Mit KI den Fachkräftemangel im Mittelstand lösen: MAIA transformiert die Informati-onssuche in Unternehmen

19 December 2024

TGFS announces its investment in Prodlane GmbH GmbH, based in Leipzig. The start-up develops and markets the AI-powered platform „MAIA“ (Mittelstand AI Assistant) for complex, technical corporate knowledge. The seven-figure seed funding round is led by TGFS and accompanied by business angels with extensive experience in industrial companies, as well as a Swiss family office. The funds will be used for further company development, expanding the sales team, and advancing technical functionalities of the product.

MAIA processes and analyzes complex data and documents available in many medium-sized companies, especially in the manufacturing industry. Examples include product manuals, construction plans, data sheets, standards, guidelines, competitive and market information. Users can access this information through an intuitive chat interface. This significantly simplifies lengthy searches for relevant information in complex product portfolios, research in knowledge and rulebooks, or onboarding processes for new employees. Companies using MAIA are achieving significant efficiency and quality improvements despite the growing challenges of skilled labor shortage and increasing innovation pressure.

“Employees in industrial companies lose up to two hours per person per day reviewing files and processing information. Due to the amount of data accumulated by medium-sized companies over the past decades, efficiently retrieving information is often difficult. The information is often scattered across various systems,” explains Carolin Maier, founder of MAIA. She continues: “Our goal is to make large volumes of unstructured data GDPR-compliant, searchable, analyzable, and usable with the help of artificial intelligence, providing users with real added value.” The company now serves customers across the DACH region, including market leaders in mechanical engineering, medical technology, energy, and consulting.

The MAIA team, led by Carolin Maier (CEO) and Mathias Jakob (CTO), combines deep expertise in AI, data analysis, and B2B software with a thorough understanding of the specific requirements of medium-sized companies. By leveraging technologies such as AI agent systems and modern Retrieve Augmented Generation (RAG) approaches, MAIA automates complex search processes, enabling not only efficiency gains but also new opportunities for innovation and growth.

“Given the external innovation pressure, complex product portfolios, and safety regulations, industrial companies require careful and efficient knowledge management. This is where MAIA steps in. With AI support, employees can now carry out their daily tasks quickly and efficiently, thanks to instant access to relevant corporate knowledge with reliable results. MAIA’s product advantages — such as automating routine tasks and ultimately improving employee productivity — combined with its experienced team, were compelling reasons for us to invest in the company,” summarizes Sören Schuster, Managing Director of TGFS.

Your contact person
Sören Schuster | Managing Director TGFS
M +49 172 2001097
soeren.schuster@cfh.de

TGFS deal team
Tam Dau and Tetje Dietrich