#DigiWomenKA: Larissa Eger
by Katharina Iyen
Among the top 100 German logistics companies, only 18.6 percent have a woman in management, according to a recent study on women in the logistics industry published on the website of the “transport logisitic” trade fair. However, the areas of activity are also interesting, as women in logistics are currently still predominantly found in traditional office jobs, such as in controlling, purchasing or in the HR department. Due to its steady growth and the increased integration of high-quality logistics services into the value chain of industry and trade, the logistics sector offers a wide range of career opportunities for men and women. Female role models play a crucial role here. They show us the possibilities that are out there in the world, they help us to define our own goals and we can learn from their experiences. In our blog series #DigiWomenKA, Katharina Iyen meets one such role model from Karlsruhe once a month to find out more about them, their experiences and their commitment. Today she talks to Larissa Eger, co-founder of the logistics start-up NeoCargo.
I meet Larissa Eger at Hoepfner Burg. NeoCargo AG is based there. I don’t find my way around the first floor straight away. A friendly young man I meet by chance in the corridor takes me straight to the office with his chip card. On site, I immediately breathe in the start-up air: a large open kitchen forms the heart of the premises. Stylish telephone boxes and photos of NeoCargo and CyberForum employees adorn the walls. Larissa and I greet each other informally and are immediately on a first-name basis. We conduct our interview at the huge table in the open kitchen, the atmosphere is down-to-earth and respectful.
The young sales manager, who is currently still working on her doctoral thesis on mathematical price modeling for dynamic platforms, originally comes from Hildesheim near Hanover. “I didn’t know what to study at secondary school, but I was gifted in science and had math as an advanced course, so that was my direction.” In the end, she decided to do a Bachelor’s in International Business in Paderborn. “I attended courses on logistics and IT and thought the content was really cool – many of my friends were more into marketing or HR, we women in the technical courses were quite exotic!” she smiles. She already knew from her bachelor’s degree that she would do a doctorate: “I actually said I was going to do a doctorate on the first day of my bachelor’s degree – I really wanted to!”
During the semester abroad in the Swedish city of Linköping, she attended the course Entrepreneurship and found the conception of business models very inspiring. “At the time, however, I didn’t think that I would one day set up a company,” recalls Eger. For the Master’s in Value Chain Management, she went to Chemnitz University of Technology and had to find her feet again : “The move from Paderborn to Chemnitz was demanding in terms of performance , the course included logistics, controlling and a lot of math.”
During her bachelor’s and master’s studies at , Larissa completed numerous internships at well-known companies in Germany and abroad. Your expertise and depth of knowledge impressed me again and again during the interview. “I did a lot of internships to see how the theory applies to everyday life at – there are often worlds apart,” she remarks. She completed a six-month internship at Bosch in the USA. “It’s logistically different to Germany, they have completely different routes to cover there,” explains Eger. She spent a semester abroad in Australia at and did internships at a medium-sized pharmaceutical company and BMW Regensburg. “At BMW, I was allowed to manage part numbers for South Africa and China. Getting to know international and very complex supply chains was super exciting for me,” enthuses the co-founder.
The idea to found the company was spontaneous – and succeeded
The doctoral student then became a #DigiWomanKa rather spontaneously. She met Prof. Dr. Ing. Kai Furmans, Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at KIT, who holds the chair at the Institute of Materials Handling and Logistics Systems. She is currently writing her dissertation with him at : “KIT was even more challenging for me than Chemnitz, so I went one step further – I had finally landed at a chair for mechanical engineering,” she explains with amusement.
She sees the freedom in research and the bundling in consulting in stark contrast – and loves both. At some point, one thing led to another: “During the pandemic, a group of medium-sized freight forwarders approached us at KIT – with the need to digitalize their processes. There was then a consulting project, with me as project manager.” Larissa and her co-founder Dr. Felix Brandt came up with the idea for the NeoCargo platform solution during many discussions and workshops with the freight forwarders – Brandt is responsible for technology and sales at NeoCargo .
Eger explains: “The requirements for cross-company collaboration continue to grow – and all companies basically have the same challenges, which can only be solved through joint digital collaboration . Corona has helped us to quickly interview many freight forwarders in working groups about their everyday life and to develop solutions together at .” Nine working groups invested just under six months in developing the concept. User-centered design was the top priority for the development teams. “We started directly in the field, very close to the customers, and developed our platform in a close exchange and many feedback loops – always with a view to the real needs and requirements of the freight forwarders.” Originally, NeoCargo AG was to become a cooperative, but this legal form was too slow in terms of processes. However, according to Larissa, the cooperative structure has remained:
“For financing rounds and investors, a public limited company was the right thing to do, so we can also distribute dividends to our investors at some point. Nevertheless, we belong to the forwarding companies. We want them to hold as much of the company as possible, because then they are fully behind it and can work with us – from the inside – to create a sensible industry solution. “The co-founder also emphasizes that trust and transparency are the most important things for NeoCargo in terms of data protection: “The data we collect belongs to the freight forwarders, nothing is sold on.”
