Thank you Christoph! I am Julia Gebert, founder and Managing Director of RYSTA. With RYSTA, we offer an IoT monitoring and warning system for construction sites. Our sensors are placed on construction sites, where they measure the relevant parameters for our customers and then send them directly to the construction diary. This means that our customers don’t have to be on the construction site and still know what is happening there. On the one hand, this saves a lot of time and, on the other, our customers make the right decisions in good time and are made aware of risks in good time. This enables them to fulfil the quality promise they make to their customers. Our customers are general contractors who manage larger construction sites, e.g. residential projects from one hundred flats upwards. This quality promise also includes drying processes, for example, which must be optimally monitored. This is a very time-consuming and laborious endeavour and, interestingly, it is still carried out entirely by hand. It involves walking from flat to flat or from room to room, placing hygrometers and thermometers, measuring values and so on. So it’s a completely manual process in 2021.

Christoph: Thank you very much. Julia, can you give us an example of cooperation with a company from the construction and property industry?

Julia: For example, we work together with TM Ausbau and Flash Security. This has shown that monitoring the drying process creates enormous added value. At Flash Security, they monitor the period from completion to occupancy. This is an extremely time-consuming process in which an employee goes from flat to flat and has to cover everything manually with a hygrometer and thermometer. And that’s where we help, because these inspections are completely unnecessary. They can then take place in a targeted manner, at the moment when action is needed.

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Christoph: Now we also have Mr Berger from TM Ausbau visiting us. Mr Berger, can you briefly explain how TM Ausbau benefits from its collaboration with RYSTA? And, of course, introduce yourself.

Herr Berger: Yes, with pleasure! I’m Hans-Peter Berger, I’m in charge of the Berlin branch for our location here. TM is a medium-sized family business specialising in interior fittings. The contact with RYSTA came about through our management and was then passed on to us in Berlin. We said we would start something with RYSTA and met with Mrs Gebert, who introduced us to her product and all the things that RYSTA can make possible. We then agreed to start a pilot project. At that time, at the beginning of last year, we had a large construction project here near Berlin in Oranienburg, with a total of 265 flats spread over 12 houses, where we had to complete the entire interior fit-out.

We also used the multi-sensors from RYSTA. It’s very important for us to know the temperatures and humidity in the individual rooms when the screed is being poured, when the painting work is being done, etc., when we’re doing the interior work. The multi-sensors from RYSTA have given us an enormous time advantage, which was a good thing. Previously, it was always necessary for the project manager or project leader to go from one house to the next to measure the humidity on the construction site, write down the values and enter them in a table so that we could then process them digitally. With the sensors from RYSTA, we were able to call up the latest data at any time, whether we were on the construction site, on site or in the office, and immediately pass it on digitally to the client or archive it for later documentation. This has therefore been very useful for us.

In between, there were always feedback rounds with RYSTA, where we were also able to contribute our ideas. We were also able to contribute our ideas for improvements that we had identified in recent months, some of which have already been implemented by RYSTA. This is why RYSTA has worked very well with us, from which both sides have certainly benefited. For us, this means that working with a young start-up like RYSTA has definitely paid off in the future. Because we, too, are moving with the future, which is digital. So it certainly won’t be the last thing we’ve done with a start-up. And I can only recommend it to everyone! Because you get to look at things from the outside again that you’ve never seen before, because you’ve simply become blinded by time. When young, innovative people have completely different approaches and are involved, it’s certainly beneficial for everyone involved. I can therefore highly recommend this and would like to take this opportunity to thank RYSTA once again for making this possible. It was a very good experience, thank you very much!

Chris: Mr Berger, thank you very much for your insight and your plea for start-ups! Julia, what tips and tricks on collaboration can you give other companies and PropTech start-ups along the way?

Julia: I clearly advise PropTechs to work with the right sparring partners and investors at an early stage. This creates trust on both sides – corporate and startup. And it also saves a lot of time for both! Ambivation is a good example. It is always particularly valuable if the partners themselves have an entrepreneurial background. We have had good experiences with Highrise Ventures, founded by Claudia Nagel, as a sparring partner. It is also important to work closely with the customer at an early stage so that you can be sure that you are solving a really relevant problem and that there is ultimately a willingness to buy. That’s an important tip, and of course it’s also good for the companies because they can contribute their wishes and ideas. Of course, you also have to give start-ups the tip of staying true to the roadmap. That you really know what you’re not doing, as important as the customer is of course.

On the corporate side, I can clearly advise more courage! Trial and error mentality always leads to the goal with a very manageable investment. Pilot projects are ideal. You can also take a look at yourself. That’s the funny thing, even if it’s clear from the outset what the goal is and you have the green light, you want something and you know it will be good – you still feel such a hurdle and have to give yourself a push. It’s good when CDOs have certain budgets to simply do things and learn. It’s like when you already have the jogging shoes, know what the plan is and that it’s going to be good – and yet there are sometimes blockages.

Christoph: Super, thank you so much for the great tips Julia! What will move you in the next few years?

Julia: We want to disrupt the construction industry. In other words, enrich it with something completely new and unprecedented. As we have seen, so many processes in the construction industry are not yet digitalised, and data is a major added value. Construction sites are still completely offline in 2021, which we believe is an impossibility. And clearly, these manual processes will be replaced so that valuable human labour can be deployed elsewhere. Secondly, we will relieve our customers of the worry of overlooking things, i.e. not recognising damage until it is too late. And in the end, this will also contribute to sustainability, which is of course also very important to us.

Christoph: I think that’s an important topic too. Finally, what’s the best way to get in touch with you?

Julia: We are easy to reach via social media. Info@Rysta.de is the easiest email address, otherwise you can find me via social media, Julia Gebert. Just send us a short message and we’ll be in touch.

Christoph: Many thanks from me for introducing you, the cooperation and the tips and tricks. I wish you continued success and all the best!

Link to RYSTA: https://de.rysta.io/

Link to TM Ausbau: https://www.tm-ausbau.eu/

Link to immobilienmanager: https://www.immobilienmanager.de

The interview was conducted by our partner Ambivation. You can find more information here: https://ambivation.com/de/2021/03/10/baustellenmonitoring-contech-startup-rysta-kooperationspartner-tm-ausbau/