The MTH Unboxing is a monthly format. One startup from the portfolio of the MediaTech Hub Accelerator will be presented in each issue. This time, you will learn more about the HR-tech startup Savvi.
Whether for school, studies or language – the fields in which learning apps can be used are quite diverse. And thanks to their design, either in the form of digital flashcards or as tasks subdivided in small learning units, they are relatively easy to integrate into everyday life. The startup Savvi, which is based in Potsdam, has developed an educational app that can be used to learn and consolidate skills for work in a playful way. In this edition of MTH Unboxing, the two co-founders, Julian Fornoff and Colin Weitmann, explain how Savvi was founded and how they came up with the idea for it, what advantages Potsdam offers for startups, and what goal they are pursuing with their company.
MTH Accelerator: What is Savvi?
Savvi: Savvi is a gamified learning app for soft skill training in a professional context: it’s like LinkedIn Learning and DuoLingo having a baby. Trainees, managers or salespeople, for example, establish better habits in the long term by using adaptive, practical learning nuggets lasting 30 minutes each week. At the same time, Savvi makes learning success measurable and supports companies with detailed insights into improving learning initiatives in a data-driven way and adapting them to current needs.
MTH Accelerator: How did Savvi come about?
Savvi: During his time as a consultant and as a CMO at a start-up, Julian Fornoff was always confronted by the fact that private learning for such areas as languages, habits or even sports was possible in a playful, entertaining and app-based way whereas the focus in a professional context was always on lengthy, ineffective seminars. We want to use Savvi to apply this entertaining and playful approach to professional development. Current psychological findings are also being given a higher priority alongside modern gamification in the designing of the training programmes and the methodology.
MTH Accelerator: Why found a company in Potsdam?
Savvi: The idea of a learning app for soft skills training had existed for some time, but the company was founded in 2022 as part of the Exist scholarship at the University of Potsdam, in cooperation with Professor Dr. Eric Kearney as Chair of Leadership. Potsdam is an ideal breeding ground for ideas and our network because of its proximity in terms of content to the university as well as the geographical proximity to Berlin.
MTH Accelerator: Why the MTH Accelerator?
Savvi: The MTH Accelerator offers individual support and networking opportunities to young start-ups like us at Savvi. The local pooling of expertise and close mentoring by experts create useful possibilities. As a part of this international network of the media and digital economy, Savvi can benefit from the exchange of ideas within the community of founders as well as from events and support in venture development.
MTH Accelerator: What is your mission?
Savvi: At Savvi, we believe that employees are the most valuable resource in the working world. And that their personal and professional development is critical to the success of businesses in our rapidly changing world. Our vision is to already have now identified tomorrow’s most important competencies and then develop them in a sustainable way. We have two maxims for this: on the one hand, measurability, i.e. which competences should someone have in a certain position? And on the other hand, sustainability, i.e. to what extent the development measure is suitable for establishing this competence for the long term?
MTH Accelerator: What are the top skills that you can bring to your start-up as founders?
Savvi: As a psychologist, Julian provides the necessary expertise for relevant training programmes and effective training methodology. Moreover, he had already been involved as a CMO and Head of Business Development in setting up a B2B SaaS start-up and, as a former consultant, has the necessary toolset to provide Savvi with a strategic focus. As a former project manager of software and product teams with over 60 developers, Colin possesses the technical expertise for establishing Savvi as an innovative product company and developing a scalable, functional app, as well as the leadership skills for creating productive processes and structures.
