Smart product, explosive growth: how do you build a company like Air Up?

• Air Up

Smart Product, Explosive Growth: How to Build a Company Like Air Up ?

Air Up was able to convince investors such as Ralf Dümmel, Frank Thelen and Pepsi. In the podcast, founder Lena Jüngst reveals whether everything has really gone well so far.

Air Up

The success story of Air Up reads like a fairy tale in the scene: Started during their studies, the founding team turned over two million euros within a few weeks. Ralf Dümmel and Frank Thelen get in early , although the startup was never on their TV show “Die Höhle der Löwen”. And only one year after the launch in 2019 the Pepsi Group . It’s the accolade.

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Air Up has now sold a million of its starter sets. This includes a drinking bottle and two mouthpieces, the so-called pods, which are the basis for the startup’s success. Because they create a taste in the brain that is not there at all. In fact, Air Up only works with fragrances. The set costs 35 euros, for additional capsules with “flavors” such as pear or watermelon at least six euros are due.

That is “easy, delicious , healthy and sustainable, ”advertises the startup. In the current episode of the Gründerszene podcast “So geht Startup”, editor Georg Räth discusses whether this is really the case with founder Lena Jüngst. She admits that when it comes to sustainability, the startup is not as advanced as the company claims. The specific CO2 footprint of the product has yet to be determined.

Air Up: Fast growth and sustainable business model

The idea behind Air Up is recently. Together with Tim Jäger, she designed the prototype for her product design degree in 2016. Through iterations, other co-founders and investors such as Ralf Dümmel and Frank Thelen, today’s product was created. The latest milestone is a 40 million euro Financing : In September 2021, the Parisian food fund Five Seasons invested in the company from Munich.

In the podcast, Jüngst also talks about the rapid growth and how it has changed her free time and relationships with the co-founders – most of them got into the podcast as friends Company one. She also tells what it is like when 170 people suddenly work for the once small startup, most of whom you only get to know with a mask or screen due to the corona pandemic.

In addition, Jüngst reveals that she did not think about today’s business model as a student. You can hear why this is Air Up’s recipe for success in the podcast.