128 lines
6.6 KiB
Markdown
128 lines
6.6 KiB
Markdown
# Amutable Corporate Deep Dive - Funding, Timing, and Infrastructure
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## Incorporation Timeline (Critical Finding)
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| Date | Event | Significance |
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| **Aug 21, 2025** | **Amutable GmbH incorporated (Berlin)** | Founders still at Microsoft |
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| Sep 9, 2025 | Google/Meta/OpenAI publicly endorse AB-1043 | Signing becomes highly foreseeable |
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| Sep 12, 2025 | AB-1043 passes Senate (38-0) | Signing now near-certain |
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| Sep 24, 2025 | Bill presented to Governor | Constitutional deadline: Oct 12-13 |
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| **Oct 7, 2025** | **Amutable US trademark filed (Serial 99430458)** | Founders still at Microsoft |
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| Oct 13, 2025 | AB-1043 signed into law | 6 days after trademark filing |
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| Oct 16, 2025 | CCIA files lawsuit against AB-1043 | |
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| Jan 28, 2026 | Poettering/Brauner publicly leave Microsoft | 5 months after incorporation |
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| Jan 28, 2026 | Amutable publicly announced | |
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| Mar 18, 2026 | birthDate merged into systemd | 7 months after incorporation |
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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.
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Source: [Companyhouse.de - Amutable GmbH](https://www.companyhouse.de/en/Amutable-GmbH-Berlin)
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## Corporate Registration Details
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| Field | Detail |
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| **Legal name** | Amutable GmbH |
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| **Register** | HRB 278404 B, Amtsgericht Charlottenburg |
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| **Address** | Bornholmer Straße 80 A, 10439 Berlin |
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| **Stammkapital** | 25,200 EUR (near GmbH minimum of 25,000 EUR) |
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| **Managing Directors** | Christian Brauner, Christopher Wilson Kühl, Lennart Poettering |
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| **VAT ID** | DE459638179 |
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| **Purpose** | Development, maintenance and distribution of software and related technical and management consulting services |
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| **Incorporated** | August 21, 2025 |
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### US Trademark (Serial 99430458)
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| Field | Detail |
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| **Filed** | October 7, 2025 |
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| **Attorney** | David A. Copland, JBB Rechtsanwälte (Berlin) |
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| **Fee** | $1,050 (3 classes) |
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| **Classes** | Database management software; application software for Linux-based systems; business administration/consulting; data processing |
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### Assembled Parts UG - Same Address
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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.
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Sources:
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- [Justia - AMUTABLE trademark](https://trademarks.justia.com/994/30/amutable-99430458.html)
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- [David Copland / JBB](https://jbb.de/en/anwaelte/copland/)
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- [openregister.de - Assembled Parts](https://openregister.de/company/DE-HRB-F1103-254424)
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---
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## Funding: No Disclosure Despite 11 Senior Engineers
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No funding round, investor, or investment amount has been publicly disclosed. Checked:
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| Source | Result |
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| Crunchbase | No profile |
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| PitchBook | No profile |
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| Dealroom | No listing |
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| Tracxn | No listing |
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| M12 (Microsoft Ventures) | No Amutable in portfolio |
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| Tech press (Register, Phoronix, CSO, Heise, It's FOSS) | No funding mentioned |
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| Job postings (Glassdoor, Indeed, Berlin Startup Jobs) | None found |
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Kinvolk (predecessor) was bootstrapped - no prior VC investors to carry forward.
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Sovereign Tech Fund gave EUR399K to systemd (project-level, not Amutable) in 2025-2026.
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### The Math Problem
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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.
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Most likely funding scenarios (speculative):
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1. Undisclosed seed/pre-seed round - team size and polished launch suggest stealth funding
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2. Founders' personal capital from Kinvolk acquisition payouts and Microsoft salaries
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3. Strategic corporate investment - Microsoft, cloud provider, or Linux distributor backing quietly
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4. German/EU grants - not yet surfaced but plausible given Germany's open-source funding
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### How to Verify
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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).
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Sources:
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- [North Data - Amutable](https://www.northdata.com/?id=6632476091613184)
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- [heise.de - characterized as self-funded](https://www.heise.de/en/news/Secure-Linux-Amutable-brings-cryptographically-verifiable-integrity-11157020.html)
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- [Phoronix - STF 2026 systemd grant](https://www.phoronix.com/news/STF-2026-systemd-PHP)
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---
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## Team Composition - Employer Origins
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| Name | Amutable Role | Previous Employer | Route |
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| Chris Kühl | CEO | Microsoft (via Kinvolk) | Kinvolk → MS → Amutable |
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| Christian Brauner | CTO | Microsoft (direct) | Canonical → MS → Amutable |
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| Lennart Poettering | Chief Engineer | Microsoft (direct) | Red Hat → MS → Amutable |
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| David Strauss | CPO | Pantheon (co-founder) | Pantheon → Amutable |
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| Rodrigo Campos Catelin | Engineer | Microsoft | MS → Amutable |
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| Kai Lüke | Engineer | Microsoft (via Kinvolk) | Kinvolk → MS → Amutable |
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| Joaquim Rocha | Engineer | Microsoft (via Kinvolk) | Kinvolk → MS → Amutable |
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| Daan de Meyer | Engineer | **Meta** | Meta → Amutable |
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| Zbigniew Jędrzejewski-Szmek | Engineer | Red Hat | Red Hat → Amutable |
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| Aleksa Sarai | Engineer | SUSE | SUSE → Amutable |
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| Michael Vogt | Engineer | Canonical | Canonical → Amutable |
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6 of 11 from Microsoft. 1 from Meta. 1 from Red Hat. 1 from SUSE. 1 from Canonical. 1 from Pantheon.
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---
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## David Strauss - Pantheon Investor Network
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Strauss co-founded Pantheon, which raised $198M total across 6 rounds:
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- Foundry Group (Seed/Series A lead)
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- First Round Capital (early investor)
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- OpenView Venture Partners (Series B)
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- Scale Venture Partners (Series B lead)
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- Industry Ventures (Series C)
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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.
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Sources:
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- [Pantheon Series B - TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2014/05/15/pantheon-raises-21-5m-series-b-round-to-expand-its-web-hosting-platform/)
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- [Tracxn - Pantheon](https://tracxn.com/d/companies/pantheon/__lXhvyZ0s3by8-k-FxWuJoGlyCEJOTsieyk7hzruGtN8)
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- [Credit Genie - Tracxn](https://tracxn.com/d/companies/credit-genie/__Nt7sylmPKKNOba2aDYbKpcdvc4cuYVQ1ndOIiTpTGfs)
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