Munich Startup: As we the first time When we spoke in 2019, you had to explain Air Up to everyone because no one had heard of it. Is that different now?
Lena Jüngst, Air Up: That's definitely it! We're incredibly proud that we've already delighted over five million customers with our scent-based hydration system! This is probably also due to the fact that we're now available in eleven countries. Despite increased brand awareness, we still have to explain our product from time to time. That's simply the nature of things when you launch an innovative product and open up a completely new category. Our task, therefore, is to use our communication to create understanding for this new form of daily hydration. Our new advertising campaign “This is not a water bottle“ should help us with this.
Air Up: Rapid growth was challenging
Munich Startup: What obstacles have you encountered on your journey from then until now?
Lena Jüngst: I would actually call them challenges rather than obstacles. After all, all the paths and decisions we have made so far have led us here – to our new 3,600 square meter Office in the wonderful Werksviertel district. The rapid growth was certainly a challenge for us as a company: Just four years after our founding, we now employ more than 300 people – all of them remote-first and spread across Europe and the USA.
Balancing the needs of all employees as best as possible, establishing a positive corporate culture, efficient processes, and the right technical setup, demanded a great deal from our team. Not least because sustainable growth has always been our priority and we wanted to make the "right" decisions for our young company and our employees. Perhaps we simply think a little more conservatively than other startups.
Munich Startup: How has your solution evolved?
Lena Jüngst: We're constantly working to further develop ourselves and our product. This ranges from using new materials with our stainless steel bottle, launched in 2022, to developing exciting new flavors and relocating our production to Europe. We already manufacture a large portion of our products in Austria and the Netherlands – which makes us incredibly proud. Another production facility in Germany is planned to follow this year.
Profitable business: Sales increased by 75 percent
Munich Startup: And how are things looking financially for you?
Lena Jüngst: After closing 2021 with revenue of €90 million, we closed 2022 with €159 million. That's an increase of 75 percent in just one year! We're particularly pleased because we've managed to maintain sustainable growth at all times, despite expanding into additional markets and investing in the relocation of production and the new office. We've been profitable since the end of 2020 – so at Air Up, we're only spending cash.
Munich Startup: What learnings have you as a founding team learned so far?
Lena Jüngst: If we had to start again today, we would probably rely on our own online shop to sell our products. During the founding phase, however, we were still convinced that we could only be successful if we were found everywhere and if people could test the product. This led to our team initially visiting hardware stores themselves to test our product directly at the POS (Point of Sale, editor's note). However, we quickly realized that this could lead, among other things, to a significant loss of control over the positioning and pricing of our own product. We definitely didn't want to risk that and quickly implemented a strategy change that paid off. Today, we focus our communications on digital marketing and only enter offline retail once we have already achieved broad brand awareness in the markets.
“We’re bringing the cool kids to Munich”
Munich Startup: What role has the Munich ecosystem played in your journey so far?
Lena Jüngst: The decision to base our 300 team members in Munich was no coincidence: Moving to Berlin or another city was never an option for us – we were born and raised here, and we want to grow old here. Munich is our home. As we grow and expand our business, we'll do so back where it all began. By moving to the Werksviertel, we want to give something back to the city, to show our deep connection and gratitude. And if we're honest, the Werksviertel can definitely compete with Berlin as a work-life district. We're bringing the cool kids to Munich.
Munich Startup: What milestones are you working towards next?
Where do I begin? A particularly passionate project is the successful and complete relocation of our production to Europe – we're currently working on it at full speed. Then there's our "sustainability by design" approach, with which we've set ourselves the goal of constantly tinkering with further product improvements. This ranges from reducing our packaging and using new materials to our digital product – our webshop. We definitely already have a lot planned here that existing and future Air Up fans can look forward to!
