“Collabs” are still popular. Today there is a special occasion for the collab between German startups and OMR. Every two weeks, Alexander Hüsing, editor-in-chief of Deutsche-Startups, and Sven Schmidt, CMO of Maschinensucher.de and OMR Podcast regular, report on news from the German venture capital scene in the DS Insider Podcast. For your appearance on the OMR Podcast – this time the OMR DS Insider Podcast – bring the MEGA News with you. A German start-up, financed in the early phase by German VCs, is being sold to a German buyer for one billion euros. We’re talking about message in a bottle and the Oetker Group. The Oetker Group, which first cloned messages in a bottle with Durstexpress and now has to buy the original.
Message in a bottle, affectionately called Flapo by insiders, is a very fast growing beverage delivery service in currently 23 German cities. Orders are placed via the app and the drinks are delivered free of charge within two hours. “The annual growth of 200 percent, the contribution margin of 50 percent and the success of the own brands explain the acquisition price,” comments VC expert Sven Schmidt.
Message in a bottle run rate is 320 million euros
“Given the consolidation in the retail market – with Lidl, Aldi, Edeka, Rewe & Metro as the Big Five – points of contact and direct customer access are becoming increasingly important for brands,” emphasizes OMR founder Philipp Westermeyer. Along with food, beverages are the most relevant business area of the Oetker Group, which received 3.7 billion euros in 2017 from the sale of its shipping company Hamburg Süd.
Like many e-commerce companies, message in a bottle is also a corona profiteer. “The second corona wave will not harm the further growth of message in a bottle. The new Lockdown Light has therefore rather accelerated the signing of the deal, ”said the insider of the German start-up scene, Alexander Hüsing.
Message in a bottle is said to have made 27 million euros in sales in October alone. Extrapolated over twelve months, that’s over 320 million euros. The Oetker Group therefore pays around three times sales, or six times the extrapolated internal sales of 160 million euros.
Gorillas faces 30 million investment
In the podcast, Philipp, Sven and Alexander discuss how US billionaire Michael Bloomberg also earns from the deal, how rich founder Dieter Büchl has become and which investors and business angels can now celebrate. In addition, Sven reveals which global corporation the Oetker Group wanted to outperform in the deal, how the US investment bank Morgan Stanley raised the price of mail in a bottle and which German law firm advised Oetkers on the deal.
Is that enough for a podcast? Actually yes – but Alexander and Sven surprise Philipp with two more exclusive pieces of news. A top US investor plans to invest 30 million US dollars in Gorillas – a hyper-local supermarket delivery service. The new message in a bottle? “In any case, ‘the hottest shit’ in Berlin – like Flapo in Münster back then,” says Alexander to Philipp.
Can Enpal become the Zalando of solar systems?
And the Zalando founders are investing a valuation of 300 million euros in Enpal – a vertically integrated provider of solar systems for end consumers. “You can buy a solar system from Enpal as easily as you can buy shoes from Zalando. And the dream team of Alexander Samwer, David Schneider and Robert Gentz is reunited, ”notes Sven.
–
