Stories of tech founders often begin in coworking spaces or on café napkins.
But the story of Inhubber founder Elena Mechik began somewhere entirely different — in the humming depths of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest, surrounded by colorful birds, humid air, and the distant roar of chainsaws.
“It all started with a research project at the Technical University of Berlin,” recalls Elena. “I spent five months in the Brazilian rainforest and witnessed firsthand the pain of the people who live off the forest — and the pain of nature itself, which can be destroyed so quickly.”
That experience became a turning point in her life. She saw how deeply local communities depend on the forest, yet how vulnerable they are to the pressures of commercial logging. During her doctoral research, one alarming statistic caught her attention: the paper industry accounts for roughly 13–15% of global wood consumption.
Her research focused on how non-timber products could become sustainable income sources to protect forests in the long term. But it led to an even bigger vision: to use innovative technologies like blockchain and digital contract management platforms to digitalize processes, reduce paper consumption, and contribute to forest preservation.
From Russia to Germany – and a passion for learning
Elena was born in Russia. In 1997, her parents decided to move to Germany, beginning a new chapter in Bad Wildungen, Hesse — with a new language, culture, and education system.
After graduating from high school, Elena moved to Berlin to pursue her education with determination and breadth:
- 2004–2008 – Touro College Berlin, Bachelor’s in International Business and Management
- 2005–2011 – Technical University of Berlin, Diploma in Industrial Engineering and Economics
- 2014 – London School of Economics, Program in Economic Development
Research and the tropical forests
From 2011 to 2018, Elena worked at the University of Hamburg, conducting research on sustainable development and ecosystem economics. In 2017, she earned her PhD with the dissertation “Managing the driver of climate change in the context of sustainable tropical forest management through regulation of economic activities in forest communities while analyzing socio-economic interactions” — an in-depth study of how regulating economic activities in forest communities can help slow down climate change.
Her other scientific publications include:
- “Analysis of the changes in economic activities of Brazilian forest communities…” – a study examining the economic transformations in Brazilian forest communities following methodological support and pre-financing.
- “Requirements for the Sustainable Development of Economic Activities in Tropical Forest Communities” – co-authored with Professor Michael von Hauff, exploring the essential conditions for sustainable development in tropical forest communities.
Blockchain and tropical forest protection
In 2021, Elena Mechik published a chapter in the collective volume Climate and Development by World Scientific Publishing: “The fight against deforestation of tropical forests – The contribution of the blockchain-based contract management method to minimize illegal logging.”
In this work, she analyzes how blockchain-based contract management methods can help reduce illegal deforestation and create greater transparency in global timber supply chains. This publication is considered a bridge between her earlier research on tropical forests and the technological mission of Inhubber.
From NGO work to technology
Alongside her academic research, Elena founded the non-profit organization umWELTweit e.V., where she explored how decentralized technologies could be used to bring more transparency to supply chains. It was there that she first discovered the potential of blockchain as a tool for building trust and security in global processes.
“I saw blockchain technology as a way to create transparent supply chains while solving corporate challenges related to data security and control,” Elena explained in an interview with Humboldt Innovation.
She emphasizes: “None will trust contracts without highest security standards.” This insight came during her research on blockchain fundamentals, where she realized that the technology not only provides the highest level of security but also enables perfect versioning of every transaction — blockchain beyond the hype.
For this reason, Inhubber is built on two core pillars:
- Every transaction receives a tamper-proof timestamp and a unique code.
- The integrity of each contract version is cryptographically secured, ensuring that every modification is fully traceable.
These principles are also reflected in the academic works Elena references — including studies by Kshetri (2018), Saberi et al. (2019), Queiroz & Fosso Wamba (2020), Sezer et al. (2021), and Cao et al. (2021) — all of which emphasize how blockchain increases transparency, reduces fraud, and strengthens governance.
Together, they form the solid scientific foundation of Inhubber’s architecture.
The birth of Inhubber
In 2019, Elena founded Inhubber together with her brother Leonid and her husband Andre, supported by Humboldt Innovation and the EXIST funding program.
“We built Inhubber as a contract management solution that enables companies to manage all their contracts centrally in a highly secure environment,” she explains.
Inhubber’s technology combines artificial intelligence for automated contract processing with blockchain for permanent data encryption — and offers the unique ability to sign any type of file, including Excel spreadsheets, without converting them into PDF.
Why did they choose Ethereum? Elena and her team analyzed various blockchain protocols and deliberately chose Ethereum because it offers a large developer community, the highest security standards, and proven stability.
For transaction verification, Inhubber also collaborates with Etherscan, a trusted technology partner selected for its strong reputation and reliability.
