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Marvin’s grandmother was a proud, independent woman. She had worked well beyond retirement age and always lived her life on her own terms. Then she developed dementia. At first she forgot the wedding of Marvin’s sister, later also his sisters’ names. Little by little, her everyday life changed. Medication had to be taken regularly and correctly, meals and enough fluids were forgotten. On top of that came the oppressive feeling of loneliness and the growing difficulty of managing everyday situations alone.

One situation stayed with Marvin in particular: again and again, his grandmother called his mother at work during the day because the TV was no longer working. The evening before, just before going to bed, she had pulled the plug. The next day she remembered nothing about it. What may seem trivial from the outside became a recurring burden for the family. Marvin experienced first-hand how much the situation demanded of his mother and how hard it was for his grandmother to lose her independence bit by bit. Sometimes she also reacted with anger out of frustration and being overwhelmed.

It was not only the major turning points but above all the many small everyday challenges that wore on everyone involved. And Marvin realized: people with dementia want to keep living independently and shape their daily lives as autonomously as possible. At the same time they increasingly need support that family members, alongside work, family and their own obligations, can often hardly provide. Marcel also knew comparable situations from his personal circle.

Two founders, one shared passion for technology

Marvin and Marcel have known each other since their dual degree in industrial engineering and management at Nordakademie. Even then they were connected not only by a close friendship but also by a strong entrepreneurial drive.

Marvin founded his first company at 19. During his studies, which were sponsored by BP, he built four companies in total. He developed two of them successfully: an e-commerce business, which he later sold, and then an online marketing agency with numerous employees.

Marcel was sponsored by Johnson & Johnson during his studies and then started his career in the international pharmaceutical industry. There he completed a leadership programme and gained more than six years of professional experience. He then founded a big data agency and worked early on with machine learning, one of the technological foundations of today’s AI.

As artificial intelligence gained importance, both were fascinated by the possibilities. They felt that, for the first time in their careers, they could directly take part in a technological revolution. They had experienced developments like the internet, cloud computing and smartphones as observers who were too young or too inexperienced. Now they wanted to shape things themselves.

At first with no concrete plans to found anything, they began meeting once a week to talk about new developments in AI. These conversations eventually led to a first joint project: a platform for AI agents for one of Marcel’s clients. Both quickly noticed how much they enjoyed working together on these new technologies.

The idea behind Luma Life

In their conversations, Marvin also talked about his experience with his grandmother and the challenges dementia brought for his family. A shared thought emerged: if AI agents can retain information, hold conversations and support people proactively, why not use these possibilities to make everyday life easier for people with dementia?

Many challenges repeat every day: the same questions, the same uncertainties, the same memories and worries. A voice-based AI could offer reliable support here, without those affected having to operate complicated apps or constantly depend on others. It could relieve family carers and give people with dementia a bit of independence back.

From this thought came the idea for Luma Life.

Before turning it into a company, Marvin and Marcel wanted to understand whether their idea could really make a difference. They held numerous conversations with caregivers, Alzheimer organizations, people living with dementia and family carers. Again and again they heard how heavy the burden is in everyday life, how often suitable support is missing, and how much the situation is likely to worsen with the growing shortage of caregivers.

The feedback encouraged them to pursue the topic. They developed a first prototype and presented it in workshops together with Alzheimer organizations. The response there was very positive as well. A personal idea increasingly became a concrete product with a clear need.

A decision made with full conviction

For Marvin and Marcel it was finally clear that they wanted to pursue this opportunity wholeheartedly. Both gave up their previous companies and have since focused entirely on Luma Life. From the start they largely financed the development from their own funds and chose not to pay themselves a salary.

Today, Luma Life already supports more than 500 families in everyday life with dementia. What began with the experience of one family has become a shared mission: helping people with dementia live self-determined lives for as long as possible, while giving their family carers more relief and security in everyday life.