Last week in the season finale of: "Die Höhle der Löwen" ....

Follow-up review from 19.10.2020

YUCONA-Your connection to nature

"I've never heard how a character can make a company worth so much more, including in monetary terms"

Richard and Inga from Berlin are the first to take the stage. The cousin and her cousin founded the start-up Yucona together last year. They produce reusable water filter cartridges for filtering tap water. Richard explains how he came up with the idea: a few years ago, his wife and he decided to only drink tap water, but after moving house they discovered how bad the water was in their new home. The water was much more calcareous and the taste also left a lot to be desired. So they had to get a drinking water filter.

The problem: the filter cartridge has to be replaced every 4 weeks and ends up in the residual waste, that's 24 cartridges within 2 years, which is half a kilo of plastic per household. A fact that Richard did not want to continue living with, so the trained controller founded yucona- your connection to nature. To do something good for nature. With a reusable filter cartridge, in which the sustainable filter medium can be replaced regularly, you save 96% of the cartridges' waste. And that's not all: the filter cartridges are compatible with all competitor filter jugs and can be conveniently used anywhere. Last but not least: the team also focuses on sustainability when it comes to packaging and sells the cartridges in a bag made from corn paper and recycled kraft paper.

So far, they have sold 400 starter kits (cartridge + refill bag) in their first 8 weeks on the market. The RRP is €39.99 for the starter kit and €29.99 for the refill kit, with production costs of €5.30 and €4.60 respectively.

The two want €250,000 from the lions for 20% of the company shares.

However, the investors are astonished by this offer, they consider the company valuation to be far too high and criticism rains down. Richard defends himself and talks about planned sales of €2 million for the coming year. He mentions the character of the team as the USP. Carsten Maschmeyer is highly amused by this, he doesn't quite understand how character can make a company worth so much more in monetary terms and the negotiations begin. One by one, the lions drop out, partly because the start-up still lacks German certificates for its product. Only Ralf Dümmel keeps a low profile, but ends up rolling up the field from behind.

The investor's story begins with Wassermax, in which he invested years ago and successfully scaled the product. He praises them highly: "They have developed something that is absolutely amazing. I'm just the right lion.". Cousin Inga is already stifling her first tears. But Dümmel also criticizes the company valuation. He does something completely out of the ordinary: he asks the two of them to talk it over and come back with a new offer. No sooner said than done, the duo offer 45% for 250,000 and are determined to have Ralf Dümmel on board. He agrees, but only takes 35% and asks Richard to transfer the remaining 10% to his cousin, who previously only held 5% of the company shares.

An incredibly generous move and an example of a great partnership. The two are overjoyed and hug Ralf Dümmel from afar. The first successful deal is done!

You can find more information at: /organization/yucona/

Aho Bio

The next team has quite a journey behind them. Literally: the two founders Jannis and Alex traveled the world together for 3 years after graduating from high school, from Latin America to the USA, Canada, India and Nepal. However, they were particularly taken with a small volcanic island in the middle of a south-water lake in Latin America. The two spent two years there, working on an organic plantation. And this is where their unusual start-up idea for Aho came from.

While the two were working on the plantation, Jannis studied philosophy by distance learning. In a millennia-old text, he found a recipe for sun-dried flatbread made from grain sprouts. Of course, the two explorers had to try it out straight away. They soaked grain for days until it turned into sprouts, formed a dough and dried it into bread in the sun. They developed their very own recipe.

Back in Germany, they knew they wanted to use it to make a local superfood. Using original spelt, linseed and sunflower seeds, they created a sprout porridge from which their crackers were later made.

The result: 100% organic, vegan crackers that are high in protein, vitamins, minerals and omega-3 fatty acids. The ideal alternative to bread and potato chips, according to the founders. The Aho crackers are produced in a small factory in the middle of nature in Germany. To expand their start-up, Jannis and Alex need €75,000 for 15% of the company shares.

There's a taste for the lions. They eye the natural crackers somewhat critically and try the three varieties: Natural, Curry and Raw Pizza But despite their different tastes, the lions are unanimous: the product is too dry for them, it doesn't taste good.

They are all very impressed by the story behind it, but ultimately no one wants to market a product that they themselves don't like. 5 investors drop out. The two founders are a little surprised, but they are still convinced of their product. As we all know, tastes are very different.

If you would like to find out more, take a look at: /organization/aho-bio/

Nui Cosmetics

"I won't take no for an answer, I want a deal. I'm not leaving here before that!"

The next founder to enter the cave has a clear goal: she wants a deal, come what may. Swantje confidently presents her natural cosmetics startup Nui. Her aim is to create a natural cosmetics brand that is free from animal products and additives, but still moves away from the eco-natural scheme. She wants to consciously create a brand that is stylish and yet sustainable. Nui, the name, means great in Maori. And Swantje says: "I want women to feel great with natural cosmetics." For her, Nui is much more than a product, it is a brand, a feeling, her life.