What makes this story especially fascinating is how Elena contributed her academic foundation, while her husband Andre complemented it with deep technical expertise. Together, they merged scientific theory and practical architecture into a platform that uniquely bridges research and real-world application.
International recognition and awards
From the very beginning of her entrepreneurial journey, Elena and her team managed to impress not only customers but also experts in innovation and sustainability.
Inhubber became a finalist and participant in several prestigious programs:
- AWS Female Founders Program – an Amazon Web Services initiative supporting women founders in the IT industry. “Three months at AWS were a real masterclass in investor negotiations,” Elena recalls. “We analyzed real case studies and learned how to present our value proposition in a way that truly resonates.”
- Participation in startup competitions at European innovation forums, where Inhubber was recognized for its unique combination of blockchain and AI in contract management.
- Awards for sustainable business practices, honoring Inhubber’s contribution to reducing paper consumption and lowering the company CO₂ footprint.
Scientific and public engagement
The scientific dimension has always remained an essential part of Elena’s professional identity. In addition to her three major publications — her doctoral dissertation and two international research articles — she has actively participated in conferences on sustainable development, ecosystem economics, and digital technologies.
Notable appearances include:
- Presentations at international forums on tropical forests, where she shared the results of years of field research in Brazil.
- Participation in European climate forums, demonstrating how blockchain and AI technologies can support the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- Lectures for the academic community at the University of Hamburg on the use of mathematical modeling to assess the impact of economic activities on ecosystems.
Team and customers
Within the company, each founder has a clearly defined area of responsibility:
- Elena – Sales and Operations Management
- Leonid – Finance and Back Office
- Andrey – CTO and Technical Architecture
Today, Inhubber’s customers include EDEKA, TIER, and the OECD.
The company maintains a close relationship with Humboldt University of Berlin, leveraging its alumni network and fostering active collaboration with other startups.
Family in business
Inhubber is a family-founded company in which each founder plays a key role. But Elena admits that some investors initially saw this as a potential risk. “Some said, ‘What if family relationships interfere with the business?’ But we always replied — that’s our strength: we completely trust each other and share one mission.”
In her view, the family structure helps the team make decisions faster, avoid unnecessary bureaucracy, and stay focused on long-term goals rather than short-term profits.
A woman in tech
Elena emphasizes that it isn’t easy to succeed in the tech industry as a woman with a migration background. She points to studies showing that investors tend to ask women about risks and men about opportunities. “Some potential investors declined once they learned that we’re a family business and that I’m the founder. But we convinced many through our technology, our team, and our customers,” she says.
To negotiate with confidence, Elena created her own “crash course” in venture capital — learning the terminology, deal structures, and funding stages. “I didn’t know much about sales or marketing either,” she admits. “I had to learn everything from scratch — and it turned out to be incredibly exciting.”
Legacy and future plans
Elena continues to maintain close ties with the academic community and integrates Inhubber into projects focused on sustainable development. The company’s plans include expanding its AI capabilities, integrating with new document management systems, and entering the Latin American market, where paper-based processes still dominate.
She is convinced that environmental mission and technological expertise are not opposites, but rather complementary elements of a modern, responsible economy.
Mission and philosophy
For Elena, Inhubber is not just a SaaS platform — it’s part of her greater ecological mission. Every electronic signature and every avoided printout of a document is a contribution to reducing deforestation.
Selected academic publications by Elena Mechik
- Mechik, E. (2017). Managing the driver of climate change in the context of sustainable tropical forest management through regulation of economic activities in forest communities while analyzing socio-economic interactions. Doctoral dissertation, University of Hamburg. Full text available at: **econpapers.repec.org+12fnu.uni-hamburg.de+12ediss.sub.uni-hamburg.de+12**
- Mechik, E., von Hauff, M., de Moura, L. H. L., Held, H. (2017). Analysis of the changes in economic activities of Brazilian forest communities after methodical support and provision of pre-financing capital. Journal of Tropical Forest Science, 29(2), 227–237. Article link: **ResearchGate+1**
- Mechik, E., von Hauff, M. (2021). The fight against deforestation of tropical forests – The contribution of the blockchain-based contract management method to minimize illegal logging. In Climate and Development, Chapter 14, pp. 439–463. Publisher: **ResearchGate+15econpapers.repec.org+15ResearchGate+15**
- Mechik, E. (2014). Small Scale Forest Enterprises with Social Responsibility (SSFESR): Approaches to sustainable development of tropical forest communities through non-timber forest products. Presented at Tropentag 2014. Full text or abstract: **tropentag.de**