Fitness with "The Lion's Den Switzerland", episode 3/7

Furniture that can be assembled at will and "grows" with changing needs - that is the idea behind "Formich" by Philipp Rast. Depending on the stage of life, the furniture can be adapted, which means it does not have to be thrown away and replaced by new ones. In this way, the company founder wants to promote sustainable consumption in the home as well. Philipp Rast wanted the lions to invest 100,000 Swiss francs in exchange for a 20 percent share in the company. Initially, the lions were very interested in the idea and were convinced by the quality of the furniture on display. But when it came to concrete figures, the initial enthusiasm ("cool brand," Roland Brack) gave way to a sobering realism: At 2,000 francs for a shelf, "Formich" is in a proud price range, and the five lions also found the sales development according to the business plan a bit too linear. Lukas Speiser's hard-hitting conclusion: "Too little scalability, too expensive, does not justify a company valuation of half a million francs". No deal was struck. Philipp Rast made no secret of his disappointment, but was still looking forward to his after-work beer.

Lions show how their fitness is...

Then things got a bit action-packed and sporty: the young company "Overground AG" with Fabian Kägi, Chris Harmat, Dominique Karlin and Maurice Ndotoni is a combined training center for Ninja Warrior, Parkour, Calisthenics, Trampoline, Chase Tag, Big Bounce and Tricking - sports that are probably completely unknown to the older generation of TV viewers. The four sports enthusiasts - including Parkour and Ninja Warrior champions - currently run a training hall, but want to take off with events in the future. To do so, they need an investment of 150,000 Swiss francs and are willing to cede 10 percent company shares. The plans that the four presented sounded ambitious: they want to generate 30,000 francs in sales per event. Roland Brack already showed himself to be a connoisseur of Parkour. Patrick Mollet showed his fitness on the equipment himself. Only: The five investors put question marks behind the setup of the company: Is it now a fitness center operator or an event organizer? For Roland Brack, Overground AG is still in a "non-investable" phase. Tobias Reichmuth found the business plan too unclear, he also dropped out. For Bettina Hein it did not fit into her portfolio, Jürg Schwarzenbach and Patrick Mollet also did not want to invest. Conclusion for the TV viewer: The four young entrepreneurs probably still have to work on their business fitness...

When an online retailer suddenly invests in stores...

From sports back to retail was the presentation of "S'Fachl" with Christian Hammer, Markus Bauer and Coco Künzle. The Austrian company rents out sales space to small businesses in the form of fruit crates. Customers of "S'Fachl" can fill these crates with their products as they wish and follow the sales development live online. In Switzerland, they are currently present with a store in St.Gallen, run by Coco Künzle as "Fachlmeisterin". 300,000 Swiss francs against 10 percent company participation was now the investment presentation of the entrepreneurs from Vienna. Lion Tobias Reichmuth was taken with the concept - a kind of "analog Amazon" - but did not want to invest. Bettina Hein also made it short: "I have too little expertise in the retail sector" and also dropped out. Lukas Speiser recalled failed attempts to set up a floor-space business for Amorana and stayed true to his line: focus on online retail. Roland Brack, on the other hand, made an offer: 300,000 Swiss francs in exchange for a 15 percent stake. After a brief consideration, Christian Hammer accepted. So the deal was struck with the online retailer, which Tobias Reichmuth commented as follows: "Like Jeff Bezos: started online, and now he has stores everywhere.

Three offers for a single business idea

A situation that many a man has probably already experienced: An invitation to the wedding of a good friend with the dress code "festive". So where to find a suitable suit in the short time available? Lorenz Pöhlmann and Ibrahim Can from "Adretto" made exactly this experience. After a long trip from men's outfitter to men's outfitter, they thought to themselves: Couldn't there be alternatives? Their solution: renting suits instead of buying them. They developed software that calculates the appropriate measurements based on the customer's input and handles the rental process. For around 200 francs, they can rent not only a suit, but also matching shirts and accessories. Thanks to clever marketing via Google Ads, the two men have been able to generate a respectable demand - and: they currently seem to be the only ones in Switzerland to offer a suit rental service. But now they need capital to grow: 100,000 Swiss francs against a 10 percent stake, that was their idea. Three lions wanted to strike: Roland Brack offered 100,000 Swiss francs, but wanted a 15 percent share, Jürg Schwarzenbach offered 100,000 Swiss francs at 10 percent and Anja Graf also. Jürg Schwarzenbach finally won the bid, probably because as a member of Carvolution's board of directors he already had expertise in rental models. Given the enthusiasm that "Adretto" aroused in three lions, perhaps even more would have been possible. After all, Roland Brack stated at the end: "It's a pity that they didn't negotiate more.

