The scent of money in the lion's den Switzerland, episode 3/5

When it comes to the first young company in this program, it's almost inevitable to resort to a corny joke: "Money doesn't stink," the Roman Emperor Vespasian is said to have once said (it was about the taxation of public institutions of necessity...). But what does "Swiss Money Parfum" smell like, which Alain Chopard and Christoph Brötie from Cham presented? The answer: the unisex perfume smells like a freshly printed Swiss banknote. With the fragrance of the world's most valuable banknote, the founder wants to exude "the feeling of freedom and independence" - enriched with a "touch of sexiness." Only: in the noses of the lions, the scent of money smelled more like cardboard and printer's ink, but "there's a market for everything," said Jürg Schwarzenbach. In order to continue to take off with their product range, which has even been expanded in the meantime to include a bath ball, the two founders need 75,000 francs. They would be willing to cede 20 percent of the company shares in return. Despite professional presentation and the prospect of a huge perfume market, the five lions were merciless: no deal. Patrick Mollet thought it was a "funny idea," but nothing more. Roland Brack was particularly clear at the very end: "I have rarely seen such nonsense".

How to represent your cause with heart and soul

The presentation by Kay Keusen with his brand "Taucherli", from which the company "Taucherli" was named, was not about the scent of money but about the scent of fairly produced chocolate. in another context was already the talk. This is high-quality and fair chocolate with a sustainable value chain. The founder ensures this by following production from start to finish - from the moment the farmer delivers the beans until the consumer bites into the bar. "Bean-to-bar" is the name of this concept, which Kay Keusen has been pursuing with heart and soul since 2015. He is now on the verge of a major leap in growth and wants to be able to make the sales prices somewhat more favorable by scaling production. To do this, he said, he needs an investment of 400,000 Swiss francs in exchange for a five percent stake. All the lionesses and lions were very taken with the product, "an exciting taste experience," stated Bettina Hein, for example. But taste alone and the enthusiasm of the founder are not enough for an investment. For the lions, the company valuation was too high. Only Lukas Speiser made an offer: 400,000 Swiss francs in exchange for 20 percent of the company. But Kay Keusen declined, "20 percent is too much for me.

Lesson in influencer marketing

The lions were then allowed to dive into another world with "Finelli," a Zurich-based fashion and lifestyle brand represented by Khawar Awan and the influencer and Youtuber Cubanito. "Finelli" produces high-quality and yet affordable fashion. Thanks to targeted influencer marketing - in addition to Cubanito, the label also relies on influencer Gabirano and professional footballer Ruben Vargas as brand ambassadors - the 21-year-old founder has succeeded in generating five-figure sales with the very first collection. By the end of 2021, the target is 240,000 Swiss francs. In order to be able to finance further steps, "Finelli" would like an investment of 80,000 francs against a 15 percent company share. The lions showed interest, asked about pricing, margins and acquisition costs - and received convincing answers. They took the bait: Roland Brack and Jürg Schwarzenbach jointly offered 80,000 francs, but wanted 20 percent company shares in return. Bettina Hein, Lukas Speiser and Tobias Reichmuth made the same offer in threes. Khawar Awan and Cubanito then ultimately decided in favor of this trio. "Lukas Speiser was just always our lion of choice," said the young founder. Roland Brack regretted: "I could have learned a lot from these young gentlemen.

