Meet 13 companies that have seen business take off after taming the judges on investor-meets-entrepreneur reality TV formats.
"Founded by classmates Johannes, Tao, Martin, and Tobias in 2009, a travel mix-up sparked a revolutionary approach to tourism." That's what it says on the GetYourGuide homepage. Today, Johannes Reck and Tao Tao are at the helm of this platform where users can find all of the world's best activities in one place. Tickets for excursions, guided tours, museums and attractions can also be booked there. According to the company, it has been profitable in Europe since 2023. While its head office remains in Switzerland, GetYourGuide has moved its operational headquarters to Berlin. Appearing on "The Lion's Den," a version of the reality investing format, gave the company a big boost.
The Swiss start-up MyCamper is like the "Airbnb for mobile holiday homes". This sharing platform is a place where motorhomes, campers and caravans can be both put up for rent and rented. The Basel-based company achieved its breakthrough in Switzerland in 2019 thanks in part to its appearance on "The Lion’s Den". In 2020, MyCamper wanted to expand its business in Sweden - but the pandemic unfortunately thwarted those plans. But in 2022, MyCamper bought its Swedish competitor and launched a crowdinvesting campaign in Switzerland.
An investment account that tops itself up as if by magic. That's the idea behind Kaspar&. With every purchase made using a credit card issued by this St. Gallen-based fintech, money is added to the user's account. A coffee that costs 5.20 Swiss francs is rounded up to 6.00 Swiss francs - with the 0.80 Swiss francs difference going directly to their investment account. Jan-Philip Schade, the company's co-founder and CEO, and his team see the idea as a way to democratise investing. The "Lion's Den" investors were enthusiastic - but due to various conflicts of interest, no deal materialised. Undeterred, Kaspar& then entered into a partnership with Swiss bank Acrevis. Jan-Philip Schade said the company is looking to expand to markets where social security systems are less developed, such as Egypt or Southeast Asia.
Ankerkraut is a "flavour manufactory" from Hamburg that was founded in 2013. When they started out, founders Anne and Stefan Lemcke would work in their living room, filling organic spices into jars by hand, and then shipping them. But today, Ankerkraut is a multi-million company and has been bought up by the Swiss multinational food and beverage company Nestlé. Ankerkraut is one of the most successful start-ups to take part in the German version of the start-up reality TV format. The Lemckes are now in the process of financing new start-ups - such as the natural cosmetics company Rosenthal Organics.
Little Lunch's goal is to help people forever do away with the question, "What am I going to eat for lunch today?" This German start-up claims to make: "what's probably the best organic soup." You can buy it in a glass jar and then all you need to do is heat it up. In Switzerland, Little Lunch's products are available at Coop and Galaxus. Brothers Denis and Daniel Gibisch founded the company in 2014, and the range now also includes dishes such as chilli, pasta and sauces. In 2021, the company merged with Allos-Hof Manufaktur - one of Germany's largest organic companies.
All you need is some cold water and one of these cubes made with fruit and plant extracts, and voilà, you have a sugar-free beverage. And there's no need for plastic bottles. It was with this idea and the slogan "Drink more water", that Waterdrop founders Christoph Hermann, Martin Donald Murray and Henry Wieser travelled from Austria to Germany to take part in a reality TV format for start-ups. Today, the cubes are available almost all over the world and can be bought in various flavours and with different ingredients. The company has also made it its mission to reduce plastic waste.
Vegan water and plant-based nail polish containing no harmful substances or odours: that's Gitti. The woman behind the brand is Jennifer Baum-Minkus, who pitched her product on "The Lion's Den" in 2020. The lions were all enthusiastic about Gitti and wanted to invest, but - as is so often the case - the deal didn't go through in the end. But that didn't stand in the way of Gitti's success. The Berlin-based brand continued to pursue its goal of ushering in a new era in the beauty industry with innovative product ideas that are better for the planet and for humans. Gitti products also aim to package more sustainably than conventional brands. The range has been expanded to include make-up. Gitti products are sold online and in selected stores across Europe and the US.
Of 1.5 million people who have learning disabilities in England, only 5.1 % are known to be in paid employment. Stand Out is on a mission to enlarge this proportion, with its offering of vibrantly coloured socks. Since it opened in 2021 it has provided over 400 paid work hours to people with learning disabilities, raised GBP 20,000 for charities and reached the milestone of 100,000 orders. The trio of co-founders consists of Natalie Dickson, and brothers Christian and Ross Laing. The idea came as Ross, who has Down Syndrome, struggled to find a job after the pandemic. Christian resolved to create one that would enable him to flourish. Stand Out Socks has collaborated with brands including Manchester United, Vodafone, and BT.
Entrepreneur Jayne Sibley came up with the idea for Sibstar while caring for her parents - both of whom were diagnosed with the disease. While dementia ushers in a raft of complications for sufferers and their loved ones, the issue of money is particularly tricky. Specifically: handling finances, keeping tabs on spending, and not falling victim to scammers. Sibstar provides those with dementia access to a debit card, which is pre-loaded with and allowance. Care-givers and family members are able to manage transactions through a smartphone app. Functions include the ability to set monthly or daily limits, and an oversight on how much is being taken out in cash. The innovation allows people with dementia an extra element of autonomy, and their loved ones increased peace of mind.
Entrepreneurs who enter the den singing a song about their business idea usually fare well. Levi Roots’ Reggae Reggae Sauce was a big hit. But Simon and Charlene Mitchell-Hood opted for a different tack, retelling the story of how their brand was born in verse. The pair created a story platform aimed at children, which featured – initially – tales they themselves had written. Sooper books is devised to stimulate a love of reading in young minds in the UK, with the insight that an alarming proportion of children leave school without basic literacy skills. The company swelled in popularity and, ahead of the episode’s filming, was valued at £5m. When they offered the Dragons 1% of their company for just £1, it made history on the show as the investors themselves headed to the wall to conspire on how to play the pitch. In the end, they got five dragons for 5%.
Did you know that socks are the clothing item that is most often asked for by homeless people? This fact inspired Randy Goldberg and David Heath of the US to produce socks and donate one pair for every pair purchased. They presented this idea to the investors on the US version of "Shark Tank" and were able to secure a deal worth 200,000 US dollars. By 2018, the company's turnover had exceeded 100 million US dollars. By 2020, Bombas had donated 35 million pairs of socks.
Entrepreneurs shouldn't give up if investors don't like their idea! Ring is the perfect example: in 2013, Californian Jamie Siminoff went on "Shark Tank" and pitched his idea for a WiFi-controlled doorbell camera - unsuccessfully. Undeterred, he raised the capital he needed through crowdfunding. Today, Goldman Sachs and Richard Branson are among Ring's investors. Siminoff sold his company to Amazon in 2018 and is now worth more than 1 billion US dollars, according to sources.
Aaron Krause, the founder of Scrub Daddy, started working with sponges at an early age (he used to wash cars to make some pocket money). Later on, he designed a patented kitchen scrubbing tool that he then pitched on "Shark Tank". It was his big breakthrough: the day after the programme, he is said to have sold 42,000 sponges in seven minutes on a shopping channel. The Scrub Daddy range now comprises over 100 different household cleaning products. It has expanded far beyond the US and is available in a range of countries, including Australia, England, Sweden and Switzerland.