(Update: After the broadcast, "Adretto" was also able to win Roland Brack as an investor. This of course means even more expertise and above all: online distribution...)

And once again: High company rating as "pièce de résistance

Marco Niggli from Sursee is the prototype of a smart young entrepreneur: 25 years young and fully convinced of his product. And this is called "Klixx", a frameless holder for car license plates. Simple design, manufacture from recycled plastic, easy assembly, available in various DIY markets were good arguments to arouse interest among investors. The capital requirement: 50,000 Swiss francs against 2.5 percent company participation. But the lions did not trust the company valuation put forward by Marco Niggli. Bettina Hein and Lukas Speiser complained that it was based too much on future calculations (150,000 "Klixx" sets are to be sold in Switzerland by 2024, with sales prices ranging between CHF 34.95 and CHF 39.95). Jürg Schwarzenbach and Bettina Hein said goodbye to the "bidding war", while Lukas Speiser took another look at the valuation: With a quarter of a million in sales in 2021 and still no profit, a valuation of 2 million was not justified, he said. Marco Niggli, however, referred to the investments made in patents and developments. His product was protected and competitors could not simply jump on his bandwagon. Anja Graf appreciated this positively, but did not believe in the sustainability of the projected sales figures and dropped out. Roland Brack wished for a different offer from the young entrepreneur with a more relevant company share. Marco Niggli understood and now offered 10 percent company shares for an investment of 50,000 Swiss francs. Roland Brack and Lukas Speiser exchanged glances and had a brief discussion. Their new offer was: together 100,000 Swiss francs against 20 percent company shares. Marco Niggli accepted. It seemed that even smart young entrepreneurs sometimes had to be forced to be happy...

High tech for museum visits

200,000 Swiss francs for a 15 percent stake in the company - that was the capital requirement for "Dojo," an audio device for exhibitions that works using bone-sound technology. This means that the device is not held to the ear, but to the temple, thus providing an additional sound experience - in principle, a kind of acoustic "augmented reality. In exhibitions, "Dojo" recognizes when you are in front of an exhibit the information available about it. This is conveyed by a narrative voice, as Jana Kalbermatter and Louis Moser, the two young entrepreneurs, explained. Museums and exhibitors can program the device to suit their needs. And this showed the problem with the product: it is aimed at a niche with little potential for scaling, because the number of museums that can afford such a system - the purchase costs are in the five-digit range - is manageable. Anja Graf, Bettina Hein, Lukas Speiser and Jürg Schwarzenbach all dropped out, but paid great respect to the technological development. Roland Brack, who was the only one to try out the device, then made an offer: 200,000 Swiss francs in exchange for a 20 percent share in the company. And Jana Kalbermatter and Louis Moser were happy to take it.

Entrepreneurial fitness shown

The third season of "Die Höhle der Löwen Schweiz" ended with this show. The new investors brought a breath of fresh air and new expertise to the show. There was no shortage of business ideas and interesting business cases, and most of the startups and young entrepreneurs also deserved the publicity via TV cameras. A respectable level of entrepreneurial fitness was on display; the season's highlights included two Million-dollar deals as well as a teaching example (Broadcast October 26 2021), how you can gamble away the goodwill of investors with arrogance. We can look forward to the fourth season, for which new startups and interesting product innovations are already being sought that want to stand up to the judgment of investors.

Interviews with two investors on "Die Höhle der Löwen Schweiz" can be found at here, a review to the broadcast of November 30, 2021 there is here.

Information on all shipments: https://www.3plus.tv/die-hoehle-der-loewen-schweiz