Last week in the season finale at: "The Lion's Den" ....

Follow-up review, 2020-10-19

YUCONA-Your connection to nature

"I haven't heard that before either, how a character can make a company worth so much more, so monetarily as well"

First to take the stage are Richard and Inga from Berlin. The cousin and her cousin founded the startup Yucona together last year. They make reusable water filter cartridges to filter tap water. Richard explains how he came up with the idea: "His wife and he decided to drink only tap water a few years ago, but after moving house they found out how bad the water was at their new place of residence. The water was much more chalky and the taste also left a lot to be desired. So they had to get a drinking water filter.

The problem: Every 4 weeks the respective filter cartridge has to be replaced and ends up in the residual waste, that's 24 cartridges within 2 years, that makes half a kilo of plastic per household. A fact Richard didn't want to live with any longer, so he 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 canisters 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 of 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. MSRP is €39.99 for the starter kit and €29.99 for the refill kit, with manufacturing costs of €5.30 and €4.60 respectively.

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

With this offer, however, the investors are not astonished, they consider the company valuation far exaggerated and it hails proper criticism. Richard defends himself and speaks of planned sales for the coming year of 2 million euros. He mentions the character of the team as a USP. Carsten Maschmeyer is amused by this, he doesn't quite understand how character can make a company worth so much more in monetary terms. The negotiations begin. One by one the lions drop out, also because the start-up still lacks German certificates for its product. Only Ralf Dümmel keeps a low profile, but in the end rolled up the field from behind.

The investor's story begins with Wassermax, in which he invested years ago and successfully scaled the product. He has high praise for them, "They've developed something that is absolutely killer. I'm just the right lion.". Cousin Inga is already stifling the first tears. But there is also criticism from Dümmel regarding the company evaluation. He does something completely unusual, he asks the two to discuss and come back with a new offer. No sooner said than done, the duo offers 45% for 250,000, and they 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.

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

More info is available at: /organization/yucona/

Aho Bio

The next team has quite a journey behind them. Literally: The two founders Jannis and Alex traveled after their high school graduation for 3 years together the world from Latin America to the U.S., Canada, India and Nepal they have seen so much. But they were particularly taken with a small volcanic island in the middle of a southern lake in Latin America. They spent two years there working on an organic plantation. And this is where their unusual startup idea for Aho came from.

While the two worked on the plantation, Jannis studied philosophy via distance learning. In a text thousands of years old, he found a recipe for sun-dried flatbread made from cereal sprouts. Of course, the two explorers had to try it out right away. For days they soaked grain until it became sprouts, formed a dough and dried it into bread in the sun. They developed their very own recipe in the process.

Back in Germany, it was clear they wanted to make a local superfood out of it. With original spelt, linseed and sunflower seeds they created a sprout mash 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 chips, according to the founders. The Aho crackers are produced in a small factory in the middle of nature in Germany. To expand their startup, Jannis and Alex need: 75,000€ for 15% of the company shares

.

There's a taste for the lions. Somewhat critically they eye the natural crackers and try the three varieties: Natural, Curry and Raw Pizza

But despite different tastes, the lions agree: the product is too dry for them, does not taste good.

Everyone is very impressed with the origin story but ultimately no one wants to market a product that they themselves don't like. 5 investors drop out. The two founders are a bit surprised, but they are still convinced of their product. Tastes are now times as well known very different.

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

Nui Cosmetics

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

The next founder to enter the cave has a clear goal: she desperately wants a deal, come what may. Confidently, Swantje presents her natural cosmetics startup, Nui. Her goal is to create a natural cosmetics brand that is free of animal products and additives while still moving away from the eco-scheme. She consciously wants to create a brand that is stylish yet defensible. Nui, the name, means great in Maori. And according to Swantje, "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 for that, 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. Quite the opposite shows HSE24 icon Judith Williams. From the beginning 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 insane power behind her and her team. She makes a tough counter offer: 40% for 250,000.

This sits but Swantje agrees, she knows Judith Williams has the expertise and can make something great out of Nui. She is the investor she wanted. And the first results are impressive, the perfumery chain Douglas has already included Nui in its range.

Twentyless

"I'm not a business student, I'm just a fun 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. At school they have been studying the topic of sustainability and now they want to rid the household of plastic. Together, the family tries out a few things: Water from the tap or reusable bottles, bamboo toothbrushes, etc. But there is one thing they can't find a solution for: cleaning products. And so the idea for twentyless is born. A household needs about 20 bottles of detergent per year. This results in mountains of plastic. But not with twentyless. The product comes as a concentrate in a glass bottle and in the starter set with a cleaning spray bottle. Fill a little of the concentrate, add water and you're done. The cleaning can start. The products of twentyless are offered as all-purpose cleaner, sanitary cleaner and glass cleaner and the best: everything is free of chemical agents.

The lions are excited and skeptical in equal measure. How can a family man develop such a formula. Eike Meier clarifies, he works in a company that produces cleaning products and has commissioned this with the formula, in return, the company received 10% of the company shares as a silent partnership. So the product stands, but for further investment and good scaling Eike needs 70,000 and is willing to give 15%

to a lion.

Before everyone gets a picture, however, the cave is busy cleaning, all of twentyless' products are demonstrated and tested and they work flawlessly.

Still, it hails criticism:

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

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

Who would like to experience gladly more looks past under: /organization/twentyless/

Hyconnect

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

With these words Lars Molter comes on stage. The trained shipbuilder, who has been working in research and development for the German shipbuilding industry for 10 years, has spent 2 years with his colleagues researching a topic that could change the world. And that is what he would now like to present.

First of all, he explains, every vehicle consumes energy and fuel that damages the environment. 25% of global Co2 emissions come from transport. The biggest problem: the heavy weight of the means of transport, because with more weight comes more emission. The industry is increasingly relying on lightweight materials to reduce weight, but steel will never be dispensed with, Molter said.

That's why he and his team have developed a fabric that combines steel and plastic; metal threads and glass fiber threads are woven together like a scarf. The result a lightweight fastener that can be welded. And with it, he moves into a market worth billions. After all, 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.

For more on hyconnect, go to: /organization/hyconnect-gmbh/.

The lions are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Carsten Maschmeyer and Nico Rosberg retire directly for consultation.

Judith Williams asks: "How do they know that their product lasts?" The founder has an explanation ready straight away; they've been doing tensile tests on the fastener for a year. However, he also notes that numerous additional licenses and certificates are needed, especially in the shipbuilding industry, in order to successfully launch production and sales. For this he wants 500,000€ for 12.5% of the company shares

, from the lions.

The consultations of Carsten Maschmeyer and Nico Rosberg come to an end, the two make an offer: they want to pay the deal in installments 250,000 now, 250,000 when the license is there, for that they want 24.9%.

But the founder stands firm, sticks to his offer. He explains that if they give away such a large portion of the company now, there won't be enough for another round of investment in a few years. He is willing to give up a maximum of 15%. 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 saying, "You were the toughest negotiator so far in the lion's den."

With this, the last deal is closed and we can now look forward to various novelties. But now we have to wait a bit for more exciting negotiations until the next season. Until then, feel free to visit us and we will keep you up to date with daily startup news.