A social media trend inspired Klaas Wibker to create a business model in which even small accounts can earn money from posts.
He doesn’t seem to have a chance against the big players. Klaas Wibker will found his AI-supported flight portal Tomtravel in spring 2026 – and compete against industry giants such as Check24 and Fluege.de. They have enormous advertising budgets. But Klaas is a law student and is launching his app alone next to the university. So the 23-year-old is looking for a new path. He wants to run cheap campaigns that reach many people.
Klaas has been building the app for this for a week: his platform is intended to bring companies together with social media users. Brands set up campaigns, users produce suitable content and get paid depending on the reach of their videos. The app is intended to turn normal people into influencers.
Klaas is a fellow of our summer camp “Start-up scene is looking for super founders”. For ten weeks, eight participants will build their own consumer apps using various AI models.
“Startup scene is looking for super founders” is a ten-week startup fellowship from Gründerszene. Eight selected fellows develop consumer startups in Berlin using artificial intelligence – from the idea to the first product. During the program, the fellows work together in the Axel Springer high-rise and are accompanied by experienced entrepreneurs, investors and experts. Partners like OpenAI, Vercel, Dash0 and DHL support them with technology, know-how and mentoring. Gründerszene documents the entire journey with articles, videos and social media content – and shows up close how the next generation of startups is being created today.
“My goal was clearly to have the product ready after this week,” says Klaas. Because “today, practically anyone can program an application with AI on the weekend.”
Read too
An online marketplace for social media advertising
His platform is intended to bring companies and social media users together: The companies put campaigns on the platform with a set budget. The users produce suitable videos and are paid depending on their reach – until the campaign budget is used up.
Klaas derives the idea from an internet trend: clipping. Users cut short excerpts from third-party videos or live streams. They then publish the clips on Tiktok or Instagram and insert advertising into the content. There are even special online marketplaces that place orders: companies pay money so that the so-called “clippers” incorporate their logos into the clips.
The concept is controversial because the “clippers” often violate copyright law. Klaas rethinks it. “I would like to transfer this principle to serious brands,” he says. “Users should be able to build up a real additional income.” However, its users should insert advertising into their own, self-produced content. Klaas wants to make money with a fee that advertisers pay.
With his app he also wants to motivate people to post online. “I think many people don’t dare to share their opinions, thoughts or experiences publicly. A large part of our lives now take place on the Internet,” he says. “Perhaps this platform can motivate people to create content themselves and make the social media landscape more diverse.”
Skills for scaling
“AI explains almost everything you need to know,” says Klaas. The real problem only begins afterwards. “Building a product does not mean having built a company. A company only comes into being when it acquires customers, makes money and grows.” To learn how he achieves this, “I applied here.”
In the first week, Klaas will clarify the legal basis for his app. He creates the data protection declaration, general terms and conditions and information on data deletion. At the same time, he is building the website. Klaas then submits the applications for the Tiktok and Meta interfaces. He wants to automatically record the number of views of the videos. The creators will be remunerated later on this basis.
Klaas is also developing a testing mechanism. A Large Language Model checks whether submitted videos comply with the guidelines of the respective brands – and whether the contributions are correctly marked as advertising. The 23-year-old also integrates a payment service provider.
Now Klaas is waiting for the interfaces to be released. Then he wants to test the platform. It starts with a campaign for his own flight portal. If everything goes as planned, the market launch should follow shortly afterwards. Then the next task begins. Klaas has to win brands. And he needs creators to produce content for the campaigns.
Read too
Klaas’ top learning after a week
Klaas’ most important learning: “Especially in business, you often talk to experienced managing directors or entrepreneurs. As a young founder, you still have to have the confidence to appear on an equal footing. That’s probably my biggest learning from this week.”
The first conclusion: “It’s just fun. You can actually work with the AI all day long and continue to improve the product. At some point you just reach the token limit – then you just go to sleep.”
Goal for the second week: “I need two things: brands to set up campaigns and creators to produce content. My first step will be to specifically write to companies and suggest that they test the platform with a manageable budget,” he says. “As soon as the first campaigns are online and budgets are available, the first creators will hopefully join in.”
“Start-up scene is looking for super founders” powered by Dash0, DHL, OpenAI & Vercel.
