DHDL: This is what happened to the Dogscan founders after the show

It was a worthy appearance for the tenth anniversary of the pitch show. It was “the greatest thing I've ever seen,” says TV lion Ralf Dümmel. We're talking about Dogscan. A startup that specializes in detecting lung cancer in the early stages with the help of highly specialized tracking dogs. The founders rely on the dogs' keen sense of smell, which is 10,000 times more distinguishable than that of a human. Behind Dogscan are the trained dog trainer and psychologist Florian Wienen and the electrician Alexander Maßen. They are supported on a voluntary basis by the cardiologist and specialist in internal medicine, Ali Bouklloua.

They want to establish Dogscan as a preventive measure for lung cancer in the German health system. The founders are demanding 500,000 euros in return for 10 percent of the company shares. That would correspond to a company valuation of five million euros. Such a high valuation is usually well received by the lions. But the valuation is not the main focus of Dogscan's appearance. A partnership is formed, albeit without financial support.

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Five minutes of breathing as a precaution

Wienen, Maßen and Bouklloua entered “The Lion’s Den” with the trained sniffer dog Aki. He is one of five dogs that are currently supposed to sniff out lung cancer from respiratory masks for Dogscan. Dogscan customers receive the respiratory mask by mail. The package also contains gloves, instructions and a return card with a stamped envelope. There is an absorber on the inside of the mask that absorbs the aerosols when breathing. The customers only have to wear the mask for five minutes to receive a reusable sample, the pitch says. The worn mask is sent back to Dogscan. And that’s when the sniffer dogs come into play. Maßen and Wienn explain on the show that their dogs can sniff out lung cancer from an early stage 1. They demonstrate how this works on the show with sniffer dog Aki.

RTL / Bernd-Michael Maurer

There are 10 search boards in front of the lions. In nine of them there is an unused respiratory mask and in only one bowl does cardiologist Bouklloua place a sample from a patient who has been proven to have lung cancer. Wienen leads his dog Aki along the search boards. After a few seconds Wienen says “indication” to signal that Aki has reacted. The lions ask how you would know, as it happens so quickly. “He froze. He fixed his gaze on the mask and didn't go any further,” explains Wienen.

No lung cancer screening offers in Germany

To avoid false negatives and positives, Dogscan uses five dogs independently for each sample they receive. Neither the dog owner nor the dog can see what the previous dog showed. For a positive result, at least three dogs must have reacted to the corresponding respiratory mask. For a negative result, i.e. to rule out lung cancer in the patient, none of the dogs must have reacted.

The Dogscan offer is available for 112 euros. 112 because the number for the fire department is in Germany. Maßen says that things are “burning” in Germany. It is high time that there was a lung cancer screening offer in Germany. “I think that's a really great pricing method,” says Carsten Maschmeyer. Currently, the Dogscan offer is not yet covered by health insurance as a preventive examination. However, that is the goal for the future, according to the founders. Their product is intended to be part of general health care in Germany. But the product is not yet on the market. However, the Dogscan package has been available for pre-order for three weeks, say the founders on the show. In these three weeks, Dogscan had already generated over 160,000 euros in sales. Their goal for 2024 is to sell 5,000 screening packages and thus achieve sales of almost 600,000 euros. The show says that her five dogs had an annual output of 250,000 masks. And the dog would need a maximum of four minutes to complete one run.

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Personal concern of the lions

There are not many inquiries. Aki's performance is enough to impress the lions. Ralf Dümmel is the first to speak. He does not want to be a pure financial investor, but to support his founders as a strategic partner. “I invest in things where I can help a lot,” says Dümmel. He was unable to help the Dogscan founders with his expertise, he explains his rise. Frank Thelen, who returned to the lion's chair as a guest in the fourth episode of the current season, is personally affected by the founders' story. His mother died of lung cancer. Fortunately, his father's disease was diagnosed and he was able to be treated, he says in the show. However, the barriers to market entry for competitors are considered to be very low. Other startups could also train dogs and scale the business with many dogs, he explains and leaves. Adventure travel entrepreneur Jochen Schweizer, who also makes a guest appearance in this episode, sees it similarly. Dogs could be trained quickly, he explains his rise.

Maschmeyer disagrees. “All experienced startup investors know that there is a first-mover advantage,” he says. That is the just reward for the brave step of being the first. Wienen nods and adds that dog training is difficult and complicated. They have been training their dogs for over a year. That is also the guideline for the training period for sniffer dogs for mine detection. Wienen worked for the German army for six years, training mine detection dogs there.

To pass the training at Dogscan, the sniffer dogs have to identify 19 out of 20 positive samples from 500 masks. The founders themselves set this benchmark. There is no official study on this yet. And that is precisely the reason why investor Maschmeyer is not making an offer. “It's still a bit too homemade and improvised for me,” he explains.

RTL / Bernd-Michael Maurer

Beauty entrepreneur Judith Williams, who had previously tried to convince Maschmeyer of a double deal, swallowed several times before addressing the founder. “The person you're talking about who needed this is my mom,” she says. Williams' mother was diagnosed with lung cancer at the end of 2022, which is why she withdrew from the public eye for some time. “What you're doing is gigantic,” she continues. But for the same reasons that led Maschmeyer to leave, Williams did not invest either. However, she would like to support the founder in other ways. “What I would like to offer you, however, is that I am a spokesperson, I am your mentor, I will give you my cell phone number and I am available to you if you need advice,” says Williams. She could not support the founders financially, but her heart is in it.

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This is how it continued after the TV appearance

Although no deal was made, things continued positively for the Dogscan founders after their TV appearance. Dogscan has been a limited liability company since the summer of this year and employs nine people, revealed Maßen and Wienen in an interview with Gründerszene after the show. Dogscan is now officially on the market and they have already examined several thousand samples and identified positive results, said the founder. The sixth sniffer dog is currently in training and could soon start working at Dogscan. The next three puppies will begin their training in October.

Dogscan is currently working on a study with the Berlin-Havelhöhe Lung Cancer Center and with the support of the Charité. The founder expects the first results by the end of the year. From October, the Dogscan product will also be available in pharmacies. They have received positive feedback from health insurance companies. The founders say that the health insurance companies have been very closed. However, in order for the health insurance companies to cover the service, they will have to wait for the results of the study, say Maßen and Wienen.

Their customer base consists mainly of private individuals. However, radiologists would also refer their patients to a Dogscan if the radiation protection regulations prohibit them from performing a computer tomography (CT). In the future, Maßen and Wienen see great potential in the B2B market, especially among radiologists and in hospitals. Until the study is completed, the Dogscan founders want to do marketing via the classic B2C channels, such as social media. According to Maßen and Wien, Dogscan is already available for rent. Therefore, they are not currently looking for external capital. From Williams as a mentor, she hopes to provide support in the areas of company development, marketing and also with the study.