Instead of capital, the winners of the Seven Ventures Pitchday receive advertising time from ProSiebenSat.1. You can find out who can apply, how the live event works and what ProSiebenSat.1 gets out of it here.
The founders of Bears with Benefits won the Pitchday 2022. Seven Ventures
Three million euros of advertising time and the budget to produce the advertising campaign await the winner of the Seven Ventures Pitch Day. Seven Ventures is the investment arm of ProSiebenSat.1. The winning startup’s finished advertising campaign will be shown on free TV, for example on the channels ProSieben, Sat.1, Kabel Eins or Sixx.
This year the twelfth edition of the pitch competition will take place and will be broadcast live for the first time on the streaming channel Joyn. In the last edition, which took place in 2022, the founders of the fruit gum manufacturer Bears with Benefits won. They used the money to produce a 20-second advertising campaign with presenter Jana Ina Zarrella, which was shown on ProSieben, Sat.1, Sat.1 Gold and Sixx.
TV campaigns for B2B models are difficult
Florian Weber, Chief Commercial Officer at Seven Ventures, expects a three-digit number of applications for the coming edition. The six to eight-week application phase begins in summer 2024. Founders of B2C growth companies can apply with their pitch deck. “It is difficult to do TV campaigns for B2B models,” explains Weber. In addition, the startup should not be too early-stage and it should address a mass market. When making the selection, the Seven Ventures team also pays attention to the appearance of the founders and the scalability of their business model. A finalist at the last pitch day, for example, was the online veterinary provider Dr. Sam. Enough Germans own a pet to be able to run a far-reaching TV campaign.
The pitch decks are evaluated by the Seven Ventures investment team. Of all the applicants, four startups make it straight into the live pitch competition. The pitch event will take place as part of the New Commerce Summit in Munich.
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Collaboration with perfume shop Flaconi
Apart from Seven Ventures managing director Weber, other jury members have not yet been chosen. “We are currently in the process of recruiting exciting minds,” he explains. In addition to him as an investor, the jury should consist of entrepreneurs and founders. Seven Ventures holds a majority stake in the Flaconi perfume shop. A collaboration within the framework of the pitch competition therefore makes sense. Flaconi CFO Kathrin Nusser was already on the jury in 2021. What is certain, however, is that there should be an odd number of jurors. “So that we can come to a clear decision,” explains Weber.
The live pitch competition includes both semi-finals and finals. Of the four semi-finalists, two startups make it to the final round. There they present their pitch again to the same five-person jury. However, slightly changed. The founders have two minutes to do this. The jurors can then ask questions. Although the jury members know the pitch decks before the finale, the “show is authentic and the process is not scripted”. Because “in the startup world, the topic of authenticity is of course important,” explains Weber.
Difference to DHDL: advertising time in millions instead of capital
The Vox hit show “The Lions’ Den” (DHDL) is a competitor due to its TV format. In contrast to DHDL, the startups at the Seven Ventures Pitch Day do not receive investments from individual jury members, but instead receive millions of dollars in advertising time. The jurors can decide whether they want to invest independently of the pitch competition. For example, TV presenter Joko Winterscheidt, who was on the jury in 2021, is said to have invested in some startups. TV presenter Steven Gätjen, who guides viewers through the pitch event, has also already invested in a participating startup. Namely in the warning app Safenow.
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How do Seven Ventures and ProSiebenSat.1 benefit from the format?
“For us it is a branding event. We show ourselves in the startup world,” says Weber. The winners are not required to enter into a deal with Seven Ventures thereafter. However, several participants in the past have still chosen to work with Seven Ventures. These include the food startup Koro, the food saver Sirplus and the language learning app Busuu. The Bears with Benefits founders were no longer dependent on a media for equity deal from Seven Ventures. Just a few months after their victory at Pitchday, Laurence Saunier and Marlena Hien managed a million-dollar exit.
Prime time advertising?
After the pitch day, the winning startup will have three million euros in advertising time and the budget to produce the advertising campaign. The campaign does not have to be produced by the internal creative agency Seven One Ad Factory. ProSiebenSat.1 will also cover the costs of an external production company if requested by the winners. When it comes to advertising time, ProSiebenSat.1 makes sure that the right target group is reached. The advertising campaign for a startup that offers beauty products for young women would possibly be broadcast during the commercial breaks of Germany’s Next Top Model on ProSieben.
The team works “very startup-friendly,” describes Weber. For example, the advertising campaign won by the Artnight workshop platform was postponed due to the corona pandemic. Aimie-Sarah Carstensen and David Neisinger, founders of Artnight, won the Seven Ventures Pitchday 2019. Shortly before the outbreak of the corona pandemic. “If the realtainment startup had run a campaign during Corona, it would have done nothing for the company. Then, in a spirit of partnership and flexibility, we decided to do it later, only after Corona,” explains Weber.
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