DHDL deal with Georg Kofler falls through for this start-up

The lion concluded a deal with the Berlin start-up during the show. No deal was concluded after the show.

The deal from the show "Die Höhle der Löwen" between investor Georg Kofler and The Makery fell through. The lion wanted to give the founders 250,000 euros. After long negotiations, he would have received 21 percent of the company shares. However, both sides were already visibly dissatisfied with the result during the show.

The Makery sells workshops via its platform. For example, you can currently book the courses "Become a DJ in Marzahn" for 99 euros or "Kitchen Cosmetics - Online" for 29 euros. The Berlin-based start-up earns a commission from the more than 500 courses it offers. The Makery was founded in 2017.

Founder Jasper Kolb offered 15 percent of the company shares for 250,000 euros. Although the lions praised the start-up, only Kofler was interested. He haggled for every percent, and in the end he got 21 percent. However, none of the participants seemed really happy during the show. No contract was signed after the show. "Despite the enormous impact on the event sector, Jasper [Kolb] reacted calmly, consistently and flexibly by adapting his business model to the situation," Kofler told Gründerszene after the show. "Unfortunately, this necessary deviation from the original investment idea also brought our journey together to an end."

Due to the pandemic, The Makery switched to online courses and many in-person courses had to be canceled. "After several rounds of talks in the following weeks, we came to the conclusion that we weren't ideal for each other," Kolb tells Gründerszene. "And since we had to turn around and adapt our entire business model at the time, we wanted to focus solely on the operational business." The business has recovered. The Makery is now working on its first round of financing.