Camping fun for drivers, low-histamine muesli bars and a cooling gel in the fight against cabbage and quark: Enthusiastic investors and energetic founders give their all once again on the final stretch of the season of “The Lion’s Den”.
After seven grueling, emotionally charged, exciting episodes that constantly oscillate between joy and sorrow, “Die Höhle der Löwen” invites you to the big season finale. Once again, Dagmar Wöhrl, Judith Williams, Georg Kofler, Ralf Dümmel, Nils Glagau, Nico Rosberg and Carsten Maschmeyer want to throw everything into the balance in order to retain future-oriented and promising start-ups in the long term. But not only for the investors, but also and above all for the founders, there is a lot at stake when starting their own pitch.
For two founding teams, the dream of a carefree future is shattered before the big picture even gets rolling. Neither the three wood inventors Leonard Beck, Johanna Dicks and Dennis Albert, who want to “ensure a healthy stand” with the desk attachment they brought with them (“Standsome”), nor the two packaging artists Sascha Wehle and Immanuel Gloeser, who started with a variable carrying system with Velcro straps (“KLETTPACK”), tempt investors to launch a bid offensive. For Carsten Maschmeyer, the look also plays a role: “A cool product that doesn’t really look cool,” the large businessman criticizes the design of the “Standsome” wooden construction. Colleague Georg Kofler is missing that certain something in the pitch of the “KLETTPACK” founders: “The product is somehow not strong enough for an investment,” says the social media expert.
Things are going much better for the other three founding teams on the final evening of the season. The two Mallorca emigrants and camping enthusiasts Alexander Bocks and Jill Vinkmann (“Lazy Camping”) inspire mountaineers and hobby adventurer Georg Kofler in particular with their car roof camping tent, which is very easy to assemble. The investor from Tyrol would like to have his partner Ralf Dümmel with him to help make the decision shortly before the deal was struck. But in the end, the deal goes through without the Regale king from Hamburg giving his nod.
The journey was also worthwhile for the founding duo Melina Neumann and Ana Hansel. The two ladies enchant four lions with their low-histamine muesli bars, spreads and sauces. After an emotionally charged pitch, the investors Ralf Dümmel and Nils Glagau finally prevailed against their rivals Dagmar Wöhrl and Nico Rosberg.
What remains is triple mom and breastfeeding opponent Thea Broszio from Hamburg. The 33-year-old wants to make her “fourth baby” really big and thus help many mothers who suffer from painful breastfeeding side effects to a “cooling and soothing” end of torture. With the self-developed “Mama Cooling Gel”, the founder, who is bursting with energy and zest for action, declares war on all old-fashioned household remedies (cabbage, quark). “I used to walk around the house with cabbage wraps in my bra. There was relief, but the dignity was gone,” explains the “Womatics” boss.
It doesn’t take long before half of the lion pack is on fire. Dagmar Wöhrl, Ralf Dümmel and Judith Williams are very interested in the founder and the product she brought with her. After a short bidder scramble, “wish lioness” Judith Williams jumps out of her chair jubilantly. There it is in a dry towel: the 23rd deal in an eventful format season, in which a whopping 4.7 million euros were invested in the end. This makes you want more and is already creating anticipation. Tinkerers and inventors who are already applying for the next season certainly see it the same way.
(This article was first published on Monday, October 17, 2022.)
