Yogi animal at DHDL: Fei Schäfer pitches children’s yoga mats. In the end, Janna Ensthaler and Dagmar Wöhrl get on board, but the deal falls through.
Founder Fei Schäfer of Yogitier brings children’s yoga to “The Lion’s Den” and wants 100,000 euros for 10 percent of the company shares. Her idea: Yoga mats especially for children so that they can move more again.
Yoga for kids instead of TikTok
School, appointments, tablet – exercise is often neglected. This is exactly where Schäfer wants to start. “When I look into children’s eyes, I see pure joy. At the same time, I notice how much stress our children already have today,” she says. Your startup should help bring exercise into everyday life in a playful way.
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Yogitier consists of colorful yoga mats with animal motifs and a memory game with yoga exercises. The products are also available for adults, but the focus is clearly on children. This is shown directly in the studio. The children do yoga exercises while Schäfer joins in.
“Tree and Tiger” on the mat
Dagmar Wöhrl does it herself and tries out the mat. The result is tree and tiger pose and a bit of studio yoga flow. Frank Thelen generally thinks this is a good thing: “Getting children moving more is super important because we only hang out in front of the displays.”
Numbers: colorful, but not cheap
The children’s mats cost 69.95 euros, the production costs are between 20 and 40 euros. There are also memory cards for 22.95 euros. According to the founder, Yogitier generated sales of around 220,000 euros last year.
The first lions get out
Ralf Dümmel quickly comes out, he says: “I am the yoga mat expert and sell yoga mats, so we are a bit in competition.” Thelen says: “It’s not my thing to do children’s yoga, that’s why I’m out. But really strong.” Carsten Maschmeyer also doesn’t see a fit: “I have no know-how about how I could help you. I don’t just want to give money.”
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Two remain – and become concrete
Wöhrl is unsure, “I am undecided and wavering,” and asks Janna Ensthaler if they can speak for a moment. After a short consultation, the two come back together and make an offer. Ensthaler sees potential, but attaches conditions to the whole thing. “We can do it together if she expands her product range,” she says to Wöhrl. The founder gave signs that she wanted to enter into the deal.
Offer, counteroffer, deal
Ensthaler and Wöhrl join in together and make the offer of 100,000 euros for 20 percent. The founder counters: She wants 100,000 euros for 15 percent. However, that is not enough for the investors. In the end, the first offer remains at 100,000 euros for 20 percent.
Deal with two lionesses
This means that Yogitier gets the contract from Ensthaler and Wöhrl. When asked by Gründerszene, however, it became known that the deal did not come about after the broadcast. After further discussions, Fei Schäfer decided against it because she wants to build a broader team with additional expertise in marketing, sales and finance for the next step in growth – capital alone is not enough for this.