About Kobe
We started Kobe in Berlin in 2026 to build software we wanted to live inside.
Most products today ask you to adapt to them — new shortcuts, new templates, new tabs to keep open. The tools you already work in know what matters: the documents you write, the decisions you make, the workflows you've built by hand. That context is the most valuable signal in your work, and almost all of it gets thrown away by the software around it.
Kobe builds AI products that read that context and turn it into action. Software that understands the way you work and quietly takes on more of it alongside you. Less prompting. Less switching. Humans and AI working in perfect harmony.
The team
Nils Koepchen
CEO & Co-founder
Nils co-founded Explo, a travel app that scaled to 150k users before pivoting to B2B and being acquired by HUP GmbH in 2025. He led NeoTaste's London launch and restructured their growth team after taking over the Head of Marketing role at 25. At Kobe he runs strategy, fundraising, and go-to-market.
Tobias Pörtner
CPO & Co-founder
Tobi co-founded Explo alongside Nils. After the acquisition he founded myProtectify, an AI chat that helps victims of domestic violence, and convinced Plug & Play Accelerator SF to accept their first non-profit. He then joined Toggl, got promoted within a month, and eventually led four product teams. At Kobe he runs product and design.
René Kuhn
CTO & Co-founder
René worked as a freelance engineer at Explo, then got rejected from Terramate through their standard application. So he went to their public GitHub and started fixing their open bug tickets. Three months later he booked a call with the CEO and got hired on the spot. He then studied computer science at HPI, Germany's #1 ranked CS university. At Kobe he runs engineering and infrastructure.
Working with us
If you're curious about what we're building, want early access, or just want to talk shop, reach out at nils@getkobe.ai.