Heavy fare and headwinds in the lions' den

Have you also considered investing your money in an alternative way? If yes, then "Splint Invest" would probably be an issue. "Splint Invest" is an app that allows anyone and everyone to invest in luxury items or collectibles, such as watches, exclusive wines or limited edition whiskey bottles. The minimum investment is 50 francs, and the investment period is three to twelve years. If a customer sells an object profitably, the founders also profit from it, who earn low salaries from it. The three founders of the company Mario von Bergen, Robin Muster and Aurelio Perucca from Zug see in their app an alternative to conventional investments, where currently the returns are rather small. Alternative investments in things that retain their value, such as exclusive luxury goods, should no longer be the exclusive preserve of the rich, according to the idea. Yields of 10 to 12 percent should be possible. With a capital requirement of 200,000 francs against 2 percent company shares, the three entered the race. Then followed, as usual, the critical questions from the lionesses and lions, for example about the management and storage of these assets. And the number of customers and assets naturally also interested the potential investors. The only thing was: the app had only been live for six months when the show was recorded, but at least there had already been 4000 downloads. About 250 users have invested a total of 250,000 francs, and in the subsequent quarter the invested assets are expected to grow to 2 million, according to forecasts. Even though Mario, Robin and Aurelio had comprehensible answers to all questions, the lions remained reserved. Roland Brack was the first to drop out. Lukas Speiser found the idea exciting, but Anja Graf would set up the business model differently: Better to buy the luxury goods herself. She then dropped out of the bidding race. Lukas Speiser, Jürg Schwarzenbach and Patrick Mollet discussed the matter in threes, but found the valuation of 10 million too high. However, they agreed to a "kick-start" of 500,000 Swiss francs against 7.5 percent. This was immediately followed by a counter-offer from the company's founders: 500,000 against 6 percent. Lukas Speiser, however, insisted on the 7.5 percent. After a short hesitation, Mario, Robin and Aurelio joined in after all. Once again, it became clear that interesting financial investment solutions are well received in the lion's den. Roland Brack is known to have invested in several such financial startups, including "Findependent" from last season. This was also briefly reported on in the current broadcast, including the fact that Lukas Speiser was also subsequently appointed to the board of directors.

Vegan chocolate as too heavy food for investments

CAROPHA - chocolate that is not chocolate. With this, Philipp Kern, Rebecca Reichertz and Nora Zejnullahu-Maliqi from Rorschach (SG) went into the lions' den. The product they presented does look like chocolate and tastes the same - to the amazement of the lions; "fascinating," said Tobias Reichmuth, for example. A bar of Caropha is made from the fruit of the carob tree and is vegan. It contains neither allergens nor caffeine, theobromine, granulated sugar or cholesterol. For 40 years, the recipe had been stored in the drawer of Philipp Kern, a trained baker-confectioner, as he recounted. Ten percent of company shares offered the three against an investment of the lionesses and lions - without naming a sum at first. 400,000 francs was then still delivered as information. "That's a house number," Bettina Hein stated whimsically. Jürg Schwarzenbach then asked about the further plans. At present, they have a capacity of 300 bars per day, production costs 7.30 francs, and they are sold at a price of 11.50 francs in the online store, according to Philipp Kern. With the investment of 400,000 francs, they want to afford a production plant for an output of 800,000 bars per year. Tobias Reichmuth raised the question of whether it would not be possible to work with existing chocolatiers with Caropha. According to Philipp Kern, they were indeed interested. But Tobias Reichmuth probed a little further and wanted to know how the high company valuation of 4 million could be justified. Bettina Hein, in particular, was not convinced by the answer: too high for what had already been achieved and too strongly based on forecasts. She therefore decided not to invest. Jürg Schwarzenbach also dropped out because he felt that the company had not progressed far enough. Roland Brack's problem was his lack of knowledge of the food industry, so he also dropped out. Lukas Speiser would like to buy the product, but also found the company valuation too high. That left Tobias Reichmuth, who is always interested in sustainable products. He was not ready for an investment either, but offered to support the strategic development of the company. Once again, it became clear that a good product can win the hearts of the lionesses and lions, but if the company structure behind it is not (yet) quite right, positive feedback is then simply the only thing that remains as an "investment". In any case, Philipp Kern and his two comrades-in-arms were not disappointed by the verdict.

