Ensun

The two brothers, Christopher and Benjamin Hill, are the founders of the online platform Ensun, a search engine that has been helping hundreds of companies find diverse technologies and suppliers since March 2020. The current team of 17 employees is based in the Siegen Technology Center "The Summit".

How would you briefly describe your company? What do you do at Ensun?

We operate a B2B search engine here that focuses heavily on identifying technology-oriented suppliers. You can think of it like the classic marketplace models of the past such as: Who supplies what? In essence, it’s always about finding a suitable technology provider or supplier for a certain topic. We've translated all of this into a search engine.

How did the founding of Ensun come about? Did you know you wanted to work in this area?

Honestly, we founded Ensun from scratch. We had a fuzzy idea in mind, and back then the idea was called something else. We ran everything under the term Technology Scouting, automating the process of identifying technology worldwide. We kept thinking about what to start, then this process caught our eye, that most people nowadays research companies, especially when it comes to technological topics. Every company is currently talking about digitization and sustainability and faces this problem. At the end of the day, finding partner companies or firms that can deliver relevant technologies usually happens through Google, and we wanted to automate this process and make it much more efficient. My brother and I always aimed to start our own business. So, we proactively searched for an idea. Eventually, we came up with the idea that this research process, when it comes to technology companies, is what every company needs but hasn't really solved yet. Based on that, we pitched the whole thing. We received a pre-seed financing to get it into the market. And that's how the company came into being.

What is special about Ensun?

The most important and special thing is that we have a cool team and a lot of young people working here, almost all of whom come from the University of Siegen. Currently, we have an average age of 26, which is really young. Everyone has fun here, and many are also friends outside of work. Otherwise, purely from a product perspective, we take established marketing mechanisms from the marketplace model. For example, it exists in the B2B sector, like: Who supplies what? Such as Industrial Stock, etc., or you know something like that from Trivago, who are incredible marketing champions, and at the same time, we completely automate our search, meaning we use text-based algorithms and web crawlers to capture data from the internet. These web crawlers we use are like autonomous robots that roam the internet and can read websites to create a digital footprint of a company. They collect all the information publicly available about a company and can create their own company profile based on that. We do this on a massive scale. We've extracted data from over 20 million companies from the internet and modeled it into a marketplace.

What does a typical day as CEO of Ensun look like?

In the morning, I usually handle marketing topics, checking how we perform on Google or other channels like LinkedIn. Then it gets very operational. I handle all sales appointments and stay close to the customer, averaging four to five sales meetings a day, discussing how companies can implement our solution to automate the supplier search process. In the evening, I focus on internal topics, coordinating with my brother and discussing the next steps. Marketing and product development are highly intertwined here. We also coordinate the teams weekly, discussing tasks from the previous week and setting new ones. My brother focuses on internal coordination, overseeing AI and software development, marketing, and financial aspects. He optimizes our product based on customer needs I identify, essentially acting as the company’s treasurer.

Were there any initial problems/challenges when starting the company?

There are always problems. Financial aspects are often the biggest hurdle. We were fortunate to secure pre-seed funding, which provided the initial capital. The next challenge was quickly establishing a proof of concept and finding the product-market fit. We had to adapt quickly based on customer feedback and ensure we didn't run out of resources while doing so. Balancing cash flow, product development, scaling, and team building is crucial for any startup.

What worked particularly well?

We had a good network from the start, which was advantageous. We learned quickly by talking to customers and securing early revenues, allowing us to steer the product in the right direction. We also quickly assembled a motivated team that significantly contributed to our progress.

Were there moments of frustration, lack of motivation, and discipline? How did you successfully overcome these moments?

Definitely. As inexperienced founders, starting a business was challenging, especially during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. We faced many ups and downs, particularly with finding the right product-market fit and business model. During tough times, I found inspiration from biographies of successful entrepreneurs and motivational podcasts, which helped me stay focused and resilient.

Was founding a company with your brother always planned? Are there advantages or disadvantages to starting a business with a family member?

It wasn’t planned, but it was a natural fit due to our complementary skills. I handle sales, while my brother focuses on the technical side. Our strong relationship and trust have been beneficial, although it can be challenging to separate work from personal life.

Did you receive any external support during the initial phase?

Yes, the Siegerland Fund from Sparkasse and Werkdigital, a software company from Olpe, supported us. We've since completed four funding rounds.

What do you enjoy most about being a founder?

The freedom to see my ideas realized in a product and the ability to make key decisions about how people work together, processes, and company values.

Were there any courses at the University of Siegen that were particularly memorable and useful in your current role as CEO of Ensun?

Yes, especially courses on entrepreneurship, marketing, and business planning provided foundational knowledge. My brother benefited from courses on software architecture. The university also taught us to be self-reliant learners, which has been invaluable.

What is your goal?

Our vision is for almost every second customer-supplier relationship to be facilitated by our tool Ensun.

If you were a motivational coach, what tips would you give to young founders?

Be bold and open about your ideas, talk to partners, experts, and customers, and build a motivated team that works well together. Understand the market thoroughly and analyze competitors to adapt successful strategies.

Here is the homepage of the startup.

This portrait is based on an interview with Christopher Hill in April 2024 and was written by Duygu Cicek.