Katharina Riederer, eco.mio: Sustainable Business Travel Despite the Corona Crisis

About this episode

Katharina Riederer has dedicated herself to a problem that seemed ill-timed at first glance: sustainable business travel. As co-founder and CEO, she developed eco.mio, a platform that helps companies make their business trips more climate-friendly – precisely at a time when Corona brought the entire travel industry to a standstill.

The Vision: Creating Incentives for Sustainable Travel

eco.mio doesn't just handle travel planning and booking for companies, but specifically creates incentives for employees to make more climate-friendly decisions. What's special: employees can even be financially rewarded for sustainable travel choices. It's a clever approach that translates the often abstract topic of sustainability into concrete, measurable benefits.

Corona Crisis in the Middle of Founding

The timing challenge was immense. While other startups were already established and experienced the pandemic as external disruption, it hit eco.mio right in the middle of the founding phase. How do you deal with it when your own business model is suddenly questioned before it has even really gotten off the ground?

Riederer had to quickly learn what many founders go through in times of crisis: pivot or persevere? The business travel industry had practically ground to a halt overnight. But instead of throwing in the towel, the team used the time to further develop their product and prepare for the post-crisis period.

Partnerships as Success Factor

A central building block of eco.mio's strategy are strategic partnerships. In an industry heavily dominated by established players, a startup must form clever alliances to gain access to customers and markets. How these partnerships specifically look and function shows that successful B2B startups rarely operate as lone wolves.

The Role of Networking

For Riederer, networking plays a crucial role – not as superficial networking-event-hopping, but as a strategic instrument for building genuine business relationships. Especially in an industry like business travel, where trust and personal contacts are decisive, the right connections can determine success or failure.

Future of Business Travel

The exciting question is: What will business travel look like in the future? Corona showed many companies that not every meeting requires travel. At the same time, awareness of sustainability is growing. eco.mio positions itself exactly at this intersection: fewer, but more conscious and sustainable business trips.

The business travel industry will have to undergo fundamental changes after the Corona crisis. Companies will more critically question which trips are really necessary. Those trips that do take place should then be designed all the more sustainably.

Lessons Learned for Founders

Riederer's story reveals several important lessons for aspiring founders:

• –Timing isn't everything: Even when external circumstances are poor, the right idea can mature at the right time
• –Use crises as opportunities: Downtime can be development time
• –Partnerships are crucial: Especially in established industries, you need strong alliances
• –Approach networking strategically: Build real relationships, don't just collect business cards

The story of eco.mio proves that innovative business models can emerge even in difficult times – provided you have the endurance and courage to continue even when the framework conditions are anything but ideal.