"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 advisor to the management at Pflege.de, as head of marketing at a nursing home provider with 60 locations, as advisor to two European exoskeleton manufacturers and as startup advisor to four startups in the nursing and medical supply industry, Tom not only knows the market, the manufacturers and all the solutions, but has spent years studying the needs of paraplegics, MS patients and people with mobility deficits and perceiving them in the home environment. In thousands of conversations with exoskeleton users from the U.S. and Europe, as well as his own testing of dozens of exoskeletons at trade shows or with healthcare providers, the idea for a comparison site on exoskeletons was born in 2018. When Illauer then took over as head of marketing as well as eCommerce for a medical supply store group (12 companies, 90 branches, 300 million euros in external sales), he was able to discuss his idea with physiotherapists in private conversations after work, discuss their solutions with exoskeleton manufacturers, and test almost all of the products on this site himself. Thus, the reviews and information are not based on theory, but on practical experience of the founder. How long does it really take to put on an exoskeleton? Can you cook with it? "Here, theory was not enough. We had to test everything ourselves." But to really execute the project, one more step is needed: manufacturer feedback. Through his experience, Tom took on consulting engagements with exoskeleton manufacturers, acting as a sparring partner, providing feedback and offering 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.
The personal goal of the founder: Support 100 animal shelters with 25,000 EUR each, as a memento of his dog "Mailo". All private profits will be refinanced in the future in the project "Animal Orthopedics Marketplace & Advisor.
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 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.
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