Founders Associate Intern (Ops & Marketing)

Mercura (YC W25) helps the companies that build the real world move at software speed, automating the back-office work that runs the $12 trillion industry behind every hospital, school, and power plant. We started with one of their biggest bottlenecks - turning messy technical requests into accurate quotes. With a team of 16, we're now targeting $10M by the end of 2026 as well as our expansion into the US.

About the role

We’re looking for a Founder's Associate Intern (Marketing & Ops) to help make Mercura one of the most visible and compelling B2B AI companies in Europe.

You will take real ownership of how Mercura shows up externally — to customers, candidates and the broader ecosystem. You’ll work closely with the founders and team to turn ideas, company developments and customer insights into content, campaigns, events and new growth initiatives.

This is not an internship where you execute a predefined marketing calendar. We want someone who comes up with ideas, launches them quickly, measures what works and doubles down.

If you want to learn how to build a company, enjoy creating things from scratch and care deeply about results, this is an opportunity to own a meaningful part of Mercura from day one.

What you will be working on

• Company & Founder Marketing: Own and grow Mercura's company and founder LinkedIn presence. Turn what happens inside Mercura into content that reaches prospective customers, exceptional candidates and the wider industry.

• Growth Marketing: Develop and test new ways to generate awareness, inbound demand and talent. Come up with experiments, launch them quickly and measure whether they actually move the numbers.

• SEO, AI Visibility & Website: Help grow Mercura's organic presence across Google and AI search. Work with experienced external experts on SEO, AI visibility, website structure, conversion and design — and turn their recommendations into execution.

• Events: Build memorable events for both customers and talent — from recruiting events and community formats to intimate dinners with CEOs and strategic prospects. Own everything from the initial idea and guest list to invitations and execution.

• Brand & Content: Create landing pages, customer stories, campaigns, event concepts and other assets that make Mercura stand out and explain why what we are building matters.

• New Initiatives: Spot opportunities we haven't thought of yet. If you believe a campaign, partnership, event or completely different idea could create meaningful impact, you will have the freedom to make it happen.

What we’re looking for

Skills & Experience

• You have already gained hands-on marketing experience — for example at a startup, through an internship, your own project, student initiative or company.

• You can write exceptionally well and understand what makes people stop, read and take action.

• You have a strong instinct for content, positioning and what makes a company or person interesting.

• You combine creativity with commercial thinking. You care about reach, qualified leads, great applicants and actual outcomes, not just producing content.

• You are comfortable using AI tools and learn new tools extremely quickly.

• You take full ownership. If something needs to happen, you figure out how to make it happen rather than waiting for instructions.

• Your German is C2/native-level. This is a hard requirement. You are also a strong professional communicator in English.

Personality & Commitment

• You’re entrepreneurial, ambitious and highly proactive.

• You have strong drive and hold yourself to a high standard.

• You enjoy starting with a blank page and turning an idea into something real.

• You are creative, but equally comfortable with execution and the unglamorous details required to make something successful.

• You are highly organized and can run several initiatives simultaneously without losing speed.

• You care about results and naturally ask: Did this actually work? How can we make it better?

• You want to work in person in Munich and thrive in an environment with significantly higher intensity and ownership than a typical 9–5 internship.

Availability

• You are available for a minimum 4-month full-time internship.

• Ideally, you are in the final semester of your Bachelor's or Master's degree, or have recently graduated.

• We are explicitly looking for people who could imagine staying at Mercura afterwards. If there is a strong mutual fit, there is an opportunity to transition into a full-time role.

Why Mercura

• Learn how to build a company: You’ll work close to the founders and see how decisions are made across growth, product, sales, hiring and company building — while owning projects yourself.

• Real ownership: You won’t just support marketing. You will own initiatives end-to-end and have the freedom to propose and build things that don't exist yet.

• An unusually steep learning curve: You’ll work across content, growth, brand, events, SEO, AI visibility and operations rather than spending months on one narrow internship project.

• Exceptional people around you: Work alongside experienced operators, ex-founders, engineers and top graduates from companies and universities such as Google, Bain, MIT, TUM, Harvard, CDTM and Cambridge.

• Build something with real-world impact: Mercura brings modern AI into industries that still rely heavily on emails, PDFs, phone calls and manual ERP processes.

• Tools without bureaucracy: Get access to the AI, marketing and productivity tools you need to do great work, as well as expert support where it helps you move faster.

• The everyday: Free team dinners, UrbanSportsClub membership, team workouts and support relocating to Munich.

About the process

Step 1: Intro Call
A short conversation to get to know each other and tell you more about Mercura and the role.

Step 2: Practical Marketing Case
A practical exercise around a real Mercura marketing challenge. We care much more about how you think, create and execute than theoretical marketing knowledge.

Step 3: Offer
If there is a strong mutual fit, we'll make you an offer.

About the Founders

We are Lukas, Stefan & Sean, the co-founders of Mercura.

We share a deep commitment to excellence and the discipline to pursue what others might consider impossible.

Two of us come from non-academic families, and we all know what it means to create our own paths and overcome barriers. This experience shapes our belief in equal opportunity and fuels our dedication to social mobility.

Lukas (left) is responsible for business development at Mercura. With his background as a Data Scientist at Allianz and at Google in Silicon Valley, he brings extensive expertise in data and AI.
Lukas’ family has been active in the construction industry for over 100 years, giving him a deep understanding and passion for the sector's specific needs.

Sean (middle) is responsible for technical development at Mercura. As a top 0.01% physicist, Sean earned a Silver medal for Germany at the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO), began researching with the Max Planck Institute at the age of 16, and has since published at leading machine learning conferences.

Stefan (right) leads product development at Mercura. Previously, he worked in management consulting at Bain & Company, where he helped manufacturers improve their operations.
Stefan leverages his research experience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard Business School to develop innovative solutions for the industry.

At Mercura, we believe that the best ideas emerge when people from different backgrounds collaborate together. We hire based on ability, mindset, and values, and we live by one simple rule: the best idea wins.

Beyond Mercura, we actively support initiatives that promote diversity and gender equity and commit a portion of our personal income each year to organizations expanding opportunity for others.

Our operating principles:

https://www.mercura.ai/careers