Yuka Suzuki and Dr. Hauke Günther present KOYI at DHDL: Highly concentrated spirits with less alcohol and full aroma.
There has rarely been such exuberant dancing in The Lion’s Den (DHDL) as during this pitch – founder Yuka Suzuki could hardly contain her joy about the deal. Koyi Micro Spirits is not about entertainment, but about spirits. Gründerszene spoke to the two founders of the startup and asked what happened to the deal.
Read too
A long drink made of 20 drops?
With Koyi Micro Spirits, the couple Yuka Suzuki (52) and Hauke Günther (46) from Hamburg appear in front of the cave’s investors. Their approach: highly concentrated spirits that are dosed using pipettes. A few drops are enough for a long drink.
According to the founders, 20 of the small pipette glasses correspond to the amount of alcohol in a classic gin and tonic. This should enable drinks with significantly less alcohol. So it’s not about alcohol-free substitute products, but about spirits in a new, micro-dosed form. They offer ten percent of the shares in the cave for 120,000 euros.
The still as a laboratory
It is produced in its own distillery in Hamburg, which Yuka Suzuki and Hauke Günther describe as the smallest distillery in the Hanseatic city. Günther is a biologist and has developed his own distillation process to concentrate aromas more strongly. This is intended to preserve the taste even though less alcohol is used per drink.
In the show, the lions can test themselves: a Cuba Libre, a grapefruit soda and a gin and tonic with the concentrated essences. There is no criticism of the taste – the lions are impressed by the aroma despite the reduced amount of alcohol: “It tastes fantastic!” says Judith Williams.
And yet the startup only convinces one lioness. Ralf Dümmel is leaving – for personal reasons. “I don’t drink alcohol. It would be unfair if I drink it and don’t like alcohol at all, then to judge how it tastes,” he says. The other lions also don’t see themselves as rooted deep enough in the spirits market to get involved.
Read too
Janna Ensthaler, on the other hand, recognizes potential, but with a different focus. “It would make society better if we all drank a little less,” she says. At the same time, she expressed doubts about the current product: “But I think we are not yet at the point where we can enter the mass market.” Her idea: “I would like to take your essences and make a canned product out of them.”
In the end she offers 120,000 euros for 30 percent – Suzuki and Günther accept.
How’s the deal?
But did the deal actually happen? When asked by Gründerszene, founder Hauke Günther confirmed: “Yes, the deal with Ensthaler is finalized.”
They are now working together on the further development of the products – including a planned ready-to-drink product in cans. However, this is technologically more complex than shown on TV, as essentially a completely new product has to be developed.
Before a new company is founded or larger structures are built, one wants to ensure that the concept works technically and qualitatively as planned. Ensthaler and her team provide strategic and operational support.
