On Monday evening, on an episode of VOX’s “Die Höhle der Löwen,” the biggest demand for capital was – by three Swiss! Bernard Winter (28), Thomas Gemberl (34) and Pascal Buchholzer (29) of Winterthur ZH came ahead of the investors. Bernhard Winter began the show: “We have the greatest need for capital ever called for in Die Höhle der Löwen”. “We need five million euros!” “Black” was amazed!
But what is this huge amount? For “Scewo Bro,” a revolutionary wheelchair whose appearance resembles a sci-fi robot. Pascal Buchholzer himself shows investors how to approach this, turning quickly in his wheelchair into the studio, driving smoothly over gravel and sand and letting the seat rise 87 cm. “This is how you can reach the top shelves when you shop,” explains young entrepreneurs.
But the highlight of the revolutionary wheelchair is the ability to climb stairs. Thanks to technology and software developed in-house by former ETH students, the wheelchair recognizes stairs and moves fully automatically and in the opposite direction up and down again.
Lions are cheerful, but the deal stays
Investors are thrilled with the capabilities of the device. “It’s crazy. Massive!” Dagmar Wöhrl, 67, is stunned and tries everything himself. Her conclusion: “You feel so good. Totally stable!”
Disappointing: despite great enthusiasm no deal! Investing five million in one startup? “I can’t take that risk,” says Nico Rosberg. Disappointment written on the Swiss obverse.
There are now millions of deals
“We were very sad at the time,” recalls Bernard Winter, CEO of Scewo. Would you have asked for less? “Back then, the deal with Nico Rosberg could have worked, of course, it would have been Oberhammer,” Winter says. But: “We just had to get the right amount together.”
Appearing in “Die Höhle der Löwen” gave the startup a lot of presence and had a “good and constructive dialogue with investors”. Now «Scewo» wants to grow even more, and next year it will produce more than 100 wheelchairs. “This is an ambitious goal that we now have to work towards and we will give everything,” Winter said.
The Swiss company’s vision has clearly been well received: “Last month we were able to conclude a deal worth 8.5 million francs with an investor,” Winter is excited. With this, the startup not only achieved its original target of five million euros, but also more than that. So we can expect more «Scewo» in the future.
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