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It sounded too good to be true!
On Monday night, Donald Müller-Judex (57) presented a pioneering idea at “The Lion’s Den”.
Müller-Judex described himself as an “inventor, entrepreneur and visionary” and his start-up “Solmove” offered a possible solution to many problems: solar roads. “Solmove” is a flexible glass module with solar cells that can be paved on streets, parking lots or sidewalks and thus generate electricity. For the new invention, which was already in the testing phase, the founder wanted half a million euros and offered in exchange ten percent of the shares of his company.
But was it worth the investment? Sustainability investor Nico Rosberg (35) was interested, but couldn’t really imagine all this: “Can you try to explain again: I am now investing 500,000 euros? ? “Conservative estimate of founder Müller-Judex:” In 10 years, sales of 100 million. ” Gains were only expected in a few years. The media mogul Georg Kofler (63) rejected it: “It is too far for me.”
But the founder and visionary fought! His smartest argument: “The smartphone is also something that nobody knew or wanted to do in 2007.” Then Müller-Judex honestly noted: “We could go crazy. But if it works, then we have a world market with giant areas in front of us. “
Ralf Dümmel (53) was enthusiastic: “For me, this is one of the most innovative things I have seen here in the lion’s den.” But the investor did not want to give money.
Müller-Judex knew how to inspire three lions with his idea
A trio of Carsten Maschmeyer (61), Dagmar Wöhrl (66) and Nico Rosberg joined forces: they signed the deal for a 25 percent stake. Maschmeyer: “It is a bet for the future.”
But: The 500,000 euros never flowed!
The decision was made in mid-July, when the three lions lowered their thumbs. A BILD insider: “In the end, the idea didn’t seem competitive enough to investors. The sticking point was production, which is associated with huge costs ”. According to information from BILD, there was also a crowdfunding campaign that did not meet expectations. The agreement was also overshadowed by a legal dispute regarding a test track between “Solmove” and the city of Erfstadt. The point of contention is a 90-meter-long solar bike path, which the organizers built with 150,000 euros from the Ministry of the Environment in Erfstadt. The goal was 12,000 kilowatt hours of energy, but after about three months only 95 kWh was generated. When several modules stopped working, the system was disconnected from the network. This news is also said to have disturbed lion investors.
Officially, the three lions only announced: “In times of energy transition and ‘Fridays for the Future’, we are repeatedly reminded how important renewable energy is for the future. These technologies have great potential, especially in the field of mobility. The vision of ‘Solmove’ and the passion of the founders convinced us in the program. “
But: “However, we were and are aware that huge volumes of investment are required in the field of renewable energies and mobility, as well as infrastructural and political framework conditions, the fulfillment of which can take many decades. For these reasons and after a thorough due diligence check, we have made the decision not to enter into the deal. However, we are in close contact with the founders and wish them every success on their future path. “
