The new season of “The Lion's Den” also focuses on the question: Is there a happy ending for startups? The decision is made by the seven investors: trade professional Ralf Dümmel (57), family businessman Dagmar Wöhrl (69), business giant Carsten Maschmeyer (64), CEO Nils Glagau (48), green technology investor Janna Ensthaler (40), businessman Tijen Onaran (39) and gastronomy expert Tillman Schulz (34).
Were the business ideas from Monday night's first episode so compelling that they opened investor hearts and accounts? Things were still looking good on the show, but none of yesterday's TV deals have materialized yet.
Luisa Josenhans (28), her husband Simon Josenhans (28) and Mike Obermaier (29) gave investors a bomb-proof bicycle mobile phone holder with the name “Feschd”. The trio of founders wanted an investment of 80,000 euros for 10 percent of their company. His favorites against the field were Nils Glagau and Ralf Dümmel.
Nils Glagau subsequently rejected “Feschd.”
Nils Glagau considered the product “great” because it brought together all the advantages of possible competitors in one: “I would really like to build a great brand with you.” However, he asked the three of them not for ten, but for twenty percent. for the 80,000 euros invested.
Ralf Dümmel did the same under the same conditions. During the consultation, the three agreed to play poker again: 15 percent instead of 20 percent was the option. With this, Nils Glagau was out for the moment. And when Ralf Dümmel realized that Nils was his favorite, he left too. The founders fought passionately again and finally managed to change Nils Glagau's mind.
But the agreement did not last long, as Glagau now revealed to “Stern”. “Unfortunately, it later turned out that not everyone in the team could focus professionally on 'Feschd',” the lion explained about the failure of the deal. It is important “that all founders feel the same passion for the common idea.”
Feschd founder Simon Josenhans considers Glagau's rejection understandable. Apparently things are going well for the founders even without the help of TV investors. “Thanks to the support of family, friends and many loyal customers, we were able to secure financing even without reaching a deal and we are already working on other interesting products related to our Feschd Mount.”
Carsten Maschmeyer first has “eggs” and then retreats
The following speech had a promising start: while Carsten Kraus (artificial intelligence expert and entrepreneur) appeared in front of the lions in the studio, his partner Markus Vollmer (entrepreneur) was connected to a video conference. Kraus reported that 500 million people meet via video calls every day. The founders want to change the fact that interlocutors cannot look directly into each other's eyes by using AI.
Thanks to its “Casablanca” software, each participant in the conversation always looks the other person in the eye, even when looking at the desk. “A brilliant idea,” said all the lions, but they didn't bite, except Carsten Maschmeyer: “It doesn't bother me that others haven't invested. So they just don't have eggs. I have guts in this case.” He suggested an investment of half a million for 15 percent, then went to ten percent. Finally everyone agreed on 7.5 percent and a bonus in case of success. Carsten Maschmeyer therefore agreed.
But this agreement did not have a really happy ending either: “Unfortunately, after the broadcast we were not able to continue the investment process with Casablanca,” Maschmeyer also told “Stern”. During the recording, there had already been intense discussion about the company's valuation, “which actually turned out to be too high in due diligence after the issuance,” said the investor.
The final decision on Dümmel's “good decision” is still pending
The agreement between the founders Monika (36) and Michael Nätscher (40) of “Good Decision” and Löwe Ralf Dümmel is also on shaky ground. The brothers presented their unique Amazonian toothpaste with a very special active ingredient on the Vox program: dragon's blood, the resin of the Ecuadorian dragon tree.
The brand wants to address the waste problem with its completely ecological toothpaste in degradable packaging and is already successful in Ecuador. Now it wanted to establish itself in the German market. Ralf Dümmel was not the only one who brushed his teeth intensively in the study to test the product.
Dagmar Wöhrl and Tijean Onaran saw that the chances of entering the German market were too slim and left. Carsten Maschmeyer thinks the same. Ralf Dümmel, for his part, wanted to reward the courage of both, but demanded 25 percent of the company for 100,000 euros. Monika and Michael attacked and took Ralf Dümmel aboard.
Now, a spokeswoman for Dümmel's DS-Products company says the deal is “under negotiation and has not yet been closed.” A sobering conclusion after the first episode.
By (jök/spot)