On the show, Aivy managed to win two lions for his app. But the deal later failed due to disagreement over contract details.
Recruitment tools are popular with investors – they promise money and growth. Skilled labor shortages, an increase in home offices, and the slow digitalization of mid-sized businesses are all driving the demand for employee programs. This has been demonstrated by human resource startup Persono, which is valued at around six billion euros.
Karsten Machmeyer and Dagmar Voll may have thought about this when founders Florian Dybala, Boas Bamberger, David Beller and Arnur Rassi presented their talent app Aivy to investors in the Die Höhle der Löwen programme. Job seekers can use the app to create a profile and see their career strengths in minigames. Additionally, companies can create requirement profiles for vacancies, which users can apply to and be directed to with a short assessment via a link. The software sends the results of case studies to the company, which then identifies the most suitable candidates for the job.
Machmeyer and Fuhrl were quickly convinced. The deal: They offered Aivy 450,000 euros for 20 percent of the shares. Originally, the founders were only willing to give ten percent of the amount. The investors also negotiated the transfer of one-tenth of the shares immediately, and the transfer of the remaining ten percent in the course of their support for entrepreneurship.
The former investor stands in the way
Despite the handshake, the deal didn’t materialize after the show, as the founding scene found out. Aivy CEO Florian Dybala explains that founders and investors have different ideas about “concrete design for landmarks.” However, the business psychologist emphasizes: “We found the collaboration with Dagmar Wehrle and Carsten Machmeyer very professional.” Investors also share this impression: “We deeply regret that the deal did not materialize. We had a good exchange.” As the reason for the failure, he stated that a former shareholder had blocked the path of negotiations.
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Follow-up research by Gründerszene revealed a conflict when drafting the partnership agreement. A previous shareholder did not agree to the terms and criteria. Wöhrl then decided to leave immediately, while Maschmeyer initially continued talks. The investors, who received the majority of votes by more than 75 percent, did not need the approval of the previous shareholder. However, the investment was resolved. However, Maschmeyer does not completely rule out participation in the HR startup at a later time.
Aivy gets the money elsewhere
Meanwhile, Aivy was able to close another funding, according to CEO Dyballa, without giving details. In addition, they implemented the advice of Lion investors into their product: “Participation in DHDL motivated us to once again offer our app for free to talented people and even to improve it. This is consistent with our mission to show what is not on the CV.”
The four Berliners founded Aivy in 2020. Dyballa and Bamberger actually developed the idea of choosing an improved IT career a few years ago. In order to implement, they received funding from the EXIST program of the Federal Ministry of Economy and the European Union, among others. Meanwhile, founders around CEO Dyballa have won more than 40 corporate clients, including chocolate startup The Nu Company, Nivea Group Beiersdorf and healthcare company Fresenius. In the meantime, the team has also grown and doubled since its involvement in DHDL.
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