He is considered a model entrepreneur and the face of the German AI industry: Jonas Andrulis, founder of the Heidelberg-based startup Aleph Alpha. Since founding his company five years ago, he has launched groundbreaking AI research projects such as the first multimodal chatbots and achieved one of the largest financing rounds in the German tech scene. At first glance, Andrulis seems to be doing everything right.
He is a sought-after speaker, invited to panel discussions and keynote speeches at prestigious events such as the OMR. Interviews with him are published in international media such as Bloomberg and CNBC, where he talks about the sovereignty and independence of European AI applications.
Even the German government has invited him to present his technology at a cabinet meeting in August 2023. Andrulis is celebrated as the man who explains AI to the Chancellor. But as several company insiders report to Gründerszene, the operational business seems to have taken a back seat for Andrulis – and there could be a special reason for that.
While Andrulis' agenda includes meetings with politicians and stage appearances, people close to him tell Gründerszene that the CEO is rarely seen in the company. A high-ranking employee reports: “Managers say they don't know how to reach him, whether by text or phone. He generally doesn't read emails at all. It's chaotic.”
Andrulis often disappears, especially in times of crisis, people close to him say. One example was the publication of a report in Manager Magazin at the beginning of July that took a critical look at the company: after the article was published, it took several days until they “got a feel” for what they were actually allowed to say to Aleph Alpha customers, says an insider. According to the report, Andrulis was unavailable to employees in the meantime.
According to insiders, this absence caused a noticeable “decision-making vacuum” in the management – and a tense atmosphere at the top level. Aleph Alpha declined to comment on this when asked by Gründerszene.
A complicated company structure – and the influence of the Schwarz Group
In recent months, a number of well-known managers have left the company. Two insiders told Gründerszene that the departures were also due to an unclear company strategy – combined with the influence of Lidl's parent company Schwarz. The company is one of the AI startup's most important investors: The Schwarz Group first participated in a financing round for the AI startup in November 2023. At the time, it was reported that a total of almost half a billion dollars would flow into the AI hopeful. In addition to Schwarz, there are other big names, including Bosch and SAP.
What none of those involved said at the time: The media-effective sum of 500 million dollars will not go entirely to Aleph Alpha GmbH, the startup founded by Jonas Andrulis. The company only received 110 million dollars in fresh equity. As a spokesman told Gründerszene in early July, 300 of the 500 million will go to another company as research funds: IPAI Aleph Alpha Research GmbH.
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What does this company, which receives the lion's share of the financing, do – and who owns it? According to commercial register entries, this company, which Andrulis describes as a “subsidiary”, was founded in November 2023, i.e. at the time the financing round was announced. At that time, it was wholly owned by Aleph Alpha GmbH.
However, just two months later, all of the company's shares were transferred to “Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence Aleph Alpha gGmbH” (“Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence” is also abbreviated to IPAI). The managing director of this non-profit company based in Dresden is an employee of a Schwarz Group: Christian Cordes. Cordes is also managing director of a Schwarz investment arm, “Alpha Schwarz Beteiligungs-GmbH”.
At the same time, IPAI Aleph Alpha Research GmbH, which received 300 million euros, got a new managing director. Mirko Saul has since then run the GmbH together with Aleph Alpha co-founder Samuel Weinbach. What is striking is that Saul is Head of Innovation at Schwarz Digital, a subsidiary in the IT cosmos of the Schwarz Group.
According to the commercial register, the non-profit GmbH is fully owned by the “IPAI Foundation”. This is supported by both the city of Heilbronn and the Dieter Schwarz Foundation, as the Schwarz Foundation's website shows. When asked by Gründerszene, a spokesperson for the state of Saxony, which is responsible for the Dresden foundation, declined to provide any information about its management and donors.
This is how the company structure of Aleph Alpha Research works:
What role does the Schwarz Group play?
The company structure raises questions about the relationship between the startup Aleph Alpha, whose CEO is Andrulis, and the research subsidiary. Who is in charge here – and who decides how the millions are used? Especially since it is set to receive the lion's share of Aleph Alpha's Series B financing.
Insiders explain: There is a so-called collaboration agreement between Aleph Alpha GmbH, led by AI pioneer Andrulis, and IPAI Aleph Alpha Research. This is an exclusive agreement that grants Aleph Alpha access to the research results. “But the financial resources, the 300 million, go solely to IPAI Aleph Alpha,” says an insider, whose statement was confirmed by other people close to the company.
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This constellation also seems to have been noticed within the company. “You get the feeling that Schwarz is actually giving money to Schwarz,” says one manager, and another insider shares this assessment. People from the company say that although Jonas Andrulis sits on the advisory board, he has a subordinate role in the leadership because the management of this company comes from Schwarz. “Schwarz's influence seems to make some in management nervous.”
In fact, resources from Aleph Alpha have already been channeled into other projects, according to an employee familiar with product development. This includes Stackit, a cloud platform from the Schwarz Group that offers IT services and infrastructure solutions and on which the use of Aleph Alpha products is being tested.
When asked by Gründerszene, the Schwarz subsidiary Schwarz Digits said that these connections suggest “false facts”. “As a matter of principle, we do not comment on other investors and confidential content of board meetings,” said Schwarz Digits.
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The strong focus on individual platforms has caused discontent in other projects. There were also said to have been “differences of opinion” between representatives of Bosch and Schwarz in the run-up to the Series B financing round, according to several sources within the company.
Bosch is also invested in Aleph Alpha, and the AI company is to build internal chatbots for the traditional company. Bosch did not want to comment on Gründerszene's request. Aleph Alpha also did not want to respond to Gründerszene's questions about the company structure and the role of the Schwarz Group.
Aleph Alpha previously did not want to simply sell his “soul to the highest bidder”
In an interview with Business Insider almost a year ago, Andrulis criticized the AI giant OpenAI for its dependence on the funds of its main investor Microsoft: “I don't think it's enough to simply rely on Microsoft and others to make the right decision,” he said at the time. Therefore, it is not the goal of Aleph Alpha employees to “simply sell their souls to the highest bidder.”
According to an insider, Aleph Alpha has made efforts to remain strategically independent. “Aleph Alpha has rejected other offers from other investors from abroad.” This decision does not seem to be approved by everyone in management. “Of course there are advantages, because partners from areas such as manufacturing or retail can bring great benefits,” says an insider. However, with regard to the influence of the Schwarz Group, a source close to the company says: Strategic investors have their own interests, unlike financial investors.
Have you had any experience with Aleph Alpha or worked for the company? Then contact our reporter Chris Lunday confidentially. You can reach him by email at [email protected].
Source: https://www.businessinsider.de/gruenderszene/technologie/insider-verraten-so-gross-ist-der-einfluss-der-lidl-mutter-schwarz-aleph-alpha/
