6.6 KiB
Amutable Corporate Deep Dive - Funding, Timing, and Infrastructure
Incorporation Timeline (Critical Finding)
| Date | Event | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 21, 2025 | Amutable GmbH incorporated (Berlin) | Founders still at Microsoft |
| Sep 9, 2025 | Google/Meta/OpenAI publicly endorse AB-1043 | Signing becomes highly foreseeable |
| Sep 12, 2025 | AB-1043 passes Senate (38-0) | Signing now near-certain |
| Sep 24, 2025 | Bill presented to Governor | Constitutional deadline: Oct 12-13 |
| Oct 7, 2025 | Amutable US trademark filed (Serial 99430458) | Founders still at Microsoft |
| Oct 13, 2025 | AB-1043 signed into law | 6 days after trademark filing |
| Oct 16, 2025 | CCIA files lawsuit against AB-1043 | |
| Jan 28, 2026 | Poettering/Brauner publicly leave Microsoft | 5 months after incorporation |
| Jan 28, 2026 | Amutable publicly announced | |
| Mar 18, 2026 | birthDate merged into systemd | 7 months after incorporation |
All three founders incorporated and trademarked the company while still employed by Microsoft. By the trademark filing date, AB-1043 signing was highly foreseeable - the bill had passed both chambers unanimously and major tech companies had publicly endorsed it.
Source: Companyhouse.de - Amutable GmbH
Corporate Registration Details
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Legal name | Amutable GmbH |
| Register | HRB 278404 B, Amtsgericht Charlottenburg |
| Address | Bornholmer Straße 80 A, 10439 Berlin |
| Stammkapital | 25,200 EUR (near GmbH minimum of 25,000 EUR) |
| Managing Directors | Christian Brauner, Christopher Wilson Kühl, Lennart Poettering |
| VAT ID | DE459638179 |
| Purpose | Development, maintenance and distribution of software and related technical and management consulting services |
| Incorporated | August 21, 2025 |
US Trademark (Serial 99430458)
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Filed | October 7, 2025 |
| Attorney | David A. Copland, JBB Rechtsanwälte (Berlin) |
| Fee | $1,050 (3 classes) |
| Classes | Database management software; application software for Linux-based systems; business administration/consulting; data processing |
Assembled Parts UG - Same Address
Chris Kühl's event administration entity Assembled Parts UG (haftungsbeschränkt) is registered at the same address as Amutable: Bornholmer Straße 80 A, 10439 Berlin. This entity organizes All Systems Go! (the systemd conference). Kühl runs both from the same location.
Sources:
Funding: No Disclosure Despite 11 Senior Engineers
No funding round, investor, or investment amount has been publicly disclosed. Checked:
| Source | Result |
|---|---|
| Crunchbase | No profile |
| PitchBook | No profile |
| Dealroom | No listing |
| Tracxn | No listing |
| M12 (Microsoft Ventures) | No Amutable in portfolio |
| Tech press (Register, Phoronix, CSO, Heise, It's FOSS) | No funding mentioned |
| Job postings (Glassdoor, Indeed, Berlin Startup Jobs) | None found |
Kinvolk (predecessor) was bootstrapped - no prior VC investors to carry forward.
Sovereign Tech Fund gave EUR399K to systemd (project-level, not Amutable) in 2025-2026.
The Math Problem
11 senior engineers (ex-Microsoft, ex-Meta, ex-Red Hat, ex-SUSE, ex-Canonical principal-level) with no product and no revenue. At Berlin senior engineering salaries (~EUR80-120K), annual burn is roughly EUR1-1.3M minimum. The 25,200 EUR registered capital covers approximately 1-2 weeks.
Most likely funding scenarios (speculative):
- Undisclosed seed/pre-seed round - team size and polished launch suggest stealth funding
- Founders' personal capital from Kinvolk acquisition payouts and Microsoft salaries
- Strategic corporate investment - Microsoft, cloud provider, or Linux distributor backing quietly
- German/EU grants - not yet surfaced but plausible given Germany's open-source funding
How to Verify
The Gesellschafterliste (shareholder list) filed with the Handelsregister shows all equity holders by law. Available for ~EUR4.50 from handelsregister.de. Any equity investment would appear there. The Bundesanzeiger (Federal Gazette) would show annual financial statements including liabilities (shareholder loans, convertible notes).
Sources:
Team Composition - Employer Origins
| Name | Amutable Role | Previous Employer | Route |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Kühl | CEO | Microsoft (via Kinvolk) | Kinvolk → MS → Amutable |
| Christian Brauner | CTO | Microsoft (direct) | Canonical → MS → Amutable |
| Lennart Poettering | Chief Engineer | Microsoft (direct) | Red Hat → MS → Amutable |
| David Strauss | CPO | Pantheon (co-founder) | Pantheon → Amutable |
| Rodrigo Campos Catelin | Engineer | Microsoft | MS → Amutable |
| Kai Lüke | Engineer | Microsoft (via Kinvolk) | Kinvolk → MS → Amutable |
| Joaquim Rocha | Engineer | Microsoft (via Kinvolk) | Kinvolk → MS → Amutable |
| Daan de Meyer | Engineer | Meta | Meta → Amutable |
| Zbigniew Jędrzejewski-Szmek | Engineer | Red Hat | Red Hat → Amutable |
| Aleksa Sarai | Engineer | SUSE | SUSE → Amutable |
| Michael Vogt | Engineer | Canonical | Canonical → Amutable |
6 of 11 from Microsoft. 1 from Meta. 1 from Red Hat. 1 from SUSE. 1 from Canonical. 1 from Pantheon.
David Strauss - Pantheon Investor Network
Strauss co-founded Pantheon, which raised $198M total across 6 rounds:
- Foundry Group (Seed/Series A lead)
- First Round Capital (early investor)
- OpenView Venture Partners (Series B)
- Scale Venture Partners (Series B lead)
- Industry Ventures (Series C)
First Round Capital also invested in Credit Genie (Dylan Taylor's employer). This is the only documented investor overlap between any Amutable-adjacent entity and Taylor's employer.
Sources: