Pick'em: This startup convinced all the lions – with toothpicks with flavor

The founders of Pick'em want to make toothpicks a lifestyle product and have probably convinced the lions above all with their unusual marketing.

Their product is "one of humanity's oldest inventions, completely reimagined," says co-founder Niklas Terrahe into the camera before he and his co-founders step before the lions. Meanwhile, they puzzle over what the slogan "Wood for the Big Mouth" might mean. They probably didn't expect what they would be presented with a few minutes later on "The Lion's Den." Because the startup of the four founders, all in their early 20s, actually brought a product that seemed quite bizarre at first glance: Pick'em – flavored toothpicks.

The lions then get to see for themselves how, wherefore, and why when co-founder Folkert Bowler, disguised as a piece of wood with a pointed hat, jumps out from behind the stage set and distributes mint-flavored toothpicks to the potential investors. Fun fact: Because Bowler, being English, doesn't speak German, his appearance on DHDL was only possible because the team had registered him as a prop, CEO Niklas Terrahe explains in an interview with Gründerszene. In the show, he is introduced to viewers as a "social media face" – but is actually a fully-fledged member of the founding team.

Judith Williams is especially excited about her toothpick—she actually has something stuck between her teeth. How convenient! But that's not what the toothpick is for, Bowler corrects her. Rather, it's meant to be chewed, sucked, and enjoyed as a taste experience. Pick'em is a lifestyle product, adds its co-founder Terrahe.

And while the audience is still wondering, the lions are beaming. "Truly incredible," says the often enthusiastic Ralf Dümmel. "Really good!" declares Judith Williams, "really fresh," says Dagmar Wöhrl.

In the end, everyone will want to invest – even tech investor Carsten Maschmeyer. But the young founders probably convinced the lions above all with their sales talent. Right at the beginning of their presentation, they threw an impressive number at the lions: their Pick'em account has now garnered more than 150 million views on TikTok . "Wow," says Carsten Maschmeyer . They then presented two of their most successful TikTok videos, in which they let celebrities like US rapper Mecklemore try out toothpicks (in the middle of one of his concerts, mind you). They quickly made it clear: For us, anything is possible and nothing is too big. That must have impressed the lions.

And so a kind of lion's duel ensues: Dagmar Wöhrl and Ralf Dümmel each offer what the founding team is demanding: €200,000 for 15 percent of the shares. Williams, Maschmeyer, and Nils Glagau join forces and ultimately offer €50,000 more, but want a total of 20 percent in return. After some back and forth—Maschmeyer is starting to get annoyed—the founders and the lion trio agree on 17.5 percent for €250,000.

Almost a year has passed between the recording of the show and its broadcast. After the show, the founding team, who met at Berlin's Code startup university , "decided on Team Judith," as Terrahe told Gründerszene. Ultimately, only Williams invested. She also "covered the entire amount," says the Pick'em CEO. The goal now is to enter the German market, and Williams and her team can provide optimal support in this process.

Until now, Pick'em had focused primarily on the US and UK markets – and for good reason. The founders want to make toothpicks the new, cool accessory for young people. And lifestyle culture is more likely to emerge in the US than in Germany. "We want to create a hype first," says Terrahe, who had already founded and sold two climate tech startups before Pick'em.

They were apparently quite successful last year. Pick'em now generates several times more revenue in a month than it did in a year during the DHDL filming. The startup has also been able to attract other well-known investors, including More Nutrition founder Christian Wolf and a former CMO of TikTok.

The question remains: why on earth did the founders choose toothpicks? Terrahe laughs: They wanted to start something in the consumer sector, he says. That's why they specifically researched brands that had managed to turn simple, ordinary things into something cool (others would say: out of shit, gold). That's how they first came up with chewing gum—but that market is "pretty dead"—and then landed on toothpicks. And that's kind of something new, too.