“The Lion’s Den”: Werner Hansch provides the most moving show moment

“The Lion’s Den”
“The most moving moment so far” – Werner Hansch moves the lions to tears

Around 400 deals have been closed since the start of “The Lion's Den” on August 19, 2014. That's about 50 million in investments. Even if most of the products are quickly forgotten, the startup show has undoubtedly written a bit of business and television history. From the very beginning, the stars of the show were not the entrepreneurs begging for capital – but always the investors who gave it to them. Or not. Their cocking and bickering is the core of the “DHDL” brand. And their hilarious business-speak chatter.

The best line at the start of the season was delivered by original lioness Judith Williams, who celebrated her comeback on the judges' chair after a one-year break. The founder of “Nayca”, a heart-shaped heat pad for period pain, praised her with the words: “You need content that performs and someone who knows what they're doing.” The aerospace engineer was not very impressed. They had previously handed out period cramp simulators to the lions so that the men in particular could experience for themselves what 15 million women in Germany go through every four weeks. Tillman Schulz was writhing in pain, Carsten Maschmeyer acted cool, presumably he had not attached the electrodes properly. Nevertheless, he got the deal – together with Janna Ensthaler, who praised the young entrepreneur's “tech and sales talent”.

This time on “The Lion’s Den”: Ready meals without a guilty conscience

The duo almost landed the deal with “ratzfatz” too, but this time Tillman Schulz and Nils Glagau had the better arguments. The product: frozen organic meals for children. The target group: double-income parents who don't have the time or inclination to cook but still want to offer their children more than fish fingers and chicken nuggets. All of this, of course, without preservatives and added sugar and with only a little salt. The tomato sauce, i.e. the trio, even contains “a lot of pureed vegetables” that children would normally run away from screaming.

The deal with “topfi” was done in no time, a very unique Dümmel deal. The founding couple only needed 50 seconds to pitch their pot lid holder, which prevented people from burning their fingers on condensed water every time. “Mr. Regal” advertised himself in just under three minutes (“I'm the perfect lion for this topic”) and pumped 100,000 euros into the rock-solid holder business.

A Swiss woman turned up in the “cave” with a very mysterious mission. Her self-designed silk scarves under the label name “VUP” (very unique people) are intended to replace the tie as the company dress code. This is her life's work, she announced pathetically, and then went one step further: “Nobody knows who invented the tie, but whoever started the reduction will be remembered.” The investors politely called off the revolt, and Dagmar Wöhrl almost begged the resolute Swiss woman (“I'm not leaving here without a deal”) for mercy: “You're killing us with your enthusiasm!”

Werner Hansch talks about his gambling addiction

At the very end, it was once again highly emotional. Werner Hansch appeared. The 86-year-old was one of the most famous German sports reporters for decades and slipped into gambling addiction in his mid-60s. He lost 600,000 euros on horse racing and lost everything: house, love, accounts. With a trembling and brittle voice, Hansch described his fate and, together with his business partner “Zockerhelden”, presented a platform that aims to help those who have been harmed by gambling to legally recoup their lost money from the providers. Because: Most online casinos and sports betting providers will operate without a valid license until 2022. Carsten Maschmeyer joined in (“I used to be addicted to pills, now I'm addicted to deals”) and brought Dagmar Wöhrl on board. Judith Williams: “That was the most moving moment in the history of the show.”