What the scent of money really consists of: Wise investing

Then, once again, fintech was the order of the day. Should there be a deal this time? Is it about the smell of money again? Or does money grow on trees, as the studio décor might suggest? In any case, Matthias Bryner and Nadine Hitz presented "Findependent," an investment app that, according to their own statements, offers investors without prior knowledge simple and understandable solutions. The presentation seemed convincing, Matthias Bryner showed himself as a professional who had a factual clear answer to all questions of ex-banker Lukas Speiser. The young entrepreneurs wanted 100,000 Swiss francs in exchange for a 5 percent stake, but the lions were reluctant for the time being. They put question marks behind the growth potential: the low fees for investors were considered positive, but with relatively small sums, which are usually invested at "Findependent", it takes a five-digit number of customers to get into the profit zone. So Matthias Bryner would have to manage at least 500 billion francs... Patrick Mollet nevertheless made an initial offer: 100,000 francs against 10 percent, Lukas Speiser made the same offer. Roland Brack remembered his good hand at his participation in "Neon" from an earlier season and offered 150,000 francs. The founders were spoilt for choice, discussed briefly and were then even lured with a double offer from Lukas Speiser and Patrick Mollet: 200,000 francs against a 15 percent stake. But Matthias Bryner and Nadine Hitz then decided in favor of their "dream lion" Roland Brack.

No deal for vegan crackers

Anne Richter from Küsnacht presented her vegan cracker called "Knecker". It contains over 30 percent vegetable proteins, mainly soy-based. The product is offered in resealable and refillable packaging in two sizes. The five lions found both presentation and product appealing. When it came to a deal - Anne Richter wanted 45,000 Swiss francs in exchange for a 5 percent stake - Lukas Speiser again complained that the company's valuation was too high at this early stage and dropped out. Jürg Schwarzenbach followed him. The three other lions were still considering. Finally, Bettina Hein and Tobias Reichmuth jointly offered 50,000 francs, but wanted a 20 percent share in the company in return. Roland Brack, in turn, offered 45,000 francs at 20 percent and would also have been willing to take out a loan to finance an increase in production. But Anne Richter knew her limits: She did not want to cede more than 10 percent of her company. Thus, no deal was struck.

With intelligent heating control to less CO2: The deal of the evening

Pietro Gagliardi with the self-learning heating system "Cleveron" addressed a highly topical issue: The waste of heating energy in buildings when their premises are not in constant use. The solution: "Cleveron" regulates the temperature for each room independently and individually. This ensures, for example, that a meeting room is only heated during a meeting. According to Gagliardi, "Cleveron" can save 30 percent of heating energy in just one day. What's actually clever about it is that intelligent thermostats, which can be installed in just one day, regulate the room temperature depending on the degree of use, sunlight, time of day, and so on. This costs less than 10,000 francs - in contrast to extensive renovation measures that would otherwise be necessary to reduce CO2 emissions. The market potential is enormous: based on 6 million buildings in the DACH region, this amounts to around 9 billion francs. Actually convincing arguments for the lions, in order to enter with 250,000 francs against 5 per cent company participation, particularly since with Anja count a real estate expert was present - it offered the chance for Investment and customer acquisition in one. But she of all people was the first to drop out. Roland Brack, on the other hand, offered 250,000 Swiss francs, but wanted an 8 percent stake. Bettina Hein, Lukas Speiser and Patrick Mollet jointly offered 250,000 francs against 7 percent. Now Pietro Gagliardi was faced with a difficult choice - it took consulting his co-founders by phone. Back in the Lion's Den, he made a counter-offer: accept the two offers, but with a 7.5 percent stake each. Bettina Hein and Roland Brack briefly exchanged glances and finally agreed - the deal was done.

Even without investment: Don't let it get you down

An altogether entertaining show - from the "scent of money" to sustainable chocolate and fashion to a clever energy-saving solution, everything was there to make both investors, founders and TV viewers ponder at times. It is sometimes admirable how much patience the lions have, even with the most abstruse product ideas, and do not tell the founders more quickly that they see no chance for an investment. In the case of the successful deals, we can once again look forward to hearing about them later on, such as "Yokoy," an app for expense management that now has 500 customers in its portfolio and has been able to expand abroad thanks to an investment from the lions. However, the two youngsters from Finelli have a tip for other young entrepreneurs: don't let them get you down and do what you believe in.

Interviews with two investors on "Die Höhle der Löwen Schweiz" can be found at here, a review to the broadcast of November 16, 2021 there is here.

Information about the next shipments: https://www.3plus.tv/die-hoehle-der-loewen-schweiz