Start-up Funding Docary receives EXIST Start-up Grant
August 4, 2025
published by hei_INNOVATION
A team of scientists with links to Heidelberg University is developing an AI-supported assistance system for documenting conversations in psychotherapy. The start-up project “Docary” is being funded with around 93,000 euros from the EXIST start-up grant. The aim of Docary is to relieve psychotherapists of the burden of documenting their sessions. Using local speech recognition and AI-based analysis, the system automatically creates an optimized summary during a therapy session that can be used directly for documentation.
This summary saves valuable time and allows practitioners to concentrate fully on their patients. In contrast to cloud-based solutions, Docary guarantees the highest level of confidentiality through local data processing - a decisive factor in psychotherapeutic care.
The founding team consists of Tobias Volkert and Leon Lettermann. Both have a background in mathematics and physics: Volkert was born in Heidelberg and worked as a management consultant at d-fine after completing his Master's degree. Lettermann is currently working on his doctorate in theoretical biophysics under Prof. Schwarz at Heidelberg University.
The idea for Docary arose from the desire to use modern AI technology in a meaningful way. The Docary team identified the specific problem of documentation in discussions with medical professionals - first and foremost with Leon Lettermann's wife, a psychiatric doctor. The team currently has a functioning prototype. The next step is to build up a base of test users in order to further develop the product and validate its product-market fit. Simultaneously, Docary is working on specific enhancements for outpatient practice, such as a manageable session tracker.
“The support from hei_INNOVATION was a decisive door opener for us,” says Tobias Volkert. “Both for the development of our business model, but also especially as help with the overview of various funding opportunities and specifically with the application for the EXIST grant.”
The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK) as part of the EXIST start-up grant. The funding period extends from 01.07.2025 to 30.06.2026, the funding amount is around 93,000 euros.
EXIST start-up grant supports students, graduates and scientists in preparing their technology-oriented or knowledge-based business startups. The program is funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection.
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