DHDL veteran Frank Thelen has announced his final departure from the Vox TV show "Die Höhle der Löwen." He also shared his reasons for leaving.
The investor has been an important part of the successful startup show since its launch in 2014, evaluating hundreds of business ideas and supporting numerous startups with capital. Among them are various food companies such as Yfood from Munich, Ankerkraut and Little Lunch.
Frank Thelen, the fourth investor from the original cast, leaves the startup show "Die Höhle der Löwen" (The Lion's Den), following Jochen Schweizer, Lencke Steiner, and Vural Öger. Judith Williams is now the last entrepreneur from the early days.
That's why Frank Thelen is leaving DHDL behind
His exit had already been announced during the current season. Frank Thelen only participated in every other pitch. He announced his final departure from the TV show last Sunday, including on LinkedIn. He explained his departure as follows:
"After six incredible years in which I've been able to experience and learn so much, I'm drawn back to the workbench. While our Food Family remains an important part of our portfolio and my daily work, I want to focus on technologies in the future. I want to have more time for product development with our teams and meet new technology founders."
At the same time, he draws a very positive conclusion about his time at the Startup TV Show and his successful collaboration with the startups from the shows of the past years.
"From the very beginning, it was important to me that I build real startups out of the show; it couldn't just be show and entertainment. And we've truly achieved that: Our food family with eight startups is, to my knowledge, the most successful food startup cluster in Germany."
The Lion veteran will be seen again in the already recorded episodes, which will be released in spring 2020.
