that many of these impairments will no longer be noticeable to a third party. Further, we believe that the job market will change so much that technology will take a leading role in the industry. We have the technology to strengthen worker health. The only thing missing so far is investment, study, and inflationary use of these robotic, full-body machines. For us, it's clear that exoskeletons will be available for purchase in every hardware store in ten years.
Do you already know our second platform called AutomobilUmbau.de? Receive suitable offers from disabled driving schools and car conversion companies in your area in seconds.
Do you love making people's lives easier with the help of technology and giving people back the feeling of walking and mobility in the form of independence? Get in touch with us!
"My goal is to build a company the way I would have wanted it myself," says Tom. We demand a lot of performance, but give back all the more for it!
The five mantras:
We only want the best of the best. That's why our selection process goes through seven steps.
What awaits you in return?
Orthexo.de wants to leave footprints.not only as a disrupter of the industry, but also as the most modern employer in Germany, with the highest employee satisfaction.
