ESA BIC Bavaria incubatee Cadami optimises data transmission for a superior video-on-demand experience. The start-up provides a solution to massively scale video transmission and overcome the peak congestion problem associated with this. Its technology allows efficient video-on-demand distribution via broadcast channels, for instance for satellite broadcast networks. Cadami’s technology uses a combination of user storage capabilities and streaming. With its solution, the (cellular/satellite) operator can transform the related network into an intelligent content delivery network (CDN) that reaches into the last wireless hop.
ESA BIC manager Cornelia Gebath (CG) interviews Thomas Kühn (TK), Managing Director and co-founder of Cadami.
CG: Hello Thomas, many thanks for your time. Please give us a sneak peek of your product and the team behind it.
In crowded communication networks with broadcast characteristic, such as WiFi networks, cellular networks (LTE), satellite and cable networks, video-on-demand delivery causes huge bandwidth problems. Cadami’s technology and products tackles these problems.
Cadami has been founded by four alumni of Technical University Munich (TUM). The team has a very strong engineering background. Additionally, we work to together with amazing people who help us to build better products or improve our sales activities.
CG: What has been your company’s biggest challenge so far?
Cadami creates high-tech products. It was not easy to build a high-performing and stable product. After a period of hard work, we have built a product that works pretty well.
Customer acquisition has also been a great challenge, because all our customers are large corporations. It can take some time to convince our customers to buy our product. At the moment, it looks pretty good. We have customers who are buying our products.
CG: Can you explain the three main ingredients in your recipe for success?
Hard work, optimism, and the will to survive. We have worked hard with a great product, but many people did not believe in us. A lot of people recommended that we should quit and do something else, such as become an employee in a big corporation.
My recommendation is to listen to these naysayers a little, they might have some valuable information for you, but do not let them control your decision-making. If you are doing a good job at the right time with the right team and the right idea, you will be successful at some point in the future. Refuse to die and keep your vision and company going.
CG: What do you expect from ESA BIC Bavaria and how did the initiative and its network help you to kick-start your business case?
ESA BIC Bavaria is very well-connected to the space industry, and so we expect that they will introduce us to relevant people within this sector. So far, we have given joint presentations with DLR Space Administration, have joined a panel discussion at the INNOspace Masters conference, and have been introduced to interesting initiatives and companies with whom we can probably enter a partnership.
CG: How does DLR support you?
We have written a joint proposal for a Horizon 2020 proposal with DLR. We have been able to establish good contacts among DLR members. Their feedback has been highly valuable and helpful. In the future, we hope to broaden and strengthen our cooperation with DLR.
CG: Let’s reach for the stars – what is going to happen in Cadami’s future?
Cadami will continue to build and sell really cool products. We are about to enter new markets and hope to expand our business. We hope that everybody will be using Cadami’s technology everywhere in the future (knowingly or unknowingly) to enjoy video-on-demand streaming without buffering.
Did you enjoy this interview with the outstanding startup? Interested people can get into contact with Cadami via mail. Stay tuned for upcoming interviews with ESA BIC Bavaria startups on our AZO Blog.
