Record deal at the start of the "Die Höhle der Löwen Schweiz" season

The start is made by 21-year-old HSG student Tim Miljko with his company "PoCatWalk" from Baar (ZG). His idea: while shopping for clothes, young people try on outfits on a catwalk. This results in photos that go online. The hope is that this will generate feedback on the outfit and advertise the brand. His wish now: an investment of 160,000 francs in exchange for a 20 percent share in the company. But the lions were skeptical: Can this work? Is the business model right? The tenor could be summarized as follows: It's a good idea, but at this point in time it's still too half-baked to raise money for it. That's why no deal was struck.

Another record deal becomes fact

Then went straight into the full "SoFlow"a company from Flawil (SG) that manufactures e-mobility solutions for both private and industrial use. It has just developed a special scooter for a major German car manufacturer that enables employees to move around the company premises quickly and safely. And the turnover of the company, which was founded in 2015, also caused a stir among the lions: between 2016 and 2021, the turnover was increased six-fold to CHF 14 million, and even more than CHF 30 million is expected for the current year. However, the founders Manuel Hug (34) and Martin Neuckel (37) want to develop new products and have big plans in other respects as well. Their idea is correspondingly self-confident: the lions are to invest CHF 1.3 million. While the lions Jürg Schwarzenbach and Lukas Speiser wave them off, Bettina Hein, Roland Brack and Anja Graf join forces, but initially demand a 7.5 percent share in the company. In the end, however, they "bargained down" to 6.6 percent of the shares - and the record deal was a fact. Remarkably, SoFlow is already the second company from Flawil to receive such a high amount. A year earlier, Feey also made an investment of 1.2 million landed. SoFlow intends to use the money primarily to invest in its own structure and to expand the team. The company is also aiming for further internationalization in Spain, France, Benelux and the UK.

Good, but not enough well-developed ideas

The lionesses and lions bite at the next candidates: they taste a "Bean Piece", a sweet protein snack made from white beans - and are amazed at how good it tastes to them. However, they find the company valuation of the founders Nadine (27), Sarah (24) and Monika (27) rather hard to digest. The likeable young women want 230,000 Swiss francs and are offering 8 percent company shares in return. Especially the lion Tobias Reichmuth questioned the sales figures: Is an investment of this amount in proportion to the 2000 "bean pieces" sold so far at Fr. 4.80 each? The conclusion of the five lionesses and lions: Likeable product, but unfortunately not yet "shelf-ready", so no deal was made. But this will not stop the three young women from persistently wanting to continue on their way. They have plans to do so.

With the figures, the investors have also been able to "Loopia" Mühe, a circular economy app developed in Zurich to extend the life of products. The idea is an online platform that maps the entire life cycle of a device: At the time of purchase, the warranty period is stored, and any repairs can also be "booked" up to the point of disposal. According to the four founders, various partnerships already exist. "An egg-laying lizard," stated Jürg Schwarzenbach, a lion. 250,000 francs against 5 percent company shares is what the company now wants in order to take off with their app. They are not live yet, but are aiming for 12,000 users in the first phase. 250,000 users would be needed for break-even, which would be 3.8 million francs in sales. But how much time does it take to reach this goal? Bettina Hein sums up the mood among the investors: "You're here a bit too early. In half a year, we could talk again," she said, signaling at least an interest in the solution. The other four lions could not bring themselves to invest either.

Another deal - and many conflicts of interest

However, the lionesses and lions then find pleasure in "Pumphead", a Bernese start-up that upcycles disused bottles with pumps so that they can be used as soap dispensers, for example. The investors are impressed by how 29-year-old founder David Brönnimann wins customers and how little it costs him. Lions Tobias Reichmuth and Bettina Hein propose a deal: 100,000 francs in exchange for 20 percent company shares. David Brönnimann has to swallow a little empty at first, because his pain threshold was 15 percent. But then he relented - after all, he also gets "double the power," as he said.

Last but not least, the St.Gallen-based financial experts from "Kaspar&" for the favor of the lionesses and lions. Sebastian (33), Jan-Philipp (35), Lukas (34) and Lauro (31) have developed a card or account app that allows laypeople to invest by simply rounding up to the next franc when paying. The lionesses and lions are totally enthusiastic. And even the desired investment of 100,000 francs didn't seem like a big hurdle at first. But there was another problem: Four lionesses and lions (Roland Brack, Bettina Hein, Lukas Speiser, Jürg Schwarzenbach) had already invested in similar financial service providers (e.g. Neon, Yapeal). So there would be conflicts of interest. Therefore, they unfortunately had to decline. That left Anja Graf: But she is not interested in financial apps and also declined. The viewer asked himself the question: Is a product that is good in itself too late to stir up a market that is already very crowded? A few years earlier, "Kaspar&" might have been a candidate for a record deal...

Conclusion of the first broadcast of the fourth season: Apart from the record deal, only a few investments were made, which was not due to the good business ideas, but perhaps to the overly ambitious ideas of the young entrepreneurs - or perhaps because they wanted too much too soon? It was certainly instructive for everyone.

More information on upcoming shows: https://www.oneplus.ch/detail/1000604