A year ago, Christian Keller, founder of my SCHOKO WORLD, ventured into the Lion's Den to secure an investment and further advance his company. At the time, the judges called him the "best founder" they had ever seen on the show. Jochen Schweizer made him an offer, and a deal was seemingly struck. But things turned out differently. Christian revealed how in an interview.
Christian, tell us briefly: What is your background and how did you ultimately come to found my SCHOKO WORLD?
In 2005, I started a puzzle publishing company. In 2010, I followed the wishes of my eight-year-old niece, who asked me: "Make a puzzle out of chocolate". This desire led to the creation of the world's first chocolate Memo(ry), which was then sold through major German and Austrian retail chains. The increasing demand for personalized products gave me the idea to further develop the concept. The birth of my SCHOKO WORLD.
You participated in "The Lion's Den" last year and received rave reviews from the lions. Did you know beforehand that you and your idea would be so well-received?
Since I was very confident in our product, I had hoped it would be well-received by the Lions. But the response, especially from customers, far exceeded my expectations.
Collaboration with Kodak Alaris
The deal with Jochen Schweizer fell through after the show. Why did the collaboration fail?
As is often the case with DHDL, we were unable to agree on the contract details afterwards.
But with Kodak Alaris, you've gained a strong partner. How did that come about, and what exactly does your partnership look like?
The very morning after the broadcast, Kodak Alaris, one of Europe's largest photo services, contacted us and expressed strong interest in a partnership. It quickly became clear that the collaboration was a win-win situation for both sides. Kodak Alaris, which operates over 15,000 KODAK Instant Photo Stations in Germany alone, where customers can order their photos instantly, offers our customized chocolate products to participating retailers. Since October, our products have also been available at KODAK Instant Photo Stations in over 1,700 dm stores.
Well prepared for the future
The Lion's Den was certainly a major marketing boost for you. How has the company changed since then?
The broadcast helped us increase our profile enormously, and we also received fantastic coverage afterward. Bild newspaper wrote about us twice, and other media outlets like Focus, Spiegel, and others also covered the story, and I was even recognized and approached on the street.
How have your numbers developed in the meantime?
Since the broadcast, we've increased our sales significantly, expanded our product range, more than doubled our production space, hired new employees, and initiated a complete website relaunch with a new shop system. This puts us even better at meeting future challenges.
What does Munich mean to you? Both personally and as a location to found a startup.
As a "Munich native," starting a business somewhere else is out of the question for me. Besides the mountains and the Isar River, Munich offers a large number of well-trained employees and an excellent infrastructure.
