Berlin-based cleaning platform Book A Tiger just raised a seven-digit Euro seed round. With competitors such as Rocket Internet’s Helpling and Homejoy, just to name two out of many, the run for number 1 in Germany is on.
Founders of Book A Tiger: Claude Ritter and Nikita Fahrenholz
Though Nikita Fahrenholz, co-founder and CEO of Book A Tiger, rather focuses on improving the platform than on giving interviews, he took the time to answer a few questions for VentureVillage about his investors, competitors and key learnings from Delivery Hero, which he started in 2010.
VENTUREVILLAGE: Why did you decide to work with DN Capital and what will you spend the investment on?
Fahrenholz: For the obvious reasons: DN Capital is a leading international investor for early-stage and growth capital situations. We value the team’s expertise and network and are looking forward to build Book A Tiger on an international scale together. Plus, we connected well with Nenad, Managing Partner of DNC, who joins our board.
Mainly we will use the money to invest into the tech platform, and into the roll-out to more German cities.
VENTUREVILLAGE: How difficult was it to get investors on board?
Fahrenholz: We got a commitment from the involved parties pretty quickly and were over-subscribed early-on. As founders, we are happy to see the “buy-in” into our vision of Book A Tiger.
VENTUREVILLAGE: How do you differ from other platforms out there?
Fahrenholz: I think you have to look at our company as a whole and not just our platform. We are a battle proven, tight knit team that has worked together for a number of years and we are in this because we love it and not because it’s a job. We have an ownership mentality and I strongly believe that this will translate into a better product, more innovation and ultimately a better service for our customers. And last but not least, our name gives us one big unfair advantage, which is the ability to post cat content on social media all day long. It’s very hard to compete with that.
VENTUREVILLAGE: What are your key learnings from Delivery Hero?
Fahrenholz: There are many. So a bit hard to conclude in a few words.
Two of our core values in Book A Tiger are: take decisive action and think big. They are coming directly from our experience of building a global company within 4 years.
VENTUREVILLAGE: How do you want to become the number one platform for cleaners in Germany?
Fahrenholz: Well, obviously we cannot share our plans. And to be honest, during my time at Delivery Hero, I learned that there are certain traits of a company which cannot be copied. No matter how much money you deploy. It is a certain team dynamic we try to create which is unique and hopefully creates great results. But anyway, talk is cheap, and we better now concentrate on our operations again than on giving interviews :).
VENTUREVILLAGE: Alright, last comment! Fill out the blanks:
Fahrenholz:
* startups & red bull I guess
* sundays & friends
* clean & lean
* seed round & we still eat Döner
VENTURE VILLAGE: Thank you for your time and insights.
Image: Book A Tiger
