Tijen Onaran, despite her initial promise, violated the agreement reached with the learning app founders.
The real deal in the den, Goesslinghoff and Geenen
Swagger enters the den as Matthias Geenen and Andrea Goesslinghoff walk in, grounding the scene. Goesslinghoff bears the struggles of her primary school in a socially challenged district - 28 students, one with intellectual disabilities, several with behavioral issues, six who can't speak German, and many who can't read or write. "Is justice possible for all these kids?" she questions, faced with an understandable "Impossible" response from her colleagues, left with coloring mandalas due to teaching constraints.
Community woes, business opportunity
Integration, teacher shortage, and digitalizing education ring familiar as the lions nod in agreement, seeing the issues as legitimate and important. And it's quite fitting: Goesslinghoff teams up with her friend's husband, an IT specialist, to develop a learning app, solving her own problem by uniting two worlds.
"Say it in German" is their solution, offering a "digital teaching assistant" that caters to kids with learning disabilities while human teachers instruct the rest of the class. With many German teachers yearning for such assistance, the app thrives - it's already in use in 1,500 schools, raking in over 600,000 euros last year and predicted to reach a million this year.
Machmeyer seals the deal
Hearing this, Carsten Machmeyer leans over to Tijen Onaran, whispering his decision: "I'm investing in this. Let's do this together." Onaran nods her agreement, and Machmeyer swiftly moves forward, offering the founders a 70,000 euro check on the spot, foregoing lengthy negotiations.
Onaran, sharing her bilingual upbringing, highlights her familiarity with the topic and her extensive network, including political connections. However, her enthusiasm for the founders doesn't translate to joint investment, as she and Machmeyer end up going solo.
A deal gone awry
When asked about this discrepancy, Onaran's office replies, "The deal did not go through. In the end, there were different ideas about collaboration. We wish Carsten Maschmeyer and 'Say it in German' all the best." Onaran's past investments have been more selective, with only two deals per season and a handful in the latest one. Of her total five deals, three did not materialize post-show, causing dissatisfaction among production circles.
Onaran attributes her reduced investment activity to her evolution from serial investor to advocate for political and economic change, mentioning her recent investment in wondder.io. Onaran left "Die Höhle der Löwen" after the 17th season, her exit reportedly taking her fellow lions by surprise due to past friction between her and the panel[1].
[1]: Gründerszene, "Die Höhle der Löwen: Tijen Onaran verlässt die Show nach 5 Staffel," October 10, 2024. Link: https://www.gruenderszene.de/startups/innovation/die-hoehle-der-loewen-tijen-onaran-verlaesst-die-show-nach-5-staffel/
A potential fusion of education-and-self-development, finance, and business arises as Goesslinghoff partners with an IT specialist to develop a learning app, merging two worlds and addressing her educational challenges. The success of the app, generating over 600,000 euros last year and projected to surpass a million this year, attracts the attention of investors in the finance sector, like Carsten Machmeyer.
