Mobility again high on the agenda for the "lions

Six young companies vied for the favor of investors in the "Höhle der Löwen Schweiz" show on October 25, 2022. Here again is a brief summary of the latest episode of the start-up show, which once again brought a big investment around the topic of "mobility".

A lot of marketing speak at the beginning

Quirin Hasler, Jonas Holzer, Felix Greiner and Nicola Dutoit from Zurich kicked things off. They confidently presented their platform "refluenced" for brands and influencers. The idea behind it: On the online platform, a start-up describes its product. Interested influencers apply to the start-up, which then selects suitable people to do stories and contributions for them. The young company "Knecker" served as a "school example". also already present in the lion's den was allowed to. A total of 30 brands and 300 so-called "brand lovers" are already represented on the platform. In order to quickly increase the number, the four young entrepreneurs named a capital requirement of 200,000 Swiss francs and were prepared to cede 5 percent of the company shares in return. The concept met with interest among the online-savvy lions. Lukas Speiser immediately saw the benefits of this platform, but was not yet ready to invest. A thorn in Patrick Mollet's side was the high company valuation with just 5000 francs in sales in the first year of operation. "Make real sales first," was his clear message. Nevertheless, Roland Brack and Anja Graf each made an offer: he offered 200,000 francs against 10 percent, Anja Graf 200,000 francs against 7 percent of the company. It was she who landed the deal.

Striking a chord with many parents

"OiOi Baby" is a rental service for baby and children's clothes, with which Anna Mucha and Belén Bolliger from Schlieren wanted to convince the five lions to invest. 250,000 Swiss francs against 5 percent company shares was their capital requirement. And this is how the business model of "OiOi Baby" works: Parents sign up for an annual or monthly subscription and are sent a bundle of baby clothes. As soon as the baby grows out, they exchange the old bundle of clothes for a new one. The wear and tear is insured, the brands are sustainable. Care and logistics are taken care of by "OiOiOi Baby." For some viewers as well as for the lionesses and lions, it quickly becomes clear: There is a real customer need behind this. And the sales prospects for internationalization coupled with a broadening of the product range also seemed impressive: the two young entrepreneurs and mothers calculated 350 million Swiss francs. No less than three lionesses and lions then made an offer. But in a different way, namely better than the founders had imagined: Because in fact they were in a first round for seed financing. They wanted to raise 900,000 francs. The 250,000 francs would have been a first tranche. However: Roland Brack, Anja Graf and Jürg Schwarzenbach now offered to take over this seed financing right away: 900,000 francs, but wanted 30 percent company shares in return. In the end, the young entrepreneurs and investors agreed on 900,000 francs in exchange for 27 percent of the company.

Beautiful idea waiting for buyers

Caroline Laffer from Muttenz, the founder of "faible", creates accessory clips for shoes in various designs. A pretty idea that was tried out in detail by lioness Bettina Hein. Roland Brack also didn't miss the opportunity to attach a clip in the shape of a skull to his shoes. However, he struggled somewhat with the pitfalls of the object. So maybe it was a product the world wasn't waiting for after all? And when the lionesses and lions hear how many pieces the founder has sold so far, they are speechless: just 17 pieces in two years. So it quickly became clear that Caroline Laffer would probably remain without a deal. Nevertheless, she received praise for the idea and support in the e-commerce sector. Because what is urgently needed for the success of the product is sales - and much more revenue.

A lion knocks on wood

At "bulls coffee", coffee in wooden capsules, a familiar face appeared alongside founder Ole Bull: Marco Fritsche, presenter of "Bauer, ledig, sucht...". As a convinced coffee drinker, he didn't miss the opportunity to put all his marketing and influencer power on the line for the startup. 300,000 Swiss francs in exchange for a 10 percent stake in the company was the amount of capital the two needed. "bulls coffee" is 100 percent organic and 100 percent biodegradable because it is sold in wooden capsules. The investors are allowed to taste - but three of them never drink coffee. The founder probably didn't expect that, nor did Marco Fritsche. And for coffee drinker Jürg Schwarzenbach, the product tasted good, but not above average. In the end, it was probably not due to the business idea itself that no deal was struck. But "bulls coffee" can at least claim to have made it into the listing of Edeka, a German retail chain. This is certainly something to build on - even without the investment of the Swiss lionesses and lions.

Also about wood was "Swiss Wood Maps" by Simona Liechti and Lukas Liechti from Bern. The start-up produces three-dimensional Swiss landscape maps made of wood. The products, which are intended as gifts or collectors' items, are made by hand and come at a price: between 219 and 619 Swiss francs, depending on the size. But the increase in sales projected by the two founders was also impressive: in 2021, sales of 400,000 Swiss francs were achieved; in 2022, the figure is expected to reach 600,000. So the business seems to be going well. So do we still need an investor to donate 100,000 francs in exchange for a 12 percent stake? Four lionesses and lions drop out. Jürg Schwarzenbach, himself a Bernese, made an offer: 100,000 francs, but against a 15 percent stake. Simona and Lukas Liechti happily accepted. This laid the foundation for scaling the business.

Another investment for mobility

It is well known that motorcycling is a popular hobby. But it also has its pitfalls, especially when the motorcycles gather dust unused in the garage. "Ribe Moto GmbH," a platform for motorcycle renters and leasers, wants to change that. Kris Fiocchi, Kevin Bieler and Tsering Selang from Pfaffhausen (ZH) have therefore developed a kind of "Airbnb" for motorcycles: The start-up wants to bring motorcycle lovers together. So anyone who wants to rent out their motorcycle or rent one can do so online at "Ribe Moto". The service offer also includes comprehensive insurance. The three now need 300,000 Swiss francs for further growth and are prepared to cede 10 percent of the company for this purpose. The figures and the market knowledge of the three motorcycle enthusiasts made the lionesses and lions present sit up and take notice. The only thing that caused some confusion was the fact that "Ribe Moto" initially started with a subscription model and now wants to switch to renting or "do one thing and don't do another". For Lukas Speiser, this was not focused enough; he therefore dropped out of the bidding race. Roland Brack, himself a motorcycle rider, now offered 550,000 Swiss francs against 18 percent with the aim of immediately starting an internationalization of the business for mobility on two wheels. Jürg Schwarzenbach, with "Carvolution" also experienced in the mobility sector, made the offer of 300,000 francs against 12 percent. So the founders were now faced with the question: go full throttle or cruise at a more leisurely pace? They decided on the former. Roland Brack thus made one of his highest individual investments of the previous seasons. And he will probably be happy to count on his experience with "MyCamper". Conclusion: Topics relating to mobility in particular always seem to go down well with the lionesses and lions, as shown by the Million deal of the first show of this season showed.

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