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Alumni and space

Entrepreneur Thomas Grübler

“I Want to Make a Lasting Difference in the World”

The founding team of OroraTech (from right to left): TUM Alumni Thomas Grübler, Florian Mauracher and Rupert Amann, with Björn Stoffers.

03. May 2022 |

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In 2018, TUM Alumni Thomas Grübler, Florian Mauracher and Rupert Amann launched the start-up OroraTech together with Björn Stoffers (from right to left). This makes them the first providers of global real-time infrared satellite data (photo: OroraTech).

Even as a teenager, TUM Alumni Thomas Grübler experimented with soccer-playing robots, designed websites and released his own apps. During his studies at TUM, he discovered his passion for space. Today, his start-up is building satellites that can find forest fires.

Thomas Grübler always had an affinity for Electrical Engineering. He graduated from the Höhere Technische Bundeslehranstalt (HTL) for mechatronics in Klagenfurt. In his Austrian hometown of Villach, he worked at Infineon Technologies. To study Electrical and Computer Engineering, Thomas Grübler moved to Munich. “My research concluded that TUM is the best university,” he says. “Both the ratio of budget per student and staff per student are excellent here.”

And TUM lived up to its promises. Thomas Grübler became significantly involved in two space projects. He was able to write his final thesis on the experiments conducted there. As a bachelor’s student he was part of the REXUS (Rocket Experiments for University Students) program at the Institute for Measurement Systems and Sensor Technology. As a master’s student, he got to know the former astronaut and professor at the Chair of Astronautics, Prof. Dr. Ulrich Walter. Under his leadership, Thomas Grübler worked on small satellites in the student research group WARR. He realized that he could build these CubeSats for more than just research. And he wanted to develop them further by launching his own start-up. “This is how I found my career path,” he says. “I turned my hobby into my profession.”

NO LIMIT

Already as a teenager, Thomas Grübler got a taste of entrepreneurship. As a freelancer, he designed websites, offered IT solutions and released his own apps. “At the time, I just didn’t know about venture capital and that goals didn’t really have a limit,” he recalls. “It wasn’t until I went to TUM that I learned that you can also start something really big.” Already in his second semester, Thomas Grübler attended the lecture ‘Innovative Entrepreneurs’. In 2014, he was one of 20 students selected for the Manage&More program, designed for students who are particularly active and have an entrepreneurial mindset.

At TUM I learned that you can also start something really big.
Thomas Grübler
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UnternehmerTUM provided Thomas Grübler with the opportunity to get to know TUM Alumni who had already put their dream of starting a business into reality. He completed an internship at the robotics start-up Magazino. He worked as a working student at the TUM spin-off fos4X. “I’m still really happy about the network I was able to build at TUM,” he says. “Just recently, the UnternehmerTUM Manage&More Alumni Community went skiing together and we talked about the challenges and achievements in our companies.”

FINDING HIS CALLING

Thomas Grübler started his company OroraTech in 2018 together with TUM Alumni Florian Mauracher (Master Informatics 2019) and Rupert Amann (Bachelor Electrical and Computer Engineering 2016, Master 2019) as well as Björn Stoffers. TUM and UnternehmerTUM assisted them with start-up consulting, support through the Initiative for Industrial Innovators, office and lab space, marketing and the extensive network they have.

While the four founders knew that they could very cost-effectively launch a large number of satellites into space and thus obtain a huge amount of thermal imagery that did not yet exist, they had not decided to which of the many use cases they should apply this potential. Many discussions with customers and the experience Thomas Grübler had gained in the volunteer fire department and during his civilian service at the district fire department in Villach helped shape the future of the company. The team of young entrepreneurs wanted to specialize in the early detection of forest fires.

FLYING HIGH

Today, customers worldwide use OroraTech’s global early warning system, among them fire departments and authorities in Canada and Australia, forest owners in Chile and Brazil, as well as insurance companies and NGOs. The start-up’s app draws on satellite images. This allows for forest and bush fires, as well as illegal fire clearing, to be detected and targeted more quickly than by people on the ground, planes or drones. In January 2022, OroraTech sent its first small satellite into space.

And the next mission is already scheduled for the end of 2023. Thomas Grübler and his co-founders are planning to launch the first constellation of nanosatellites. With this network of small satellites, they hope to be able to detect forest fires even more quickly and deliver high-resolution thermal images of Earth every day. By 2026, this should be possible every hour. “It’s really fun to have the chance to make an impact,” Thomas Grübler says. “I want to make a lasting difference in the world.”

Thomas Grübler

Bachelor Electrical and Computer Engineering 2016, Master 2017

After completing his master’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering at TUM, he co-founded the start-up OroraTech with TUM Alumni Florian Mauracher and Rupert Amann, as well as Björn Stoffers. In doing so, he turned his hobby into a profession. In 2019, Forbes included him in the 30 Under 30 list, and in 2021, Capital named him one of the Top 40 Under 40 – Young Elite. In his free time, Thomas Grübler can be found in the mountains, backcountry skiing, hiking, on a racing or mountain bike.

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