Philipp Hartmann has just brought out Totoli, a play and learning app for toddlers. The team worked on it for two years. Now the startup is threatened with dissolution.
That happened quickly: the Berlin startup Totoli presented its app in mid-December, and now the company has filed for the opening of insolvency proceedings. After only three months on the market. Totoli is intended for young children and combines educational content with games and short films. The idea of the app is to reduce the tiresome issue of screen time. Behind the startup is Philipp Hartmann, who helped build Christian Reber’s presentation tool Pitch as COO, as well as Adham El Muntasser, former Head of M&A at Zalando, and Steinunn Arnardottir, former developer at music software manufacturer Native Instruments.
Hartmann came up with the idea for the app more than two years ago. With a seven-figure capital injection right at the start, the tech company kept its head above water until the very end. A subscription model should bring in money after market entry. The app, including all content, costs parents just under five euros a month. The founders had hoped that the product could be marketed by word of mouth, according to the Gründerszene interview in December.
Too few users
But the income that the Berlin app startup is currently generating from users would not be enough to cover the running costs, writes insolvency administrator Philipp Hackländer when asked by the Gründerszene. How many customers actively use the tool is not publicly known – but apparently it is not enough.
“We are currently exploring who could be interested in a takeover,” says the lawyer. Some investors have already signaled their interest. However, the administrator cannot yet assess how good the company’s chances are. Founder and CEO Hartmann did not want to comment on the insolvency proceedings at short notice when asked by the Gründerszene.
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In the 2021 seed round, Blueyard Capital from Berlin and numerous business angels invested in Totoli, including Eyeem founder Florian Meissner, ex-Zalando boss Rubin Ritter, Alexander Ljung from Soundcloud and former Sat.1 managing director Kaspar Pfluger. In a bridge round last year, the shareholders shot again.
According to insolvency administrator Hackländer, the Berlin startup will continue to operate for the time being. The 15 employees are therefore continuing to work on improving the app.