Vly secures 1.5-million-euro deal in start-up program

The company received the money in the form of a TV advertising budget. The start-up produces an alternative to milk.

Berlin-based food start-up Vly has landed new investment in the Austrian program "2 Minuten 2 Millionen". In the German format "Die Höhle der Löwen" it had not worked out with the investment for Vly: The deal had failed then, in 2020, apparently because of the company valuation. In the case of the Austrians, founders Nicolas Hartmann and Niklas Katter were now able to convince Seven Ventures investor Daniel Zech. Vly sells a milk alternative made from peas.

According to the website Incubator Zech provided 1.5 million euros in TV advertising budget from Seven Ventures - and received two percent of the shares. He had initially offered one million euros for 2.5 percent of the shares, but the rest of the jury had dropped out. The founders had still asked for 500,000 euros for 2.5 percent at the time of entry. Now they want to conquer the Austrian market.

The three founders Moritz Braunwarth, Hartmann and Katter had founded Vly in 2018. The startup develops and conducts research in its own laboratory in Berlin. According to the company, its milk alternatives can already be bought in more than 8000 supermarkets in Germany. "Instead of always dedicating ourselves to new products, we also continue to research existing versions and try to adapt them to the latest science," Hartmann says.