"The Lion's Den": Combination deal for start-up from Dreieich burst

Created: 05/05/2022, 21:55

By: Alexander Gottschalk

It didn't fit: "The Lion's Den" celebrities Carsten Maschmeyer and Georg Kofler are not investing in a dating app from Dreieich.

Frankfurt/Dreieich - A new week, a new episode of "Die Höhle der Löwen", a new squad of start-ups - and again shortly after the broadcast on Vox it comes out that one of the deals negotiated on TV has burst.

As the team from the dating app "chaanz" and the celebrity investors Carsten Maschmeyer and Georg Kofler reported on Tuesday (May 3rd), the deal they were aiming for did not materialize.

On Monday evening (May 2nd), the founders from Dreieich in Hesse (Offenbach district) were seen on Vox during prime time.

There they presented their business idea: Using the "chaanz" app, singles should be able to meet spontaneously for dates by determining their location and push notification, without having to write via chat programs beforehand.

This is how the offer wants to stand out from the massive competition, as reported by op-online.de.

"The Lion's Den" (Vox): Maschmeyer approaches the start-up from Dreieich

For the breakthrough on the dating app market, the start-up from Dreieich was looking for a financially strong partner in the "Lion's Den".

Marwin Grundel, Jakob Hubloher and Nino Reiter were willing to sell 30 percent of the shares in their company for 125,000 euros.

Her courageous appearance on the Vox show initially seemed to leave the show investors cold – until Maschmeyer, who feels at home in the tech and digital business, took the initiative.

First the confirmation, then the cancellation after the show: Georg Kofler and Carsten Maschmeyer.

© RTL/Bernd-Michael Maurer

After a few negotiations, the deal was in place: Carsten Maschmeyer convinced his fellow “lion” Georg Kofler and both promised the “chaanz” team 100,000 euros for a total of 49 percent of the company shares.

"We take the chance," said Maschmeyer.

"Off to the adventure," agreed Kofler.

And the young founders from the Offenbach area cheered.

They thought they were "too early" with the pitch - also because their app wasn't even on the market at the time.

"The Lion's Den" (Vox): But no deal for a young team from Dreieich

However, the most recent "The Lion's Den" episode was recorded in the spring.

And a lot has happened since then.

The “chaanz” dating app can now be pre-ordered in the leading stores.

However, the entrepreneurs Maschmeyer and Kofler are no longer on board – or rather: they never came on board.

Co-founder Marwin Grundel told the FAZ that no agreement was reached on a strategy as early as in the examination processes after the show was recorded.

There was no money, but according to their own statements, the young entrepreneurs from Dreieich received and still receive advice from the team of the so-called “lions”.

Maschmeyer and Kofler also stated on Instagram that they would continue to support the company founders.

About the broken deal it said: "The deals that come about in the lion's den must be examined intensively like any other deal outside of the show." This is a normal process and cannot happen during the recording.

"The Lion's Den" (Vox): Dating app founders from Dreieich are still looking for financiers

The two investors had already raised several criticisms in the show: no women in the team, a difficult market, high marketing needs.

In the end, that was obviously too much of a risk for Maschmeyer and Kofler.

Remarkable: For the former, it is already the third deal from this season "The Lion's Den", which subsequently fizzled out.

It was only announced last week that the book app “Read O” from Frankfurt would also have to do without Maschmeyer money.

According to the FAZ, the dating app "chaanz" is to be released in July.

The founders want to secure the financing of their heart project through crowdfunding.

To this end, they are also working together with the Frankfurt fintech company "portagon", as announced on Tuesday (May 3rd).

"Good business ideas must not fail because of the financing," said managing director Johannes Laub.

"Chaanz" co-founder Marwin Grundel is one of his employees.

(ag)