What is behind today a 6-person team, which even consists mostly of women, was founded in mid-2021 by Madeleine Heuts Launched: the company ROCKET LAUNCH. Madeleine is not only the founder and managing director of the start-up, but also a lawyer and software developer as well as an important opinion leader in the area of legal tech and female founders.
And that's not all. Madeleine is also a member of the Advisory Board Young digital economy ofthe Ministry of Economy NRW under the direction of Mona Neubaur as well as chairwoman of the board of the start-up association NRWalley e.V.
We have squeezed Madeleine out for you: Here you can find out everything about ROCKET LAUNCHING and the possibility of founding a company from the couch! 💆
What does ROCKET LAUNCH do?
Madeleine: RAKETENSTART is a legal tech platform that offers an all-round solution for all legal issues of start-ups and small and medium-sized companies. It helps them to solve all legal issues of the company simply and digitally without previous legal knowledge: establishing, drafting and managing contracts themselves, working with qualified lawyers in various fields of law, notary communication and notarization via video call. With ROCKET LAUNCH, all of this is no longer a bureaucratic and time-consuming process, but can be solved simply and digitally.
You launched your product “Digital Start-Up” on 06.05.2024: What is it all about? What is behind it?
madeleine: Until now, founders and shareholders in Germany still had to sign with notaries on site for a notarial certification, including myself. With our digital start-up product, GmbH and UG can now be founded completely digitally for the first time in Germany. This makes setting up much easier and faster — while it normally takes up to 6 months, we've already done it in 4 days.
How did the idea come about?
madeleine: I studied law and worked in the university's IT department at the same time. As a result, I had a connection between the areas of legal and tech. When a founder came to me and asked me for help with a trademark dispute, I noticed that young people with cool ideas are often stopped by legal obstacles and ignorance. As a result, I first started a podcast in 2019 and called it ROCKET LAUNCH.
Who is your target group?
madeleine: Our target group is primarily all interested in founding a company as well as small and medium-sized companies that want to solve legal issues digitally and cannot implement this through their own legal department, for example. To this end, we work with tax advisors and partners such as Techniker Krankenkasse together. But we also support companies that want to limit their liability, as well as freelancers and sole proprietorships.
What does your pricing look like?
madeleine: If you haven't founded yet, you can choose between two start-up packages: one for solo founders (Basic, 199€) and one for teams (Premium, 799€). As soon as the company is founded, you can book the appropriate package of our subscription. The packages depend on the stage and therefore the growing needs of the company. Our smallest subscription for after founding, “START”, is 99€. As soon as legal issues become more complex, you can update the “GROW” package and thus access further content. For individual legal issues, you can cooperate with our partner law firms via RAKETENSTART. We have largely automated their processes in such a way that they require significantly less effort and are therefore cheaper than traditional law firms. After the free initial consultation, our partner firms provide our customers with a fixed price offer for full cost transparency.
What is special about ROCKET LAUNCH? What makes you different from other start-ups?
madeleine: ROCKETENSTART is one of the first legal tech start-ups in Germany to focus on democratizing access to law according to the do-it-yourself principle for non-lawyers. We help other founders turn their ideas into reality. Seeing that we really support others with our work is my personal motivation. Legal tech is still very new in Germany today and is therefore a major challenge for many, which they can overcome with us.
What are your plans for the future?
madeleine: We want to be the first point of contact for our target group, especially in Germany, when it comes to legal issues, further expand our platform and continue to shape the digitization of the legal sector in Germany. It is also important to us to expand our team with members who are motivated to democratize access to justice together.
Where is ROCKET LAUNCH active today? Is internationalization planned?
Madeleine: We are currently active nationwide. However, we are currently in the process of acquiring partner law firms in America and Europe in order to expand German companies that want to go abroad.
We can also welcome you, Madeleine, at STARTUP OPEN AIR greet. What kind of workshop are you giving there? What are you most excited about?
madeleine: I'm giving a workshop on which legal fuckups you should avoid when starting up. I'm at SOA for the 3rd time in a row this year and I'm really looking forward to it. It's a cool event to connect and inspire in a relaxed atmosphere, where you also enjoy having a drink together later.
What advice would you give to people interested and founders?
Madeleine: Legal issues aren't as complicated as you might think. If you work on it a bit right from the start, you can save yourself a lot of money and nerves. As a founder, I know that it is hard to run into walls and not lose faith in yourself. But it all makes sense at some point. It's really important to go your own way and stay true to yourself. It's worth persevering!
If the idea of ROCKET LAUNCH sticks in your head or you might even want to start a digital business yourself, take a look here provide further information on the topic and rocket launch. You can also visit Madeleine in the workshop area of our STARTUP OPEN AIR Meet in person!
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