Katharina Bickel herself owns a cat and, according to her own statement, was "neither particularly impressed with the aesthetics nor the quality" of conventional cat toys. This is how she came up with the idea of producing high-quality cat toys herself under the name Catlabs. She previously worked for an international corporation.
Cat toys break quickly and the artificial polyester filling can be dangerous for cats, so Katharina Bickel:
“Bad for the animal, bad for the environment.”
So far, the Munich-based company sells two cat toys made of sheep's wool: a woolly cat and a bat, which can be filled with catnip or valerian root. The founder says:
"With Catlabs, I want to build an attractive brand that stands for modern cat accessories. However, the products should not only look good, but also do good. That's why I opted for ethical manufacturing from the very beginning and have my cat products lovingly handcrafted in a social project in Nepal."
For an investment of 75,000 euros, the founder offers TV show 15 percent of their company shares.
Catlabs convinces four TV investors
Carsten Maschmeyer is impressed by the founder, but drops out of the bidding due to his own cat allergy. The other TV 'Lions', Ralf Dümmel and Georg Kofler on the one hand, and Dagmar Wöhrl and Nils Glagau on the other, are each preparing joint offers.
Dümmel and Kofler are jointly offering €75,000 for 30 percent of Catlabs. Wöhrl and Glagau, on the other hand, would be content with 20 percent of the company for the same amount.
After a brief consultation with a mentor, Katharina Bickel decides to accept the offer from Georg Kofler and Ralf Dümmel and leaves the television show with two new investors.
