Ben Staudt is the founder and Managing Director of Patronus Group, a Berlin-based startup building safety and companion technology for older adults. Inspired by his grandmother's experience with traditional emergency call devices, which spent most of their time on the bedside table rather than being worn, Ben founded Patronus in 2020 with the insight that the real barrier was dignity and design, and the technology was the easy part. Before building the product, he consulted with more than a thousand potential users. Patronus launched a smartwatch designed to look like a normal watch, available in different colours, paired with a family companion app. The company has since reached 25,000 active Customers, achieved an 85% daily wear rate against a 14% industry average, and handled more than 500,000 emergency calls. Patronus has raised EUR 38M+ across multiple rounds, most recently a EUR 11M round in April 2026. Prior to founding Patronus, Ben held senior commercial roles at AUTO1 Group.