Rakun: „We make the world more inclusive, starting with travel“

He used to run a chatbot startup called Dvel, then launched a coffee startup, and now, after a life-changing diagnosis, he has launched another startup: Upper Austrian Peter Buchroithner has teamed up with two veterans of the startup scene – Thomas Schranz and David Pfluegl (both Lemmings) – to help people with disabilities communicate their needs on the go. The name of the new startup Rakun.

Peter explained to the startup interviewer how Rakun works, hat they plan to earn revenues and what inspired the app:

What is the idea of your new startup?

My name is Peter Buchroithner and I’m the CEO & Co-Founder at Rakun. At Rakun Card we’ve developed a hidden disability card that allows our users to share their needs in moments when they can’t.  You can find our product at rakuncard.com.

Nice to meet you, Peter! Who is in the founding team of your startup?

My Co-Founders are Thomas ‘Tosh’ Schranz as CTO, David Pfluegl as CPO, and Verena Handler-Kunze is our CDO (Design).

A strong team! What is the story behind your startup? How and why did you start?

I have recently been diagnosed with ADHD & Autism, and I’m spending most of my time figuring out how to help more people like me. A big struggle for me was always getting through airport security. It’s unfamiliar, it’s always chaotic, people can be impatient, or even rude. I might be too anxious to talk to them, I might be exhausted after a long flight. I might not speak their language. Rakun Card allows people like me to share their ‘special needs’ in a simple app.

• ‘Please don’t touch me’
• ‘I am sensitive to light’
• ‘Please give me some space’
• ‘Be patient with me’
• ‘I am sensitive to noise’
• ‘I may need some more time to process what you’re asking me’

With Rakun Card I found a way to share my ‘special needs’ with others in an easy way. But it’s not just ADHD, or Autism. Rakun Card helps you share your unique preferences including hidden disabilities, food allergies, and more. The goal is to make the world more inclusive starting with travel. Because everybody deserves to travel with ease.

That is a very personal and moving story. Thank you for sharing! What sets your startup apart from the competition? What makes you unique, what is your USP?

At Rakun we don’t think too much about competition. In fact, we wish there were more solutions for all the challenges people with hidden disabilities like ADHD are facing. What inspired us is the story of the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower. They’ve developed a physical card that helps people like me to easily share their hidden disabilities. And they are doing a great job helping many people around the world. At Rakun, we believe one great solution is not enough, especially because they have no digital solution. So we developed Rakun Card, an app version that is fully customizable so our users can share any hidden disability like a food allergy, autistic traits, or speech impairments.

That is a very empathetic and goal-oriented approach. What technologies do you use, or what in-house tech have you developed?

At Rakun we use LLMs to help our users to effortlessly translate their Rakun Card into foreign languages like Japanese, Spanish, or Arabic. This allows our users to communicate without speaking. This is very helpful at airports, in a foreign country, or even in your own city when you feel overwhelmed.

That is fantastic and very useful. Who is your target audience and how do you reach them?

We develop technical solutions for the 1 in 5 humans who are on the neurodivergent spectrum and help them to explore the world more freely. Since my AuDHD diagnosis, I’ve come to realize how hard day-to-day life in a foreign place can be. And I want to help people like me. This means people with ADHD or autistic traits. We communicate to our target users on Reddit, in Facebook Groups, on Instagram, on LinkedIn. It seems like we found a product that people have been looking for, and we get daily messages saying things like: “What a great idea. This would have been super helpful when my kiddo with allergies went travelling with school. We were printing out all her allergies in different languages on cards so she could show people, an app would have been much easier!! Reckon it will also be handy for all kinds of transport as well as planes. Keep up the good work” or “I love this so much!! This is going to be so helpful for me for future situations.”

It is inspiring to see how much your product helps people. How about previous funding? Do you already have investors?

We believe that the best way to go at this stage is bootstrapping. We are working hard to test different business models and we are very confident that we don’t need investors. That said, we are open to discussions if anyone wants to support our mission to make the world more inclusive and has an extensive network in the travel, B2C, or hospitality space.

That sounds very strategic and focused. Can you explain your business model? How does your startup generate revenue?

Rakun Card is free for our users, and we always want to keep it this way. We believe that Rakun Card can become the global standard for digital hidden disability cards and the market for that is conservatively 1 in 5 humans which is more than 1.6 billion people who need what we are building in one way or another. Monetizing something used by millions or billions shouldn’t be a problem; getting to that stage, however, is a big challenge. So right now, we are focusing on growing user numbers and working with selected tourist organizations to help make their cities more inclusive.

A significant vision! What are the next steps for your startup? Do you have specific goals for the future?

At Rakun Card, we want to make the world more inclusive by giving neurodivergent people tools to make their lives easier. To help them be themselves in stressful situations, to help them travel freely, without boundaries.

That is a great mission. Do you have any final tips for other founders?

The only tip I am willing to share with every founder is this: Be truly, unapologetically yourself while building your startup, or you might as well work for someone else.