After 20 victorious years in Motorsport, the German/Finn is now an investor in the start-up scene – and is having a lot of success! He is the youngest member on the jury of the successful series "Die Höhle der Löwen". mNow, he was part of Markant's voilà! pitch: "It was very exciting to see the start-ups and to get to know the numerous partners and personalities behind Markant."
The start-ups taking part in the pitch had three minutes to impress the jury and convince them of their innovative product ideas. The jury consisted of buyers from six major retail partners at Markant Group: Kaufland, Rossmann, dm, Globus, Bartels-Langness and real as well as the Managing Director of Markant AG, Alois Kruth, the Managing Director of Markant Deutschland, John Grewe, and the Head of the Intermediary Activities division, Martin Lüken. The new member of "Die Höhle der Löwen" Nico Rosberg was also part of the jury during the first half of the pitch with his Business Development Manager Maximilian Wasler and Michael Goblirsch of SquareOneFood. Markant's start-up team consisting of Alois Bauer, Isabel Trinkert and Erik Eiberle led them through the pitch.
The start-ups put in a lot of effort and were also busy cooking to provide them with a tasting. This was of course very well received by the retailers! The people in attendance showed a great interest and asked questions to the founders about the positioning on the shelves, the origin of raw materials and the unique selling point. The retailers examined the samples critically and gave feedback on the individual presentations.
The proud winners of the pitch are: True Tape Sports GmbH, QUARKWERK GmbH, Dörrwerk GmbH, LETS GmbH, Teaballs GmbH, Keen 4 Greens GmbH, Hülsenreich GmbH and el origen food GmbH. They will now get a wildcard to the next trade forum in March. This means they will be given a free trade fair booth to showcase their products to a wide audience and have another opportunity to pitch to other retail partners.
The pitch was another great opportunity for voilà! to bring young start-ups together with the retail sector and to promote their networking. Some start-ups also came into contact with the retailers directly after the pitch to talk about a possible listing. It was of course also very pleasing that a live pitch could finally take place again to encourage personal dialogue. However, the information event on Markant and suitable services for start-ups was held in teams on the following day – in order to take preventive measures to avoid all start-ups gathering.
The feedback on the pitch was also extremely positive: "Thank you for giving us the opportunity to be at this event. The professionalism and reach of Markant Group left a lasting impression on us and we look forward to maintaining this dialogue in future," explains Nico Rosberg and Maximilian Wasler.