In the fifth episode of the VOX show “Die Höhle der Löwen” (also on RTL), investors receive support from a guest lioness: Diana zur Löwen (27). The influencer keeps an eye on sustainable and digital products. At the age of 14, Diana zur Löwen uploaded her first video to YouTube. Today, the young entrepreneur creates content for more than 1 million people and has already invested in several start-ups herself.
Founder Robin (50) introduces “Gate Press” in the cave. But first, the product takes the guesswork out of the lions. Is the approximately 30 cm long tube an object from the automotive industry? Not quite – “Gate Press” is a pelvic floor trainer for men and women. For his pitch, personal trainer Robin has Swiss ice hockey pro Tim and sex therapist Andrea at his side. “Gate Press” can “change life,” according to the inventor, who is offering 150,000 euros for a 10 percent share in the company.
The product aims to train the pelvic floor and thus help with taboo problems such as incontinence or the prostate. It can also be used for post-pregnancy recovery and for athletes to build muscle. In order to achieve this, the stick-like product should be taken between the feet and held in place with muscle power. The body is either in a standing, sitting or kneeling position.
To make it clear that the invention works effectively, Andrea wears a vaginal sensor that uses a curve on a monitor to show how high the tension in the pelvic floor is during training. However, the sensor is for illustrative purposes only and is not part of Gate Press. “I’m glad you’re coming up with this topic,” says Judith Williams (51) enthusiastically. Guest lioness Diana tries the product right away. “Feels uncomfortable,” is the assessment of the influencer, who has already had experience with love balls, which are also intended to train the pelvic floor. That’s why she doesn’t want to invest in the product. The other lions are deterred by the unit price of 163.50 and the still open question of whether health insurance companies will accept it as a medical product. So there is no deal for “Gate Press”.
Sabine (58) wants her invention to make flowers bloom. The founder offers a 20 percent share in the company for 50,000 euros. “Gold Leaf” is a plant fertilizer that is attached to a felt cloth. The fertilizer cloths only have to be wrapped around the plant ball and provide the greenery with nutrients for half a year. This also saves on the plastic bottles in which the liquid fertilizer is otherwise filled. While the other lions cannot see what is extraordinary about this product, Georg Kofler (65) is enthusiastic about “gold leaf” and invests the desired sum. “If we didn’t have Corona, I would kiss her now,” said Sabine, happy about the award.
“Life writes the most beautiful stories, ‘Meminto Stories’ captures them forever,” founder Albert (37) starts his pitch. He wants 250,000 euros for a 15 percent share in the company. In order to record people’s life stories, Albert would like to capture these personal stories with private photos and print them out in a book. To do this, customers have to answer questions digitally in order to record their individual life story. “It strikes me that it doesn’t sound all that personal,” criticizes Georg Kofler. He thinks these are questions a 14-year-old would ask in a personality interview. “If your partner could have a second career, what would that be and why? Or what are the three things on your shared bucket list,” the lion reads two questions from the book. “Superficially,” Judith Williams agrees.
But Albert’s company valuation caused a particular lack of understanding at the Löwen, who expected sales to increase from EUR 30,000 to EUR 10 million in a short time. “Your business plan is somewhere in another world, I think that’s completely unreal,” says the founder of Georg Kofler. The other lions also agree on this point – no deal for “Meminto Stories”.
The founders Benjamin (24) and Moritz (21) want to start with their app “GetMoBie” where the school system “fails”, because children still don’t get a basic education in financial topics in school. With their app, for 4 euros a month, they want to explain these things to children and young people between the ages of 7 and 25. In addition, children should be able to manage their pocket money with “GetMoBie” and transfer money to friends. Although the lions find the topic exciting, no one wants to invest in it because the app is not yet on the market and therefore carries too much risk.
The pitch for Elina (36) with her cake kit “Clever Cake” was more successful. The founder has cake elements with different designs on offer. The customer can order “Clever Cake” and put together the cakes with different decorations at home. Elina was inspired by “The Lion’s Den” to start her own company. This entrepreneurial spirit and the product impress the lion. Dagmar Wöhrl (68) and Judith Williams join forces and offer Elina 60,000 euros for 30 percent of the company. But the founder made the deal with Georg Kofler, who promised her the desired 50,000 euros for 20 percent.
