When lions wear high heels

Jonas, Äxel and Remo from Zurich were the first to launch The Tours, a motorcycle tour app. With a 360-degree matchmaker function, they want to make every ride the perfect experience. The app combines planning, communication between tour participants and navigation on one platform. The Tours also provides information about the level of difficulty of the tour, attractions and catering options en route. What's more, thanks to AI, every user has a personal motorcycle experience agent at their disposal. For further company and product development, the founders need 200,000 Swiss francs in exchange for 10 percent of the company shares. But the lions wanted to know even more: How does the app differentiate itself from others already on the market? How is it financed? With 5,000 active users and 7,000 francs in revenue in 2024, the three founders still see themselves as very small (in comparison: other apps have up to one million downloads...). Lion Felix Bertram was the first to say goodbye. For him, the app wants too much at once, and he particularly criticized the fact that word-of-mouth advertising doesn't seem to work. "You can't achieve reach with money alone," he concluded. Roland Brack criticized the fact that the app is supposed to work with AI on the one hand, but on the other hand each tour is still recorded manually. Lukas Speiser saw the greatest difficulty in trying to turn a few users into many in a short space of time. For Nicole Büttner-Thiel, there were also more questions - monetization, technological roadmap - than answers, and she was out. Tom Zimmermann missed the decisive unique selling point and also decided not to invest. For better or worse, the three founders had to say goodbye without a deal - but will certainly continue with their app. Perhaps the "niche player" strategy is not so wrong after all.

"Go fit" without sugar

Can jam be healthy? "If so, then it really must be much healthier than normal jam," was Felix Bertram's opening statement. Dani and Anita from Tasty spready in Zurich have exactly this claim: they presented a healthy jam alternative with their "Gofitüre". It comes in a squeeze bag, includes four varieties so far and contains no sugar - probably the unhealthiest part of a breakfast. But as Anita also knows: "In the end, taste is more important than any health promise." And the two are not primarily concerned with money: although they have just successfully completed a financing round and are ready for growth, they want to support this with coaching, an advisory board and a network. This is why their capital requirement of 1 franc for 1 percent of the company shares was primarily symbolic. The tasting round was well received by the lions and the lioness. They appreciated the taste and a good balance between acidity and sweetness. Gofitüre" is available in the company's own webshop, at Galaxus.ch or in individual organic food stores. The listing with retailers is still under construction. Sales of 25,000 francs were achieved in 2024. And what about the lionesses' and lions' willingness to invest? Felix Bertram, Lukas Speiser, Nicole Büttner-Thiel and Tom Zimmermann praised the two for their commitment, but decided against investing. That left Roland Brack: he asked about the exact company structure. Dani explained that "Gofitüre" was just the beginning of an actual "Go fit" movement. This potential seemed to convince Roland Brack and he was prepared to get on board for this symbolic franc - knowing that the food market is not an easy one. But this did not dampen the enthusiasm of the two founders.

Velvet paws - hard landing

Martin and Fiorella from Minusio (TI) are behind Cheetah stories. Their product: what they claim to be the first vegan high heels that are comfortable yet stylish. The two founders were inspired by leopard paws, hence the company name "Cheetah". And the shoes are also called "Chee-lettos". The founders want to solve several problems with their products: Dispensing with the problematic raw material leather and the fact that most high heels are designed by men. The result: a shoe that does not show its comfortable properties and is made entirely from vegan materials. For the go-to-market, the two wanted an investment of 150,000 Swiss francs in exchange for 10 percent of the company shares. Then it was time to try it out: While Nicole Büttner-Thiel was unable to find a suitable size, Anja Graf proved to be an expert in high heels. She attested that the shoes were very comfortable to wear, but hardly any different from her Jimmy Choo model, as she said. Roland Brack also took the opportunity to try on a pair of these shoes as a man - and he was even able to walk reasonably elegantly in them. However, the price of 880 Swiss francs caused a frown, but seemed justified in view of the manufacturing quality, the materials and the ergonomic features. Tom Zimmermann nevertheless advised reducing the production costs and decided not to invest. Nicole Büttner-Thiel also praised the project highly, but also did not want to invest. Felix Bertram thought that the two founders were trying to cover too many topics - luxury, convenience, veganism - and would perhaps be better off concentrating on a single USP. He did not make himself available as an investor either. When it came to luxury, Martin and Fiorella also had to listen to criticism from Anja Graf: She was bothered by too many seams and other individual details that made the shoe appear anything but luxurious. And: "I've never worn a luxury shoe that wasn't comfortable". Accordingly, her vote: "I'm out as an investor." Roland Brack thanked her for the unique experience of being able to try on high heels himself, but also declined to invest. Despite the good concept, which focuses on sustainability, and a lot of enthusiasm, it was not enough for a deal.

Reading becomes easier

Renato from Chur promised nothing less than a revolution: Bionic Reading is designed to make reading faster and more efficient. The method uses the brain's ability to deduce and understand the meaning and content of a text from word fragments alone. There is a lot of excitement about it on social media, especially among many people with congenital reading difficulties. But is it possible to make a business out of bionic reading? Renato offered 200,000 francs in exchange for 5 percent of the company shares as capital requirements. However, some of the lionesses and lions strongly doubted the business opportunities. Even though Renato was able to report a successful license agreement with one of the world's largest international publishing houses, he had to admit that Bionic Reading is not protected by a patent. And even the existing customer base - Bionic Reading is available as a subscription or as a plug-in for word processing systems - of around 4,000 users was not yet able to lure the investors out of their shell. Felix Bertram was the first to forego an investment because he did not see any earning potential despite a lot of marketing. Nicole Büttner-Thiel also had her doubts and was also soon out. Lukas Speiser saw too big a gap between the high level of attention on social media and the modest turnover to date and also did not make an offer. That left Tom Zimmermann and Roland Brack: Tom Zimmermann believed in the project and offered 200,000 francs, but in return for 10 percent of the company shares or 7.5 percent if turnover in the next financial year reached over 5 million, as projected by Renato. Roland Brack also made an offer: 200,000 francs in return for 12 percent with an option for 10 percent if the sales target of 3 million was reached. Renato had to think about it a little at first, but then accepted Tom Zimmermann's offer. The first "real" deal of the evening was thus perfect.

Good idea - many unanswered questions

Endre, Elnaz and Matthijs want to take off with their Doc-market platform, a marketplace for medical devices. According to the three entrepreneurs, around 65,000 used but still fully functional devices worth 150 million francs are for sale on their platform. A laudable idea, because in many countries there is a great need for such devices, which usually cost a lot of money. And it is also sustainable to reuse disused appliances elsewhere. So far so good, nothing should really stand in the way of an investment of 1 million Swiss francs in return for an 8 percent stake in the company. But the lions still had a few questions, and the answers to them were particularly tough: no existing marketing strategy (word of mouth, some Google Ads) and a glaring discrepancy between the aforementioned offer and the turnover generated from it of just 1.2 million francs. And last but not least, the company valuation, which - a common mistake with young companies - is based more on expectation than substance. So it came as it had to: the three gentlemen had to go home without a deal. This was unfortunate, as Felix Bertram would have been a great opportunity to bring a medical professional on board. But he was actually the first to leave the bidding war. "There's nothing right at the front and back," was his devastating conclusion.

Continue to believe in the ideas

A great deal of enthusiasm, innovative spirit and personal commitment were evident in this program. And all the business cases presented here are certainly marketable to some extent. However, the greatest entertainment value was once again provided by the naivety with which some entrepreneurs venture into the harsh business world - but this can also be a recipe for success.

Stream the program here: https://www.oneplus.ch/catalog/1000604