Mein Haus Digital lands Maschmeyer and Ensthaler after DHDL pitch

Mein Haus Digital has closed one of the larger deals in the history of the German TV show Die Höhle der Löwen (DHDL). Investors Carsten Maschmeyer and Janna Ensthaler now hold stakes in the renovation startup. Both the founders and Maschmeyer's team confirmed the deal about six months after the episode was recorded.

An audacious ask

Founders Leonie Dowling, a management consultant, and Carolin Krebber, an architect, built what amounts to a digital architect for people renovating a house. The tool calculates the condition of a property, the measures required and the expected costs. Users can also get help applying for construction financing, obtain permits and generate a complete brief for tradespeople. According to the founders, this is ten times faster and ten times cheaper than hiring an architect.

Then came the price: €425,000 for only five percent. The investors groaned. "You're not expensive, you're very expensive," Ensthaler said. But the founders backed it up with revenue forecasts, a promise of profitability next year and an argument about the market: fewer people can afford to build, so they buy old houses but cannot pay for an architect. They also said no comparable company exists internationally, and that banks and building societies are interested too.

Ensthaler offered €425,000 for ten percent. Maschmeyer, who had initially wanted to stay out, and Dagmar Wöhrl each raised their offers to €500,000 for ten percent. Maschmeyer and Ensthaler then teamed up, and the founders accepted €500,000 for ten percent from the pair, leaving Wöhrl empty-handed.

What happened next

According to the founders and Maschmeyer's team, the deal went through. The two investors have already helped with know-how and contacts in social media and B2C marketing, as well as for future funding rounds. Dowling described the collaboration as smooth and uncomplicated.

Maschmeyer had been the founders' preferred investor. They had still sought other backers in parallel, since a TV funding round is hard to plan. Mein Haus Digital has since signed partnerships with Europace, a construction financing platform, and with Obi. It is now expanding its B2C business and examining the US market, as the founders see their concept as an international one.