Kombucha brand secures funding on Swiss TV’s ‘Shark Tank’

On Tuesday evening, entrepreneur Patrick Switzer presented nÿcha kombucha to investors on the Swiss version of the UK’s Dragon’s Den (aka USA’s Shark Tank) show — Die Höhle der Löwen Schweiz.

Switzer received an offer from Aargau surgeon Dr. Felix Bertram. The doctor is one of the best-known dermatologists in Switzerland and the founder of Skinmed, a dermatology and plastic surgery clinic with 140 employees. He also founded Skins — a restaurant in Lenzburg. His restaurant earned two Michelin stars just four months after opening. Let’s hope diners soon find nÿcha kombucha paired with their award-winning dishes!

Dr. Bertram was enthusiastic about the product and the taste: “Not too sweet, really tasty, and also healthy thanks to the fermentation.” It is an exciting partnership for nÿcha because while Bertram is not active in the beverage industry, he brings an outsider’s perspective, his business experience and network (all those patients who might be interested in becoming as beautiful on the inside as they do on the outside after treatments at his clinic!) as well as the cash infusion.

After hearing a pitch requesting CHF175,000 ($US200,000) for 10% of the company, the deal was sealed at that amount for 15%, for a valuation of $US1.3M. Nÿcha produce over 7,000L of kombucha — around 21,000 bottles — per month, with an approximate retail value of CHF80,000 ($US93,000) [Booch News estimates.]

Production is handled by co-packing partner @biofruitssa. The brand embraces “Swissness”: their quinces come from the Humbel Hof in Stetten, other organic fruits are from the Valais, and Aronia juice is soured from Zug. All ingredients are fair trade and organically grown.

Nÿcha is available in five flavors at over 800 sales outlets, including organic shops, hotels, cafes and restaurants, Alnatura, and the Coop online supermarket. It is one of 14 Swiss kombucha companies listed in the Booch News Worldwide Directory. The fresh capital will be used to build a sales team to expand from German into French-speaking parts of Switzerland and beyond into Europe. However, it might prove challenging to enter other markets while based in a country with the highest cost of living in Europe.

Switzer is no stranger to challenges. A former professional athlete who has won multiple world championships in downhill skateboarding, he has been enjoying kombucha since 2010 and working on different flavors since 2015.

Flavors

Nÿcha sells five flavors for CHF 3.75 ($US 4.36) a bottle:

  • Alpine Herbs
  • Ginger Lemon
  • Superfruit
  • Natural
  • Quince, Pear & Lime Blossom

The Pitch

In 2015 I moved from Canada to Switzerland. In North America, there were already huge refrigerated shelves full of kombucha. Here, however, the selection was still very small. I was convinced that the trend would develop in Europe. Nÿcha stands for new tea, and what is special about it is the philosophy. Nÿcha stands out because it uses Darjeeling green tea, sourced from Teekampagne, known as the “champagne of teas,” the gentle and longer fermentation develops a soft and fruity-tart character. The flavor profile was developed in collaboration with sommeliers, baristas, bartenders and top chefs. Only vegan, organic, fairly traded and, where possible, local ingredients are used. With a partner network for production and logistics, the company was built with scalability in mind. So far, I offer four flavors of ready-to-drink kombucha in bottles.

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1 Response

  1. Congrats Patrick & nycha team.

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