"Because everyone has the right to walk. Because work must not be detrimental to health. That's what we stand for..."
Tom Illauer founded the company 2022 after the topic of exoskeletons had accompanied him for years. As head of marketing / CRM 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 from the nursing and medical supply industry, Tom Illauer not only knows the market, the manufacturers and all 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 in his own testing of seven exoskeletons at trade shows or with care providers, the idea for a comparison site on the topic of exoskeletons was born as early as 2018. When Mr. 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 at length in private conversations after work with physiotherapists, discuss their solutions with exoskeleton manufacturers, and test and try out almost all of the products on this site himself so that the reviews and information are not based on theory but are supplemented by the founder's practical experience. 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, Mr. Illauer took on two consulting mandates with two exoskeleton manufacturers, providing feedback as an indirect advisory board, acting as a sparring partner, and offering space for testing.
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.
Managing Director
Founder of an exoskeleton manufacturer
OrthExo.de is a play on words from orthoses and exoskeletons. We are pointedly positioned on these topics. Our supporters include orthopedic masters, therapists, manufacturers and universities. The project is entirely self-funded (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. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
In order to reach our fundraising goal (see below), we rely on any revenue in the form of membership fees, advertising, newsletter placements, podcast advertising, and so on.
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In order to present the topics as professionally and empirically as possible, we have established an advisory board of six experts who regularly advise and support Orthexo.de. We will list the members in a timely manner. All are experts in your field, including master orthopedic surgeons, occupational therapists, engineers, Prof. of Public Health, Ph.D. Center of Ergonomics, and consultants in occupational health.
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 Germany's most modern employer, with the highest employee satisfaction.
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