Co-founder and CXO Elias Atahi leaves unu

Almost seven years after unu was founded in 2013 by school friends Pascal Blum and Elias Atahi, co-founder and chief experience officer Elias Atahi announces that he’s leaving the company, which has grown to nearly 130 employees and has expanded from Germany to Austria, France, and the Netherlands. After four years of intensive work on the second product generation, Elias Atahi decided to take this step to focus on new projects.

In the management, Elias Atahi was responsible for the conception and implementation of the creative strategy. In this role, he was in charge of product design – from the vision to the final details –, designing and building the brand, as well as shaping the corporate culture.

During this time and thanks to Elias Atahi’s work, unu was able to receive numerous awards. In 2017, he and his co-founders were named in the Forbes 30 under 30 list and as one of Interbrand's 40 Global Breakthrough Brands. Shortly after the launch of the second product generation in May 2019, the LinkedIn Top Startups Ranking, positioning unu as one of Germany's most sought-after employers, followed suit: "I completed my work at unu with the new unu Scooter and the associated brand relaunch. Now, other qualities are needed to sell the product and scale the business,“ says Elias Atahi.

While Elias Atahi is initially looking for a personal break to plan his next steps, cofounders Pascal Blum (CEO unu) and Mathieu Caudal (COO unu), who joined the founding team in 2014, will continue to run the business. "I’m proud to be able to leave a strong and powerful creative team behind for the organization, which has completely taken over the operational work on product and brand in recent months”, says Elias Atahi.

Elias Atahi also remains associated as a shareholder and advisor to add input on core issues such as product, brand and corporate culture: "Elias and I have known each other since childhood and have been able to experience a lot together. I’m immensely grateful to have worked with him. I wish him all the best for his next steps and look forward to any future cooperation," says Pascal.