BizSpark Startup of the Day - sones

sones, one of the Showcase Startups presenting at the European BizSpark Summit, created a database technology targeted at resolving the increasing challenge of unstructured data. Hear from sones CEO Alexander Oelling in the below video interview.

The BizSpark startup of the day is sones, based in Germany. Below you will find an interview with Alexander Oelling, Founder of sones. All the best to them and congratulations for being the startup of the day!

Website: www.sones.com

 Tell us who you are and your role in the company:

Founder and Director Business Development.

What did you do before creating your company?

I was a student at the Technical University of Ilmenau.

How do you feel being the most promising ‘Startup of the Day’ per Microsoft BizSpark?

We feel honored and excited and we think it is a great opportunity to present our company to a large audience..

What is your company’s mission?

sones transforms data into solutions. We can handle your digital universe.

In 140 characters or less, tell us what your company does:

sones is a ground breaking database technology targeted at resolving the increasing challenge of unstructured data. sones aims to revolutionize the way the world discovers, stores and shares data.

How did you get the idea for your company?

The idea for the sones database technology came to life at the beginning of 2005, stemming from dissatisfaction with the existing solutions on the market. The focus of development is to make complex or unsolvable problems with unstructured data for a better data storage and data handling manageable. That is why the three founders developed an entirely new database technology from the ground up, based on individual concepts. Shortly thereafter the first functioning prototype was created in the form of a content recommendation system for a video community. The motivation was to develop a database management system that manages and structures data similarly to the human brain. sones GmbH was founded in November 2007, with the objective of marketing innovative, high-performance database technologies for online and offline software applications.

Tell us about your funding history. Are you currently looking for funding? If so, how much?

We are funded through T-Venture, the venture capital arm of the German Telekom. We are always interested in exchanging ideas with potential partners.

How many employees do you have? How many developers?

There are 13 employees who are working for sones. 7 of them are developers.

Are you hiring?If yes, what are you hiring for and where?

We are strongly looking for developers and sales people. We are hiring from everywhere.

Which platform are you building on?Why?

Our technology is built on .NET platform - with Visual Studio Team Foundation Server – of course. We believe that Microsoft has a good and reliable technology to build our solutions on.

Where do you see opportunities today in the Software/Internet area?

We see a great market opportunity for cloud database technology. Our architecture is especially designed to support the needs of cloud applications.

What do you think about the BizSpark Program?

BizSpark is a great opportunity for StartUps to save costs for new software, generate awareness for their products and find last but not least new partnerships with other companies that work in the same field.

Do you have any advice for young Software entrepreneurs?

Believe in your idea, work hard, ask your Mom if she would buy your product. If yes, you are heading for the right direction. Ask everyone else what they need, change the things that are necessary, ask again… and so on… or like Steve Jobs said: stay hungry, stay foolish.

Who’s your role model?

Steve Jobs.

What’s the ONE THING you would like readers to take away from this interview?

Try to make a difference - and communicate this difference in a simple way.