First in a series of hopefully endless spotlights on neurodiverse business. Here’s a great example how it can be done.
auticon was founded in Berlin in 2011 by a father wanting better employment opportunities for his autistic son. Autistic professionals were employed as quality assurance consultants, debugging websites and applications. As Managing Director of a small investment firm, Kurt Schöffer was approached by Ananda Social Venture Fund, who invited him to partner in creating Germany’s first social impact fund. The fund’s first investment was in auticon, where Kurt served as an advisor on the fund’s behalf. For Kurt, this was an opportunity to apply his business acumen to solve the social issue of rising unemployment among autistic adults, who often possess STEM skills applicable to various technology careers. After three months as an advisor, Kurt accepted a role as auticon’s Group CEO, developing its six German office locations and expanding into Paris and London. The company added significant clients such as BMW and Allianz, and new technology consulting services.
In 2016, Sir Richard Branson’s investment brought international attention to the company as it expanded into Italy and Switzerland. In 2018 auticon acquired two North American autism employers: MindSpark in Los Angeles and Meticulon in Calgary, and later added clients such as Salesforce and Deloitte and surpassing 200+ autistic employees globally. In 2019, auticon opened in Australia with one of the island’s largest employers: Woolworths.
Today, the company operates as the world’s largest autistic-majority IT company, with approximately 400 employees in 8 countries, including over 300 on the spectrum.
