Not hitting the nail on the head everywhere on "Die Höhle der Löwen Schweiz", 3/6

It's snowing or raining and storming outside - ideal conditions for a cozy evening in front of the TV. Those who like it a bit more tangible might be well served with the "Nagelstock": This is a game in which you have to drive a nail into a piece of wood with the narrow side of a hammer with as few blows as possible. The brand "Nagelstock" by Rémy and Marc Hess offers this toy in various beautifully designed versions: for example, a large one for the living room and a mini version for on the road. And also a liquor called "Nagler" is part of the product range. The nail stick is currently sold mainly online, but at 700 francs for the large model, it is still in a high price range, as the five lions also stated. And also the number of sales - 1 piece per week - did not seem very convincing. However, Lion Jürg Schwarzenbach liked the brand overall. He sees potential to offer further products under this brand. However, he did not want to invest - "with a heavy heart", as he emphasized. It was not a question of a lot of money: 30,000 Swiss francs against a 15 percent stake were the ideas of Rémy and Marc Hess. Despite a lot of goodwill, the other four lions could not decide to invest either. Roland Brack at least offered the possibility of a "day deal" in his online store.

With wine spritzer to a successful deal

Marc Steimer and Markus Simmler from Buchberg in Schaffhausen have developed an alcohol-free wine spritzer under the brand name "Adam + Uva" with which they now want to conquer the beverage market. The lions are expected to invest 80,000 Swiss francs in exchange for a 6 percent stake in the company to make this a success. The lions like the drink. They are impressed by the fact that 100 percent Swiss ingredients are used for the wine spritzer. They seem to have hit a nail on the head with Tobias Reichmuth in particular, to stick with this image. He pestered the two entrepreneurs with questions about sales targets ("1 million in five years") or profit margins ("1 franc per bottle is realistic"). But do investors really need to scale up production? Wouldn't that be better done through bank financing? Lukas Speiser and Tobias Reichmuth put their heads together and finally agreed to jointly offer 80,000 francs in exchange for a 5 percent share in the company. Marc Steimer and Markus Simmler initially wanted to push the stake down to 4.5 percent each, but accepted the offer anyway when they realized that Tobias Reichmuth and Lukas Speiser did not want to budge from their position.

Bitcoin savings for all

"The world's simplest Bitcoin investing app": Julian Liniger, Adem Bilican and Fabian Dominguez advertised their solution "Relai" with such full-bodied praise. It enables beginners and advanced crypto fans to buy and sell Bitcoins quickly and easily. The app works like an ATM: Money in - Bitcoin out. Uncomplicated and simple because Swiss legislation requires verification for such money exchange transactions only from 1000 francs per day and customer. The Bitcoins are stored on the smartphone, so "Relai" does not manage any assets. 5000 active customers investing around 2 million francs per month. Per transaction, "Relai" charges 3 percent. The three founders now want an investment of 500,000 francs in exchange for a 5 percent stake, preferably from Tobias Reichmuth of course, who has already built up a cryptocurrency company himself. There was initially a lot of appreciation from Jürg Schwarzenbach, "but this is not for me," he said, explaining his exit. Patrick Mollet pointed out that there are already countless crypto platforms - "there's no need for you" - and also dropped out. For Roland Brack, cryptocurrencies are the "biggest legalized Ponzi scheme" and therefore did not want to invest either. That left Tobias Reichmuth, who eagerly beat the drum for cryptocurrencies among the other lions, and Bettina Hein: together they offered the desired 500,000 francs. Julian Liniger, Adem Bilican and Fabian Dominguez happily chime in and now want to strive for the acquisition of a broker license and contribute to the democratization of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin with "aggressive marketing".

A hair's breadth away from an investment

Sleep disorders are a widespread disease, as was also learned in an earlier broadcast. Aron and Alex Suarez and Samuel Buob entered the lion's den with "SilentSleep," a device for treating sleep apnea. They developed a "medical didgeridoo" and an app to treat sleep apnea. By playing the didgeridoo, the muscles in the throat are trained and thus a cause of snoring and sleep apnea is completely and permanently cured within a few weeks, as Alex Suarez knew from his own experience. One million francs against 15 per cent participation wanted to have invested the three now by the lionesses and lions - a very high evaluation. But behind it are 15 years of development and research. The product stands and must now be scaled, according to the reasoning of the three entrepreneurs. Lioness Anja Graf found the solution very convincing, but did not want to invest. Jürg Schwarzenbach also declined: "I might be a potential customer, but medtech is not really my field of activity," was his reasoning. Bettina Hein found the rating "too sporty" and also dropped out. Roland Brack was of the opinion that the product really had to be brought out in a big way now, but for him, too, medical technology did not fit in well enough with his portfolio. And Lukas Speiser as the last lion? He describes himself as a "sleep optimizer" and would probably have jumped in at a lower investment proposal. But he agreed to offer his expertise for B2C marketing and also to invest at a later date. For TV viewers, the question was: Did the lions not want to torpedo their earlier investment in "Sleepiz"?

Hit the nail on the head? Twice no

From Austria came the company "Ehrenwort", represented by Thomas Gigl. It produces high-quality spices, herbs, spice blends, pepper and salts, and does so fairly and sustainably. Gigl now wants to bring a little more "pep" to what he sees as dusty spice shelves in Switzerland. He wanted to collect 200,000 Swiss francs in exchange for a 7 percent stake in the company from the Swiss lionesses and lions. But they immediately put him through the wringer: Why should they invest in an Austrian company? It then turned out that "Ehrenwort" already had a distribution partner in Switzerland. And Thomas Gigl already seemed to be doing a lot of other things right to enter the Swiss market. The five lions were unanimous in their verdict: If a partner is already on board, there is no need for investors from Switzerland. No deal was struck, but Thomas Gigl won a ticket for the MediaShop.

A disinfectant as a lifestyle product? With "Création d'Alain," Alain Giger and Sasha Zaric wanted to hit the nail on the head. The product is enriched with gold and silver particles and simultaneously disinfects and cares for the hands. The disinfectant not only contains pure silver, which disinfects twice and prolongs the effect, but also offers anti-aging protection at the same time, according to the promise. But the lionesses and lions do not really warm up to it. Patrick Mollet got out accordingly fast. For Bettina Hein, too, an investment did not fit into the portfolio. Roland Brack was a bit clearer: "You're too late," because the market for such products was declining overall. Jürg Schwarzenbach at least saw a gap in the market for "Création d'Alain", but was then also quickly out. Conclusion: There was no deal.

Example of a successful app

For once, the company founders didn't hit the nail on the head with everything. In retrospect, the app "HYLL" was used to show where this was achieved in the past. This came before investors last year. "HYLL" developed an Uber-like app for the ski slope. The user finds the skis prepared for him or her directly at the edge of the slope. All one has to do is scan them with the smartphone via the "HYLL" app and can start skiing right away. At the end of the day, the user puts the skis back and billing is automatic based on the time skied. In the meantime, the app expanded to other leisure activities with the help of the two investors Tobias Reichmuth and Roland Brack.

Interviews with two investors on "Die Höhle der Löwen Schweiz" can be found at here, a review to the broadcast of November 23, 2021 there is here.

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