Last night the new season of TV show 'The Lion's Den' In the eighth season of the Vox show, Formula 1 world champion and investor Nico Rosberg Frank Thelen's place.
Yumbau from Sauerlach in the south of Munich produces frozen dim sum. The founders Hongmei “Ivy” Zhang and Kevin Brück They met at the Technical University of Munich. Zhang, a native of China, impressed her future co-founder with her homemade dumplings. He said on the show:
"The problem: Their freshly made dim sum is made from all-natural ingredients. But no one has yet managed to produce longer-lasting dim sum for retail without artificial additives."
With support from the Technical University of Munich and the Fraunhofer Institute, Zhang and Brück spent three years experimenting with different temperatures, crushing and mixing techniques, and different sequences, and finally developed their own machine to produce the dumplings.
“The mission: To produce Dim Sum as natural convenience food products without artificial additives and without added sugar,”
said Brück. To expand production capacity and distribution, the Munich-based company needs 300,000 euros and is offering the TV investors 15 percent of their company shares.
All five Lions – in addition to Rosberg, these were Judith Williams, Carsten Maschmeyer, Ralf Dümmel, and Dagmar Wöhrl – were enthusiastic about the taste of the dim sum. In the end, however, no investor submitted an offer. The competitive market for frozen food, in particular, deterred investors.
Chargex also does not receive an offer in the TV show
Chargex presented its smart distribution system for electric car charging points to investors. The two co-founders Tobias Wagner and Michael Masnitza presented the "intelligent multiple socket for charging stations," as they call their product Aqueduct on the TV show, to investors Carsten Maschmeyer, Judith Williams, Nico Rosberg, Ralf Dümmel, and Dagmar Wöhrl. Tobias Wagner says:
"Setting up a charging station here and there won't work if we're all going to be driving mostly electric vehicles in the future. We therefore need to create ways to charge vehicles easily and, above all, on the fly."
For an investment of 1,000,000 euros, the Startup 16.7 percent of the shares. Initially, investors have been very complimentary about the topic and the Munich-based company's approach. Nico Rosberg says in the broadcast:
"First of all, I'm impressed by how you're tackling this problem. We know how problematic this is with the infrastructure out there, in Germany and worldwide. (...) A solution like this is worth so much."
Nevertheless, Rosberg is not making an offer. In particular, the pending patent proceedings and the associated uncertainty regarding the company's valuation are hampering an investment, Rosberg says:
"But it's too early. The patent isn't even filed yet, and almost all the value is locked in the patent. I would love to do this with you and support you. (...) But it's not possible to go in at that amount with the uncertainties. I'm very, very sorry. That's why I'm out."
In the same vein Carsten Maschmeyer:
“There is still too much open, the patent is not there.”
Maschmeyer therefore also does not make an offer, and the second Munich startup also leaves the Löwenhöhle that evening without an investment.