Product with good approaches, but still too little thought through to the end

VE COOK! - behind this name stand vegan cooking kits presented by Niklas Bubori and Adriana Bubori from Oberengstringen (ZH). What it's all about: to make vegan cooking easier, the start-up has developed these kits for various dishes, consisting of the right meat substitutes, suitable spices and step-by-step instructions for preparation. Without flavor enhancers, exclusively with natural ingredients. Would actually be quite in the sense of the avowed vegan Tobias Reichmuth, who - as he told - also likes to cook himself. He would have to invest 200,000 francs against 10 percent, at least that was the offer from the two young entrepreneurs. But first it was all about tasting, and the lionesses and lions were given a taste of Bolognese sauce (with soy granules) and "Chili sans Carne" (with pea and bean granules as a meat substitute). Everyone seemed to like it. However: various fresh ingredients had to be added extra for the dishes served. This was a circumstance that especially Lukas Speiser was a bit bothered about. But then, as always, it was also a matter of key figures: The product is available in stores at a price of 5.20 francs. It is produced in Germany, which immediately prompted Tobias Reichmuth to ask: Why is the much smaller Swiss market being targeted? Without waiting for the answer, Jürg Schwarzenbach gave his verdict: "That's not for me. Bettina Hein found the product exciting, but did not see herself as an investor either. Tobias Reichmuth's interest as an investor would only have been there if Ve Cook! would concentrate on the larger German market and therefore dropped out. Lukas Speiser considered the market potential to be too low and missed a clear USP. He also did not want to invest. Finally, Roland Brack offered his cooperation, but an investment was out of the question for him as well. Thus, the two young entrepreneurs also had to leave the studio without a deal.

Sympathetic idea finds favor

Storylino, represented by Jonas Trachsel and Stefan Christiani, offers personalized audio stories for children aged 3-9. After entering a few keywords, an individual story is then put together from pre-recorded story fragments - similar to what happens today with train station announcements. As their "biggest fan", they brought along seven-year-old Nevio for their pitch, who was immediately allowed to demonstrate how it works. The idea already seems to be popular with other children - but the company is still in its infancy. But the two young entrepreneurs are operating in a growth market: the market for audio stories is growing by 15 percent a year, they explained to the round of investors. And personalization is a megatrend. They are now looking for a mentor to help them build up the company. 1 franc for a 4 percent share, but coupled with a right of first refusal for a further 8 percent of the company for 120,000 francs - that was the innovative offer of the two entrepreneurs. In further remarks, Jonas and Christian revealed that they would like to focus primarily on the German market (identifiable by the storyline.de website alone), while also considering the Swiss market to be covered. Engaged are at present different authors, authors and speakers, who are honored in each case with a percentage per sold story. Shorter stories cost 6 euros, longer ones 8 euros. In two years, the founders want to achieve sales of 1.7 million. Jürg Schwarzenbach found the idea fascinating and was enthusiastic. Lukas Speiser was the first to offer this one franc for 4 percent and to contribute his marketing and branding know-how. Roland Brack also joined in, while Anja Graf and Patrick Mollet dropped out. Now we can look forward to seeing how Storylino continues to develop.

Too much headwind for wind-solar small power plants

The founder of NewGreenTec, Frido Stutz from Dübendorf, has developed small wind-solar power plants that can be placed on the roof or in the garden and produce at least half of the annual electricity needs of a household. The devices make no noise and have all the necessary technology (control, inverter, storage) integrated. Frido Stutz and his team wanted 300,000 Swiss francs in exchange for a 15 percent share in the company as a deal. Twelve products have been sold in the meantime, it was further learned. But the potential is great, because there are about 1.7 million roofs in Switzerland on which this device could be placed. The devices are available in two versions at 9000 or 15000 francs. About 3500 kW/h can be generated. Anja Graf thought this was not economical enough. And whether the devices could be set up without permission, she asked. That depends on the building authorities, so the answer of Frido Stutz. One moves there somewhat in a gray area. "What is not explicitly permitted is prohibited," countered Roland Brack. The unclear regulatory background also prompted Lukas Speiser not to become an investor. Anja Graf also saw too many uncertainties and dropped out. Roland Brack, although a proponent of sustainable technologies, also did not participate. Jürg Schwarzenbach also did not offer a deal. That left Patrick Mollet: but he too dropped out. So there was a bit of a headwind in the lions' den.

Once again heavy fare, but this time with a happy ending

Aathavan Chiwacumar and Sarankan Ravendran from Villmergen (AG) entered the race with Memoria, software solutions for the paperless office. 200,000 Swiss francs against a 2.5 percent stake in the company was the capital requirement. It turned out: The product is complex and offers a lot of functions. The presentation of the product was more confusing than clarifying. Only technology entrepreneur Bettina Hein understood what the two founders were actually offering. Three out of five investors did not push the right buttons. Even when asked repeatedly about subscription models, pricing and individual modules, the answers were not satisfactory enough, and the founders had to cope with rejections. Bettina Hein waited the longest with her verdict: As a person who has been doing business with software solutions all her life, she kept her perspective. She made an offer of 200,000 Swiss francs in exchange for a 10 percent stake. Aathavan Chiwacumar and Sarankan Ravendran accepted this offer. Software-as-a-Service is not a very simple matter, to put it plainly. That's probably why it was all the nicer for them to have found the right investor after all, who is now supporting them in making the solution even more marketable.

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