The TV show ‘Die Höhle der Löwen’ (Dragons' Den) is primarily a showcase for products from the food and DIY sectors, but digital business models also get their chance there. The Hamburg startup KassenKompass has now taken advantage of this opportunity, winning Carsten Maschmeyer over with its comparison platform for statutory health insurance companies.
Health insurance companies differ mainly in terms of additional services
The founding duo, Fiona Jasmut and Ole Walkenhorst, went on the show with an opening offer of 300,000 euros for 10% of the company's shares, but Maschmeyer insisted on 20%. In the end, the deal actually went through, which is not a given. KassenKompass was founded in early 2024 with the aim of making the offers of statutory health insurance companies more transparent. They differ not only in their contributions, but above all in their additional services, which can be worth several hundred euros. Changing insurance companies is easy via the startup's website.
The business model convinced Carsten Maschmeyer, who began his career in financial sales. As an investor, he has stakes in over 150 startups worldwide through several venture capital firms. In Hamburg, these include Nect and MyTaag, which also owes its financing to an appearance on ‘Die Höhle der Löwen’. Since the deal, KassenKompass has thoroughly revamped its platform and added several new features. The number of employees has risen from five to eleven, and integration into the Finanzguru financial planning app is planned for the turn of the year. Maschmeyer had already invested in this startup in 2018 in the context of his TV work.
