Alexander Jagielo’s family already had a certain affinity for trucks, so it was fate that he was involved in a research project on cargo theft early on in his industrial engineering studies. Alexander presented the basic idea for the startup KONVOI at the Startup Dock of the Hamburg University of Technology (TU Hamburg) back in 2016. The question was how theft from parked trailers could be prevented. This usually involves slitting the truck tarpaulin or breaking open the door. For Alexander, it was his first immersion in the business: “The project gave me a lot of insight into this huge industry: There are 3.1 million registered trucks in Germany! Thanks to the cooperation with the various companies and the State Office of Criminal Investigation, I learned to appreciate the sector. This network and my fascination for the subject has remained,” he reports. During his studies, Alexander met his fellow student Heinz Luckhardt as part of a project. They got talking and quickly realized that they had similar views on many things. So it made sense to develop something together. Several ideas were discussed: “In the end, it was the banal problem of cargo theft that was really tangible for us as a topic: that convinced us,” explains Heinz.

Have your business idea put through its paces at Startup Dock

In 2018, Alexander, together with Heinz, presented a further developed approach to cargo theft to the start-up consultants from the “Startup Dock” (editor’s note: “Startup Dock” is now called “Startup Port @TUHH”) and beyourpilot (editor’s note: “beyourpilot” has been operating under the “Startup Port” brand since July 2023). The feedback was positive and encouraged the two industrial engineers to apply for the EXIST start-up grant. For this, the founders needed another person with the necessary expertise in software development. However, the search was not easy and had to be extended several times until a job advertisement finally had the desired effect: Divya Settimali got in touch, convinced the boys with her expertise and her not insignificant enthusiasm and then became a co-founder.

In the Startup Dock, KONVOI can benefit from the exchange with other startups and the start-up advice on site as well as the workshops of the beyourpilot start-up network. The start of the funding period and the drawing down of funds was very important for the hardware startup so that it could devote its full concentration to product development.

Sensors are designed to prevent cargo theft

“KONVOI wants to prevent cargo theft with a mobile, preventive security system. Optimized sensors form a detection area around the truck, which makes it possible to analyse movement patterns and initiate preventive defensive measures,” says Heinz, explaining the startup’s approach. A customer-specific alarm chain in the form of an intelligent algorithm can be used to react preventively and situationally to the approach of an unwanted person. “For example, lights can be switched on as a deterrent in the first step. The system’s defensive reactions can then be increased, for example by a swelling sound and by alerting the driver and a security service,” explains Alexander.

The combined approach as a unique solution

This combined approach, i.e. as mobile, flexible and truly deterrent as possible, has never been seen before in this form. Accordingly, the company is relaxed when asked about the competition: “There are already all the access-restricting measures, such as special locks or cut-resistant tarpaulins, which the vehicle manufacturers already offer, but which do not provide the security that everyone wants. Then there are security parking lots with some precautions, but these are associated with basic costs. I also have to plan my route accordingly and pay around 30 euros for each stop. The situation at the rest areas is already so tense as it is, because they are nowhere near enough,” says Alexander. More sophisticated competitors are, for example, THEFTEX with their alarm tarpaulin: “They have incorporated copper wires into their alarm tarpaulin, which form a fine electrical network. If they are cut, the control technology detects this and triggers an alarm. Another competitor wants to use sound to measure whether someone is accessing or not. But both competitors only sound the alarm when the suspicious person is already tampering with the truck: “That’s too late for us,” emphasizes Heinz.

Progress at three-month intervals

“We record our planned development in a constantly updated 3-month roadmap. We feel comfortable with the focused processing in currently two-week sprints. The next big goal for 2021 is to build a prototype. In the long term, we also want to rely on artificial intelligence, i.e. self-learning software,” says Heinz.

The future: smart security for rent

Konvoi does not see itself as a technical product developer, but as a service provider: the security system is to be rented by the logistics companies. This guarantees permanent support, technical functionality and updates for the software, which is improved with every deployment. Parallel to the technical development, KONVOI is looking for partners – for example, trucking companies that use the security system on a trial basis. Or investors who want to help this new idea reach market maturity. In the distant future, as many trucks as possible should be part of a KONVOI fleet and be reliably protected against cargo theft by an updatable security system.

https://www.konvoi.eu/