And that's why the Berliner wants €250,000 for 20% of her company shares.

The lions are critical, Nils Glagau and Dr. Kofler lack innovation in the product and Ralf Dümmel also decides against it. HSE24 icon Judith Williams is quite the opposite. Right from the start, she asks critical questions, but then admits herself: "When I hear lipstick, my heart beats faster."

And so the negotiations begin. Judith Williams is convinced of the product, but also knows what she can offer Swantje and the incredible power behind her and her team. She makes a tough counter-offer: 40% for 250,000.

Swantje agrees, she knows Judith Williams has the expertise and can turn Nui into something really big. She is the investor she wanted. And the initial results are impressive: the Douglas perfumery chain has already added Nui to its range.

Twentyless

"I'm not a business student, I'm just a funny family man who has now come up with something"

The story of twentyless begins with these words. Founder Eike Meier has two school-age children who come home from school one day and turn the entire household upside down. They have been learning about sustainability at school and now want to rid the household of plastic. The family tries out a few things together: Water from the tap or reusable bottles, bamboo toothbrushes, etc. But there's one thing they can't find a solution for: cleaning products. And so the idea for twentyless is born. A household needs around 20 bottles of cleaning products in a year. This adds up to mountains of plastic. But not with twentyless. The detergent comes as a concentrate in a glass bottle and the starter set also includes a cleaning spray bottle. Fill up a little of the concentrate, add water and you're ready to go. The cleaning can begin. The products from twentyless are available as all-purpose cleaners, sanitary cleaners and glass cleaners and the best thing is: everything is free from chemicals.

The lions are both enthusiastic and skeptical. How can a family man develop such a formula? Eike Meier explains that he works for a company that manufactures cleaning agents and has commissioned it with the formula, in return for which the company receives 10% of the company shares as a silent partnership. So the product is ready, but Eike needs 70,000 for further investments and good scaling and is willing to give 15% to a lion.

Before everyone gets a picture, however, there is a lot of cleaning in the cave, all twentyless products are demonstrated and tested and they work perfectly.

Nevertheless, there is criticism:

Dr. Kofler points out the strong competition, Nico Rosberg criticizes the packaging and sees no USP, Dagmar Wöhrl sees the product more in the B2B sector.

But then Ralf Dümmel intervenes, he is convinced and wants to bring twentyless to all drugstore chains. He also notices the lack of protectability of the product and says they have to be very quick to secure a first mover advantage. And the deal goes very quickly. 70,000 for 25% of the company shares and Ralf Dümmel is on board.

If you would like to find out more, take a look at: /organization/twentyless/

Hyconnect

"I'm bringing you a complicated topic today, but it's worth paying attention, because we want to change the world"

Lars Molter takes to the stage with these words. The trained shipbuilder, who has been working in research and development for German shipbuilding for 10 years, has spent two years researching a topic with his colleagues that could change the world. And he would now like to present it.

First of all, he explains, every vehicle consumes energy and fuel that damages the environment. 25% of global Co2 emissions are caused by transportation. The biggest problem: the heavy weight of the means of transportation, because more weight means more emissions. The industry is increasingly relying on lightweight materials to reduce weight, but it will never be possible to do without steel, says Molter.

That is why he and his team have developed a material that combines steel and plastic, weaving metal threads and glass fiber threads together like a scarf. The result is a lightweight connecting element that can be welded. And so he is moving into a market worth billions. Structural bonding in the transportation industry has an annual turnover of 1.6 billion dollars in Europe alone. And it is precisely this structural bonding that Lars wants to make more sustainable and replace with hyconnect.

You can find out more about hyconnect at: /organization/hyconnect-gmbh/

The lions are thrilled. Carsten Maschmeyer and Nico Rosberg go straight back to consulting.

Judith Williams follows up: "How do you know that your product will last?" The founder has an immediate explanation: they have been conducting tensile tests with the connecting element for a year. However, he also notes that numerous additional licenses and certificates are needed, especially in shipbuilding, to get production and sales rolling successfully. For this, he wants €500,000 for 12.5% of the company shares from the lions.

The discussions between Carsten Maschmeyer and Nico Rosberg come to an end and the two make an offer: they want to pay the deal in installments - 250,000 now, 250,000 when the license is in place, for which they want 24.9%.

But the founder remains firm and sticks to his offer. He explains that if they give up such a large part of the company now, there won't be enough for another investment round in a few years. He is prepared to give up a maximum of 15%. The negotiations continue. But in the end there is a deal 17.5% for 500,000 from the two lions Maschmeyer and Rosberg. Everyone is happy. Mr. Maschmeyer congratulates the founder with the words: "You were the toughest negotiator so far in the Lion's Den."

This concludes the last deal and we can now look forward to various new products. But we'll have to wait a little longer for more exciting negotiations until the next season. Until then, we'll be happy to keep you up to date with our daily startup news.