More freedom and time for creativity
Anything is possible with a scholarship
"More freedom and time for creativity" is how Anna-Carina Jodlauk describes the biggest advantage that the scholarship has given her. She was a scholarship holder from the Media and Communications for Digital Business degree programme in 2018 and was sponsored by SOPTIM AG, an Aachen-based company that develops IT solutions for the energy industry. Three years ago, the former scholarship holder founded the company anny with four co-founders.
annything goes
"The founding story of anny is not a campfire story, but much more a real-life story," says the co-founder. During her studies and while working in the coworking space, there was the theoretical possibility of using publicly shared space or access to rental equipment. The challenge was to find out more about the availability of the offers and to coordinate the allocation. In discussions with the Aachen-based digitalHUB network, it emerged that these were precisely the issues that were causing problems there too. The coworking space needed a solution for internal and external resource management. This is how anny was created as a universal booking platform for large and complex companies, organisations and universities.
"Empower the world to share resources by simplifying the way we manage, explore and book anything online". anny pursues this mission statement and is driving the digitalisation of processes in all industries. "Our customers range from public authorities and universities to car hire companies and even event management and leisure centres. We stand for universality, so to say annything," says Jodlauk. You won't find standstill at anny, but - how could it be otherwise in a start-up - a hands-on mentality and flat hierarchies.
Giving something back
Even as a start-up, anny has been carrying out semester projects with the Faculties of Business Studies, Information Technology and Electrical Engineering since it was founded in 2020. Computer science and business informatics students have also completed practical semesters or bachelor's theses in and in cooperation with the company. Anna-Carina Jodlauk describes these collaborations as "always profitable for both sides and on an equal footing". In addition, further graduates from FH Aachen were hired for the first time in 2022. "We are always on the lookout and are of course also happy to hear from interested FH graduates."
Although not "its own", anny supported another long-standing sponsor, Dr. Babor GmbH & Co. KG, last year with the introduction of flexible workplace booking. So we have come full circle. And who knows, maybe one day anny itself will become a sponsor of the FH scholarship programme, giving freedom for time and creativity.
