SpiceNerds is broke

The food start-up opened insolvency proceedings after over-indebtedness of more than one million euros was already on the books at the end of 2020.

The start-up SpiceNerds is insolvent. Founded in 2018, the organic dressing company opened insolvency proceedings at the beginning of June, according to an entry in the Federal Gazette. According to the entry, the Berlin-based start-up was already overindebted by around EUR 1.15 million at the end of the 2020 financial year.

Since April 2019, SpiceNerds had been selling its jars of dressing made from organic ingredients for salads and vegetable dishes in the Familia and Combi supermarket chains and via its own online store. According to the 2020 annual financial statements, SpiceNerds generated a turnover of around EUR 68,000, but the bottom line was a loss of almost EUR 600,000. A year and a half later, the dressing specialists have now drawn the line. Also German startups also reported on the insolvency.

For a long time, all signs pointed to success: a media-for-equity deal with Prosiebensat.1 was apparently to be concluded in 2019. According to media reports, the deal was worth 1.5 million euros. SpiceNerds could have used the budget to place TV ads and Prosiebensat.1 would have received shares in return. However, the deal was never broadcast, as Prosiebensat.1 told Startbase.

Founder Thomas Kuhmann is an experienced management consultant, CEO Daniel Kähler was head of marketing for McDonald's Germany and ran a Kochhaus branch. SpiceNerds was founded with the aim of "bringing variety to the product range", as Kähler told the branded goods magazine said. Because the conventional variations of salad dressings are often not very imaginative. The start-up has also "developed a completely new product category" with its vegetable sauces.