The NeoCargo networking platform
The digital product from NeoCargo AG is an independent networking platform for medium-sized freight forwarders that connects their IT systems to enable cross-company collaboration. “We are an interface and platform for digital order transfer and provide an infrastructure for information distribution. The aim of the software is to create cross-company structures for freight forwarders – similar to the telephone network. “NeoCargo is therefore purely a supplier of digital infrastructure; all content is provided by the users themselves. Networking is essential, especially in times of volatility, I am learning. In the event of high demand or fluctuations, freight forwarders can buy capacity from other freight forwarders at , for example.
Eger explains to me vividly
: “With corona, for example, it was very blatant: everyone
suddenly wanted to buy a lot more toilet paper or make their garden look nice –
and suddenly there was no more toilet paper or soil because the fluctuations
disrupted the supply chains and, especially in such situations,
more loading space is needed by working with other freight forwarders. This is exactly
where we come in.”
The Neo-Cargo solution allows freight forwarders to send orders to serve their
customers more flexibly. Existing
transport management systems (TMS) in companies are connected to the
platform by NeoCargo.
Clear vision for the future
“Smaller forwarding companies often don’t even have TMS systems,” explains Larissa. “Our vision is to create a web interface for them too, so that they can also become part of the solution. “The sales manager sees the future of NeoCargo in the overall coverage of order status. She explains: “We want to create the infrastructure to be able to connect everything in the vicinity, regardless of whether it is a warehouse, sea terminal or air flight, for example. I see us more in Europe – and then internationally hand in hand with solutions from other continents, interlinked, a large, open system.” Sustainability is also very important to the young founder, especially the optimization of supply chains. “Digitalization doesn’t stop at national borders or within your own company – all players are needed and must work together.” She still sees a lot of room for optimization within forwarding companies: “There is everything from entrepreneurs who still use the fax machine to those who digitize evaluations, i.e. receive a message from their TMS when, for example, tire profiles are worn out and need to be repurchased.”
The logistics expert would like to see a uniform digital standard for all forwarding companies: “This is the only way we can network everything together. Most people already see the need , but sometimes traditional corporate culture or fear of change still stand in the way – which is understandable. We at NeoCargo have only been on the market for a few months at – and others for 30 years, so it is sometimes difficult for the other party to understand why we in particular can deliver a good solution .”
More diverse specialists for the industry
For NeoCargo, Larissa Eger would like to see many more qualified and diverse applicants in order to have a balanced team: “It’s difficult to get specialists – we finally have a developer,” says Larissa happily, adding: “For me, diversity also means that we welcome all ages, nationalities and orientations and don’t exclude anyone .”
I would like to know from the Head of Sales why there are still too few women in IT. According to her, the combination of IT, logistics and forwarding is very male-dominated. For the Hildesheim native, this is also evident in her sales work: “When I write form letters, my standard form of address is always ‘Dear Mr. …’. I change it by hand for the two women who also receive a letter from .” Laughing, she adds: “But somehow that’s also good for me – because everyone in the industry remembers my name. I’m exotic, simply because I’m female!” I like Larissa’s sense of humor, she is aware of her expertise and is not fazed by obstacles. I perceive her as a woman with bite, intelligence and humor, who sees hurdles as a feasible challenge – entrepreneurial spirit.
The co-founder is committed to the visibility of women
At Karlsruhe, Larissa Eger appreciates the KIT events for female founders: “At the moment I’m part of a fishbowl discussion organized by “Das Partizipations.Kit“. Women in IT need to be visible so that others can successfully gain a foothold in the field . Especially when they are still doubting their potential decision in a discovery phase and threaten to drop out because they can’t find any role models.” also likes the networking and information events organized by CyberForum Karlsruhe Larissa. She would like to see a networking offer specifically for female founders in the IT sector – she has not yet been able to find one in the region. “It would be cool to have a touch point with more experienced people and students. Unfortunately, I don’t know any female founders from the IT sector in the Karlsruhe area yet.” Larissa would be happy to hear from about relevant networks.
Contact Larissa Eger
www.neocargo.de/
Larissa Eger on LinkedIn