#Interview
“When I had the idea of bringing AI into the public sector in 2024, I had a lot of doubts,” says Ruth Bosse, founder of the Munich GovTech Ark Climate. “Now, two years later, AI is a key issue for the public sector.”
“When I had the idea of bringing AI to the public sector in 2024, I was met with a lot of doubt,” says Ruth Bosse, founder of Ark Climate. “Now, two years later, AI is a key issue for the public sector.”
The Munich GovTech Ark Climatefounded in 2024 by Ruth Bosse and Michael Fröhlich, would like to establish itself as a “platform for municipal climate protection”. Specifically, the team “works with cities to develop software solutions that enable municipalities to implement climate protection and climate adaptation measures more quickly and efficiently.”
The ClimateTech investor Satgana, another.vc, Voyagers Climate-Tech Fund, Triple Impact Ventures, The Operator-Angel Collective (TOAC) and business angels such as Florian Schwenkert, Piran Asci, Wladimir Nikoluk and Hanns Koenig recently invested 2.1 million euros in the young company.
In an interview with deutsche-startups.de, founder Bosse, who was just named Newcomer of the Year at the German Startup Awards, talks about the state of affairs in her startup.
How would you explain Ark Climate to your grandmother?
Haha, my grandmother knows things well. She was in local politics for a long time, like my whole family. So I wouldn’t have to explain to her that municipalities are being assigned more and more tasks, but at the same time have fewer and fewer staff due to the shortage of skilled workers. She also knows that administrations still work with software from the 1990s and carry out many tasks manually that have long been automated in business. I would explain to her that that’s exactly what we do – ensure that administrations also get the most modern software and thus make better decisions, save a lot of money and consulting costs and political decisions can be implemented more quickly. I wouldn’t explain the topic of AI to my 94-year-old grandmother, I would just leave it at “state-of-the-art software”.
How has Ark Climate developed since its founding?
We founded Ark 2024 and started with the first pilots: Kassel, Würzburg, Freising. I sold my vision from day one and developed the product together with paying customers. I wanted to validate that I can sell to the public sector audience and that there is a real need for the insights we are now generating with our AI. Things really started about a year ago when we started to really win customers at scale. We now have over 50 customers and an annual turnover of 0.8 million euros and our team has grown to 13 employees. I am particularly pleased with two key figures: 98% retention, i.e. very, very satisfied customers and sales cycles of three months in a market where one to two years is considered normal. We achieve this through the many recommendations and inbound requests.
You were just named Newcomer of the Year at the German Startup Awards. What does this award mean to you?
Very much. When I had the idea of bringing AI to the public sector in 2024, I was met with a lot of doubt. Most felt that administrations were too analog and too slow. In my opinion, it’s exactly the other way around: If I had to work with the software that is used in administration today, I would also be slow. Now, two years later, AI is a key issue for the public sector. Friedrich Merz himself emphasized exactly this in his greeting at the German Startup Awards. The fact that we have now received an award confirms that I am working on the things that I personally find important.
What were the biggest challenges you have had to overcome so far?
The biggest challenge was entering the market. I had to be very creative, especially with my first customers. We partnered with established players and I leveraged my networks from my political work and my work at McKinsey. Luckily, I’ve been doing local politics for almost 20 years, so you have your contacts and understand how the customer group thinks.
Which project will soon be at the top of your agenda?
We are currently at an exciting turning point for our company: We are evolving from an AI co-pilot for the cities’ climate protection departments to an AI co-pilot for the entire administration. I’m also raising a seed round at the end of the year if investors are reading along.
Please take a look back: What has really gone wrong since the company was founded?
Last spring my co-founder told me out of the blue that he wanted out of Ark. He realized that he didn’t want to work in the public sector long-term. That was before we were on the market and it was a real shock for me. I then had to make some key decisions, restructure the company and of course negotiate shares. At that moment I didn’t realize what a huge risk cofounder breakups are for startups. I was just in solution mode and didn’t realize it until later. Luckily, in Alex and Nick I have a top replacement for leadership in tech and product. The experience showed me how quickly everything can change and how little is certain as a founder.
And where have you done everything right so far?
We have the best team in the world. Each and every one of them is a great added value and without them Ark wouldn’t be what it is today: everyone takes on a lot of responsibility, goes the extra mile where necessary, develops quickly and at the same time has their hearts in the right place and are really great people. I am incredibly grateful to have such a great team around me every day and would recommend every founder to invest enough time in hiring and to be selective. It pays off extremely well. And if anyone is interested – we have a few positions open right now, feel free to write to us!
Where will Ark Climate be in a year?
Oh, nice question – I’m really looking forward to the coming year!! By then, the first town halls in Germany will be running entirely on Ark, how cool!! Our team will also be larger and we have opened our second office in Berlin. I’m very excited to see what I can experience and learn on the journey there!
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