The inflight retail market is expected to hit $5.1 billion by 2029. But airlines are still selling perfume from a trolley cart.

Meanwhile, Starlink is rolling out gate-to-gate WiFi across major carriers — Qatar Airways, SAS, United. The infrastructure for a digital storefront at 35,000 feet now exists. Yet there's no unified catalog connecting departure and arrival retailers. No system linking in-flight orders to baggage handling for seamless pickup or delivery. Airlines, airports, retailers, and ground handlers all run siloed systems with zero cross-entity orchestration.

This is the problem. You're going to build the company that solves it.

The opportunity

Beam has pre-validated this problem through deep industry research and expert interviews. As a Founding Lead, you will take ownership of this opportunity and build a platform that turns the Baggage Handling System into an on-site logistics hub for digital inflight shopping and arrivals retail, leveraging BEUMER Group's BHS technology, airport customer base, and operational domain knowledge as your unfair advantage.

You're not joining an innovation lab. You're building a real company, with equity, funding, and a path to Managing Director.

What the journey looks like

This is an 18-month validation journey divided into 5 phases:

1. Insights (Months 1–2): Deep-dive research, 25+ expert interviews, problem validation

2. Problem-Solution Hypothesis (Months 3–4): Build a product vision, find a tech co-founder, secure 2 pilot commitments

3. Company Idea & Product Validation (Months 5–8): Launch MVP with customers, collect LOIs, write a business plan

4. Board Pitch (Month 9): Present your investment case to Beam and BEUMER Group leadership

5. Launch a Minimum Viable Company (Months 10–18): Incorporate, hire, convert pilots into paying contracts, scale

At each gate, we assess progress together. Not every validation leads to a startup — and that's by design.

We want to speak to you if

• You have 5+ years of professional experience in corporate or consulting environments — strategy, operations, retail, aviation, or digital commerce. You've worked with or within European companies and understand how complex, multi-stakeholder ecosystems operate.

• You have an existing professional network in European aviation, airport operations, travel retail, airline ancillary revenue, or logistics sectors.

• You have the ability to navigate complex B2B sales environments — ideally involving airports, airlines, retailers, or ground handlers. You understand that selling into aviation means long cycles and multiple decision-makers.

• You can identify a clear company vision and market opportunity and are prepared to defend it with data.

• You communicate complex information simply and think clearly without needing to dominate.

• You thrive in ambiguity. You do your homework and go the extra mile to find the opportunity your competitors will miss.

• You are fluent in English and German — both are essential for navigating BEUMER Group's customer landscape and the European market.

What Beam offers

• €4,000/month (gross) so you can focus fully on your validation.

• Co-founder equity — we think long-term and want our founders' motivation to be rock solid.

• Solid funding: if your startup reaches go-to-market, our funding committee secures the runway you need — minimum 18 months after every round.

• Active support in finding suitable co-founders for your venture.

• Access to our network of experts, advisors, and mentors across aviation, retail, and technology.

• A home base at our Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg offices alongside other Founding Leads and startup teams.

This isn't for everyone

• This is based in Berlin, on-site 3 days per week (remote 2 days).

• This starts as a structured validation engagement. If you pass the board pitch at month 9, it becomes your company with co-founder equity and dedicated funding.

• Our bar is high — over 80% of candidates don't make it to launch. But those who do get funded, supported, and backed by a family business that thinks in decades, not quarters. We've launched 12 startups with 16 founders since 2018.

How to apply

• Apply with your LinkedIn profile (CV optional).

• Tell us why this problem excites you and what you'd bring to it.

PS! For more information, head to the FAQ section on our jobs page.