Start-up Story: Tobias Zimmer from coffee-bike and myChoco

Career update: Since August 2021 Tobias Zimmer is also the Founder and CEO of TRADINEO Group

Tobias Zimmer – Founder and Managing Director at coffee-bike and myChoco

HHL alumnus Tobias Zimmer decided to start up coffee-bike, the mobile coffee company, after having attended Prof. Dr. Stephan Stubner’s entrepreneurship lectures at HHL, which, in combination with the entrepreneurial spirit of the HHL community, were the tipping point for him to follow his true passion for founding.

Experiencing HHL’s entrepreneurial spirit

Tobias remembers that “when coming to HHL, I finally realized that my ideas and thoughts resonated with other people, that there were others out there who thought just like me when it comes to entrepreneurship. I felt confirmed in my belief that founding your own business is a legitimate and great way forward.”

It is so much fun and incredibly rewarding to be offering a premium product delivered at picturesque spots which results in lasting memories for our customers.

Starting out with a mobile coffee shop on wheels

So in 2010, a mobile coffee shop on wheels was created in Osnabrück, Germany. With overall more than 250 coffee bikes, represented across 17 different countries, together with 190 franchise partners and overall more than 600 employees, the business has grown into an internationally successful franchise concept. Tobias says that “it is so much fun and incredibly rewarding to be offering a premium product delivered at picturesque spots which results in lasting memories for our customers.

Coffee-bike now an international franchise

But coffee-bike shouldn’t remain the only business for him to be running: When traveling through beautiful Tanzania in 2016, Tobias came up with the idea to combine business with creating a social impact. The idea of myChoco – really good chocolate that can do more than just being delicious – was born. The innovation is to combine the pleasure of buying and enjoying the chocolate with a good purpose – and that purpose is building schools in Tan- Tanzania.

Expanding with social impact business myChoco

Tobias explains that “the completion of the second myChoco school project will be finalized in the next months. It is a remarkable feeling and I am proud to be setting up a value chain that helps everyone involved.” He closes by saying, “I love my job, I love my colleagues and I cannot think of anything better for me to be doing on a daily basis. Maybe my journey is an inspiration for someone else, who is carrying that entrepreneurial spirit within them. If I could give one bit of advice, then it would be to – just do it.”